Be Vigilant!: Strategies to Stop Complacency, Improve Performance, and Safeguard Success. Your Business and Relationships Depend on It.be vigiliant

by Len Herstein

Complacency kills.

Success can be deadly in business, leadership, and relationships.

When you’re used to winning and achieving, overconfidence and faulty logic can blind you to potential dangers up ahead. Complacency costs money, causes slip ups, and creates critical mistakes that will put your company, your brand, and your teams at risk.

Protect your hard-earned success by combatting complacency! Blending his 30 years of brand marketing for companies such as Coca-Cola, Campbell Soup, and Nabisco with his experience as a sheriff’s deputy, Len Herstein shares law enforcement–inspired business strategies to help you see beyond the target and stay vigilant against threats like competition, predictability, bad habits, micromanagement, abuse of power, and industry change. Battle-tested in the most dangerous breeding ground of complacency, this is your guide to conscious decisions for better business performance—powered by real-world safeguards to success.

You’ll discover:
- Four steps to avoid crises through threat awareness and management, scenario planning, and strategic communication.
- Assessment tips to help focus efforts on what went wrong, and what went right, after every project—and how to learn from both.
- The strategy of simple, sensory-based reminders to enforce positive behaviors at the workplace and at home.
- Better management accountability and protection against harmful organizational complacency through a more engaged team.
- How to use the right metrics in the right way to gauge performance while curbing overconfidence.

The greater the success, the greater the risk of a complacent mindset. Anybody with something to protect should read Be Vigilant! now to get the tools you need to fight complacency at work and at home.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

203 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2021

About the author

Len Herstein has over 30 years of experience in business and brand marketing. Since starting the company in 2003, Len has led the planning on clients’ custom events and brand consulting projects, while also serving as the strategic vision behind the annual Brand ManageCamp marketing conferences, an attendee-focused brand marketing conference named a “Must Attend” by Forbes.

Prior to founding ManageCamp, Len spent many years innovating, managing, and growing brands for major consumer packaged goods marketers, including Campbell Soup Company, Coca-Cola, and Nabisco. Prior to that, Len honed his consulting skills while working for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).

Since 2015, Len has also served as a reserve deputy sheriff with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado. In this volunteer position, he works up to 850 hours a year as a state-certified peace officer on the patrol team—for free. Inspired to make a positive contribution to the safety and well-being of the citizens of Douglas County, Len works to be part of the solution of creating better relationships between police and the community.

Blending law enforcement training and professional experience, he learned valuable business lessons while serving his community to transform both homes and careers. Through his applicable law enforcement–inspired strategies, he helps business leaders improve performance and safeguard success in all aspects of their lives through vigilance.

A fan of the Leicester City Foxes of the English Premier League, The Denver Broncos, and poker, Len lives in Colorado with his wife, two daughters, and their Australian shepherd.

Reviews

[Daryl P Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brand manager and part-time policeman shares his wisdom.

The author was 45 when he volunteered as a part-time, unpaid police officer and describes the training he received. Prior to this he had a career working for several household name brands and leading teams. His genius is integrating the lessons from the police training into the business and, at times, personal relationship world. The message is delivered over and over in different contexts that complacency is dangerous and active vigilance is needed for your own safety and welfare. The style of delivery is friendly and encouraging and I liked the summary action points ending the chapters. This will make for quick revision and could give a hesitant reader the salient points of the book. That would be a shame for them as I enjoyed the argument flowing from the police situation through the personal and into the business context. Not much bragging about his credentials either as there are over 100 sources cited without interrupting the flow and detailed at the end. These ranged from a Gallop poll to the British Journal of General Practice, so widely read research was done.
For an instructional book, I found myself keen to read on and discover the next context and strategy. The chapter action points prompted me to pause and reflect, but this strengthened the message of the preceding text. This is an accessible and impactful book for business leaders, but I hope it has a wider readership. I will be alert to more from this author.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Luong Trung · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an interesting journey via short story-telling plus experiences about the policeman (or officer). His works always contain dangerous situations and a lot of pressure; need a balancing between requirements of regulations/directions/laws/duties and quick actions to protect social and themselves - these are not easy work.

I enjoyed daily tasks and disciplines of the story and learning a lot to be (more) vigilant such as choosing the right place for the public, always look and estimate the unpredict action (risk) in the new environments…

Besides, I got the explain different habits and routines in a simple explanation.

I recommend this book to everyone who wants to know about the jobs and pressures of police and learn the discipline, always protect yourself safety at first and better live.

[Julia Carcamo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love real-world ways of teaching marketing tactics and strategies, and Len does not disappoint in his first book. Truth be told, I didn't expect less. I have had the opportunity to listen to Len talk about some of these lessons and was lucky enough to receive a free advanced copy. I thought I already had a sense of what to expect, but reading the book shed even more light on his previous presentations. I can't wait to share copies of this book with associates and clients as I think they will benefit as much as I have (and will). The lessons are valuable in themselves but the heart Len shares in the stories will make them memorable to all. Best of all, you can put these tips to work immediately. Read this book. Learn from this book. Put these lessons to work today.

[BigBlueSea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often we can be side-tracked from achieving success by our own complacency. In this book, the author clearly lays out tactics used by officers which can help you if followed in your daily life. I received this as an ARC. Thank you to the author and publisher.

[madtrekkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that everyone should read, either as an individual or as a professional. It's such a compelling book to read! Recommended!