Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives
256
Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives
256Hardcover
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Overview
A new generation of "life entrepreneurs" is emerging: people who apply their vision, talents, creativity, and energy not only to their work but to their entire lives, changing the world for themselves and those around them. In this book, successful entrepreneurs Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek draw on numerous interviews with fifty-five leading entrepreneurs worldwide as well as the wisdom of multiple thought leaders to provide vivid examples, moving vignettes, concrete frameworks, and practical strategies for revving up our work and play through entrepreneurial leadership. This book starts by providing strategies for integrating life, work, and purpose and ends by capturing the implications of the current entrepreneurial boom for our workplaces, learning institutions, communities, and families.
Christopher Gergen (Washington, D.C.) is a founding partner of New Mountain Ventures, co-founder and chairman of SMARTHINKING, Adjunct Professor and Director of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative at Duke University, and a life-long entrepreneur,
Gregg Vanourek (Thornton, CO) is a founding partner of New Mountain Ventures, former CEO of Vanourek Consulting Solutions, and former Senior Vice President of School Development for K12 Inc."
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780787988623 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wiley |
| Publication date: | 03/07/2008 |
| Series: | J-B Warren Bennis Series , #142 |
| Pages: | 256 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d) |
About the Author
CHRISTOPHER GERGEN is a founding partner of New Mountain Ventures and a lifelong entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and chairman of SMARTHINKING, the leading provider of online tutoring in the U.S. He is also a visiting lecturer and director of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative in the Hart Leadership Program at Duke University. Christopher lives with his wife and two children in Washington, D.C.
GREGG VANOUREK is a founding partner of New Mountain Ventures. Previously, he ran Vanourek Consulting Solutions and served as senior vice president of School Development for K12 Inc., and vice president for Programs at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. He is coauthor of Charter Schools in Action and lives with his wife and daughter in Denver, Colorado.
Read an Excerpt
Table of Contents
Foreword, by Warren Bennis xiiiIntroduction xv
List of Interviews xxvii
PART ONE: SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE
1 Understanding Life Entrepreneurship 3
2 Life Entrepreneurs in Action 25
3 Discovering Core Identity 38
PART TWO: PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY
4 Awakening to Opportunity 65
5 Envisioning the Future 80
6 Developing Goals and Strategies 93
PART THREE: BLAZING A TRAIL
7 Building Healthy Support Systems 111
8 Taking Action and Making a Difference 129
9 Embracing Renewal and Reinvention 145
Conclusion: Creating a New Future 165
Appendix A: Life Entrepreneurship Primer 181
Appendix B: Exercises and Helpful Resources 187
Appendix C: Interview Methodology 189
Notes 191
The Authors 199
Acknowledgments 201
Index 205
What People are Saying About This
Like jazz musicians, good entrepreneurs improvise, finding the roads less traveled. Life Entrepreneurs does a great job of capturing this spirit and sharing valuable lessons for work and life. (Gary Erickson, owner/founder, Clif Bar & Company, and author of Raising The Bar)
Bondage of the Mind is a strong, original, and very readable book that addresses an important topic in a clear and convincing manner - and it could not be more timely. It is not only for a Jewish audience or a liberal audience. I, myself, am a conservative columnist and former editor of a Catholic magazine, and I found the book captivating. Bondage of the Mind provocatively confronts issues of interest to everyone.
Bondage of the Mind is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of humanity. (Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, author of How We Believe)
The real question is not how to just make a living, but how to make a life. Life Entrepreneurs helps all who are struggling to integrate money and meaning in their careers to do just that. (Dr. Mark S. Albion, New York Times best-selling author, Making a Life, Making a Living®, and True to Yourself)
This is provocative reading for all those committed to creating a life of significance and meaning. Filled with helpful strategies and hopeful stories, Life Entrepreneurs is an intriguing, challenging guide for the next generation of leaders. (Wendy Kopp, president and founder of Teach for America)
R.D. Gold is a fresh new voice, a witty and mordant guide through the moral and intellectual chaos of the tribalism and special pleading that is Orthodox Judaism - and, by extension, all religious fundamentalism. I enjoyed this book immensely. You will, too.
Bondage of the Mind is a very important book - indeed, the most important book of its kind in the last hundred years. (Jacob Neusner, one of the world's leading Jewish scholars and theologians)
At last, a powerful guide to integrating life, work, purpose, and work-life balance, one of the greatest needs of leaders in all three sectors of the emerging work force. Christopher and Gregg bring a new definition, a new clarity to life entrepreneurship that will make a difference in the lives of leaders at every level. A great gift. (Frances Hesselbein, chairman, Leader to Leader)
Business leaders and entrepreneurs alike will greatly benefit from Life Entrepreneurs. It captures the essential qualities of leadership including finding a worthy path, being willing to fail, and taking courageous action. I highly recommend it. (Howard Schultz, Chairman, Starbucks Coffee Company)
In Life Entrepreneurs, Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek address the central issue of every emerging leader, ‘How can I design my life to be both fulfilling and significant?’ Through the life stories of many entrepreneurs who are impacting the world in dramatic ways, this compelling and refreshing new book provides deep insights that make it a must-read for all of us to use on our own journeys. (Bill George, author, True North and Authentic Leadership, former chairman and CEO, Medtronic)