Leadership and Life Hacks: Insights from a Mom, Wife, Entrepreneur & Executive

by Alyssa Rapp

LIFE IS COMPLICATED. CAN YOU HACK IT? We all lead busy lives with conflicting responsibilities. How can we succeed at work and at home? Alyssa Rapp knows better than anyone that sometimes we need shortcuts, work-arounds, and work-throughs to navigate the different spheres of everyday life. In other words: hacks. Leadership & Life Hacks is the perfect guidebook for anyone hungry to be more efficient and effective. Alyssa takes you into the boardroom and into her own home, providing invaluable strategies for everything from leading a meeting with key stakeholders and managing a household, to answering emails and taking colleagues to rock concerts. It's The 4-Hour Workweek meets Emily Post. Whether you're a CEO, entrepreneur, businessperson, athlete, teacher, spouse, stay-at-home parent, community leader--even if you're still figuring out who you want to be--you'll walk away from this book feeling confident and empowered, ready to hack your life.

Genres: Self Help, Leadership

200 pages, Hardcover

Published October 29, 2019

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love good hacks. At some moments it really helps and make life as mom is easier. Leadership and Life Hacks was a helpful guidances for manage our busy household with efficient strategies.

The writing is fun and friendly. It tackles heavy topics with smart approachable strategies. The author shared her own experience and provided insight of the problem make the tips and advices are relatable and adjustable based on our own situation.
I enjoyed my time learning and grabbed some ideas to work smarter from this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Forbes Books from Advantage Media Group for provided my copy. My thoughts always become my own.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leading a business, managing a household or even simply living your life, this book has something for everyone. Easy to do tasks that “hack” more challenging tasks and activities that will in turn help make your life easier. Hacks are usually used in video games, they are your walk-throughs and sometimes even contain cheat codes, so this analogy will be helpful as you navigate the pages. In this book, the author refers to the hacks as shortcuts, as if you re hacking the unnecessary things out of your day.
This was easy to read, very well edited and contained enough humor to lighten the topic for easy reading while maintaining a sense of decorum so you understand you are not reading a comedic book. The advice was at times general and at others specific, depending on the situation she was addressing. This makes it easy to use some tips for multiple situations. I think that this is a good book to have and a good book to refer back to until you have made these hacks a habit.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely some useful hacks and takeaways in this quick read; I’d note it is geared toward a pretty specific set of people, though.

[Jimmy Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good lesson in being a leader

This book is about being a leader and having leadership ability’s and skills whether you are in an executive meeting or at home with the kids. There are plenty of hacks that are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of her strategies and work arounds. There is something for everyone in this book. Take the time to read this one and consider the ideas and methods that are offered. You will not be disappointed with the results. Check this one out folks it is well worth your time.

[Brian Aird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working Hard, Smart and Efficient

Leadership And Life Hacks: Insights From A Mom, Wife, Entrepreneur & Executive by Alyssa Rapp is a modern-day primer for the present day leader and entrepreneur who not only wishes to be successful in their business, but in every aspect and role that they are called upon to fulfill in their everyday life.

The book is based on the idea of hacking which translates into ideas, thoughts and actions that create shortcuts while still maintaining and enhancing effectiveness.

It is often been said that we should not work harder but smarter. This book adds to that premise and provides a modern-day approach to being successful in the business world. In fact, it can be said that not only should we work harder and smarter, but this particular narrative will help the individual to be more efficient by utilizing "hacks."

Emphasizing to the reader that they should be passionate about the area of life that they call their livelihood, the experienced and dynamic author further dispenses an abundance of "pearls of wisdom" to help the dedicated entrepreneur map out a plan of success.

For example one such pearl or hack is to acknowledge fear and move through it and to realize that it can be a valuable emotion. Another such gem is to "Take care of your people and they will take care of you."

The beauty of the book, as the author declares is divided into two overarching sections – lead and live – is that the reader can jump in at any point in the book and read a portion or chapter of the book that catches their eye and skip around accordingly as the reader wishes.

In addition, highlighting the beginning of each chapter, the author delineates each of the hacks that will be discussed in the ensuing pages. Also, as an added emphasis to the narrative, Ms. Rapp shares her own personal successes along with those decisions that perhaps weren't the right decisions to make.

Leadership And Life Hacks: Insights From A Mom, Wife, Entrepreneur & Executive by Alyssa Rapp is a well-written and engaging book that will provide significant insight not only for the business leader and entrepreneur, but can provide particular power and meaning for parents and marriage partners as well.

[Meagan | The Chapter House · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book the more I got into it, LOL. A good chunk of the first half was spent (understandably) on Rapp's company Bottlenotes, thus lots and lots of discussions about wine. I am definitely not in the target market on this part--I stopped drinking in January 2019 for health and all-around wellness benefits -- so honestly just felt a bit triggered anytime "wine" got mentioned (which was a lot). Also, not being an entrepreneur, a bit extra work was required to translate related hacks into my world. That's fine :); all part of the reader experience, translating book to life, right?

So once we got past the wine and the entrepreneurship, to more widely-translatable hacks -- that's where I felt the book really shined. I also really appreciated the summaries at each chapter's beginning, so I could quickly target/deep-dive or skim sections as desired.

All in all, a fine read (and frankly, a very well-produced physical [hardback!] book I almost enjoyed more from the tactical, sensory experience than anything else!).

[Pegboard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leadership and Life Hacks by Alyssa Rapp is inspiring and comprehensive. The author takes you through the steps she took in business and life to reach her goals. The chapters are well written and laid out, so it is easy to skip to parts that apply to you, though you can glean much from each chapter. Her insight on working as an entrepreneur is very helpful, with many tidbits of wisdom for anyone starting out.
 
I love how thoroughly Alyssa Rapp presents her hacks without being redundant. Leadership and Life Hacks is unique in that each chapter has the hacks summarized, then the author expounds each point with a life lesson. In the foreword, Alyssa is observed as being smart, savvy, fierce, and loyal. You will see as she applies these characters traits to everything. This was a good read for the information, but you end feeling you viewed the heart of a passionate and ambitious woman who will make a great impact on the lives of those around her.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to enjoy this book. But immediately, even though I am not an entrepreneur, I could tell the advice that the author provided was rather "obvious". I hate to say it was a self-centered book, but I could not gain interest. But when she started proclaiming all her connections to the Obama reign of terror, I knew I had to stop. As a working class, lower middle class citizen, I had an entirely different view of Obama, and it was entirely unflattering to him. I ended up in debt for the first time ever in my 40s. It took me til 2020 and President Trump in office to get out of the hole and back in the black. And the Democrats which she so lovingly has connections to describe, is once again hurting us (the US) again. So 25% of the book was an effort to make a connection, maybe learn something new, but self-centered, boring and one sided is SO the opposite of what I stand for, so I gracefully quit.

[Rebecca]

A good read

This book is so useful. I totally get the feeling from the knowledge put in this book that the author speaks from experience and tons of wisdom. Alyssa has used what she knows the give a lot of great advice. There’s tons of “hacks” of stuff like for marketing use. After reading the book, I bookmarked my favorite hack a that are so good for business. There are also life advice portions for parents and how to balance your personal life. I found so many to be very practical and simple, and therefore actually doable things I can apply to my personal life. I am going to be going back to this book a lot to refresh my memory about a lot of good advice as I go through my own business journey. Definitely a book that is worth the read! I learned so much!

[Kimberly Foss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of listening to Alyssa Rapp at the Womens Impact Conference this year. She shared a few stories and hacks from her book, but more importantly she gave outstanding advice to the many young women in the audience who asked questions specific to their own experience. She was a joy to listen to and I’m sure she is amazing to work with.
I love the book because it’s simple and to the point. I’ve read so many leadership books that are repetitive, boring, and should have been a few chapters, not an entire book. Alyssa’s book is a fast read and gives you actionable advice that you can use every day. I’m going to highlight and mark it up and keep it with me at work ✅

[Katherine Hebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed this

I’m a working mom with two toddlers. Life is hard. I often feel burnt out and just so disgusted with myself that I can’t balance everything better. This books gives me hope. It gave me ideas on how to better balance my work and home life. It also gave me a sense of peace that if the author can do it and run multimillion dollar companies, then I can too. Support is so crucial for working moms and this book is another great resource. Sending to all of my mom tribe now.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alyssa is an amazing entrepreneur and a great speaker (I’ve seen her at a conference). I was looking forward to reading this, but the audience for this book is pretty narrow. As an executive leader in the corporate world, some of this was a stretch to apply. This seems very start-up/small team focused. Additionally, white upper class working mom focused. Could definitely recommend for that demographic looking for entrepreneurial and life advice!

[Gabriella PALMERI · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read as a <30 year old woman in health tech

While the book is rooted in Rapp's experiences as a mother and a business leader, its lessons transcend these specific roles, offering valuable insights applicable to a wide range of relationships and life situations

I'm looking forward to visiting this at various points throughout my career and life milestones

[Margot McMahon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alyssa Rapp has shared tips to acheive a career, parenting and life as a n exeutive entrepreneur with a quick paced and lively read. I felt I knew her better after this inspiring book.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grateful for all of the great support and kind feedback of how these leadership and life hacks [by author:Alyssa Rapp|1312297] are actionable in readers' lives!!

[Kenneth Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book. Glad I knew it would be as wonderful for males as it is for moms and wives. I highly recommend it.

[Schollwonggmail.Com · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book by Professor Alyssa Ramp illusating the life of an entrepreneur

[Bett Correa-Bollhoefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of stories that I found interesting.

[Kelley Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an easy read. It has some simple yet powerful life hacks that you can use regardless of being a mom, wife, entrepreneur and executive. It covers a wide array of life challenges and ways to come out on top.

Eloquently written, easily consumable and relatable. I really enjoyed this read.

I received an advance review copy for free from GoodReads, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Romance your customer,’ ‘If you want to learn, teach,’ ‘Take care of your people’ and more!

Chicago author Alyssa Rapp is a lecturer in management at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago’s Booth Business School, and in addition to teaching she is CEO of Surgical Solutions, founder of AJR Ventures, Bottlenotes, Inc, serves on the board of the Illinois Housing Development Authority, and has been honored as a notable and significant entrepreneur. Her books include GUIDE TO WINE and now LEADERSHIP LIFE & HACKS.

One of the many reasons Alyssa’s book of insights works so well is her fine sense of humor and lightness that pervade the pages of this generously helpful book. For example, in her author’s note she provides a definition of the word “hack’ (‘a cutting instrument’) and her choice of use for the title – ‘For the nest 187 pages, “hacks” should be thought of as shortcuts, work-arounds, or work-throughs. Each chapter’s hacks are summarized up front, in case all you have time for are the hacks themselves and no the narrative behind them. One must practice what one preaches… I’m hoping at least one of these one hundred Life & Leadership Hacks proves as helpful to you in driving greater efficiency and impact in your life as they do in mine.’ The degree of caring and friendly communication allows her suggestions and insights to apply to us all.

Having been described by friends as ‘blunt but polite, funny yet serious, tough and nurturing,’ Alyssa provides her arrival at the junction that ultimately resulted in this book: ‘I started looking for ways to ‘hack the system’ as a mom, wife, entrepreneur, and executive. By hack I mean I was seeking high-impact strategies that would help me work more efficiently, achieve better outcomes, and more successfully balance my personal and professional lives.’

And from this inviting and accessible opening, this book of 100 hacks is a pleasure to read, a source of viable ways to change barriers to entrances, and many ideas and concepts thoroughly explained by means of Alyssa’s own encounters and experiences. But most important of all, this is major advice offered in a manner that makes her insights negotiable – and applicable. Very highly recommended – for business and family life.