Author: Allan Cox

Publisher: Career Press; First edition

Pub. in: October, 2007

ISBN: 1564149552

Pages: 240

Measurements: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches

Origin of product: USA

Order code: BA01441

Other information: 978-1564149558

I began today watching an interview with Alicia Keys (CBS Sunday Morning), American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, pianist, actress, and author. Keys has sold over twenty million albums worldwide and has won numerous awards including nine Grammy Awards, eleven Billboard Music Awards, and three American Music Awards. Keys's success story is relevant to Allan Cox's "Your Inner CEO" and why it is an important read.

Keys signed a contract with Columbia records at age 16. Within a short period of time, she realized she had made a mistake. Columbia did not understand her or her music so they pushed her "to change" her style and be more like a young Madonna or Brittany Spears. This did not fit with Alicia's vision, mission, or "Style-of-Life" as her primary interest was to bring her unique brand of music to the public, not fame and fortune. She got out of her contract and was quickly picked up by recording wizard Clive Davis. Davis told her to be herself. The rest is history.

There is no faster way to create enduring unhappiness than to act against your beliefs, your desired "Style-of-Life," your personal vision, and your mission. When we act against ourselves, we betray our soul and our destiny.

Unfortunately, today's reality is that most of us today live in a world where people seem to be acting contrary to their beliefs with an ever-increasing frequency, living divided lives. The divided life has its attraction or we would not be drawn to it but it comes at a very real cost to ourselves and to the people around us. It is manifested in restlessness, disease, a reduced ability to contribute positively to society, and an inability to experience joy to the denial of selfhood, a general discontentedness, and the inability to engage in meaningful relationships.

Author Cox explores the "divided life" and provides a way to determine what goals are really guiding our life, if we are on the path that is our true destiny, and how to fix them if we are not. He then extrapolates this to teams and organizations.

Cox is a keen observer of performance, happiness, and the "fulfilled destiny." Like Ram Charan, Pat Lencioni, and others, he has worked with and observed hundreds of senior executives and leaders over the span of three plus decades.

Cox, a disciple of psychiatrist Alfred Adler, builds on Adler's concept of "Indivisible Psychology" which is committed to the flowering of the person based on discovery and expression of our unique wholeness-- our true indivisibility. The book begins with an exercise to discover hidden goals. The central goal that governs your life for better or worse, and the same for such a goal for your organization itself is an expression of purpose--for good or ill. Goals are engines of attraction, pulling you into the future in a way that either enhances your life or derails it. With guided self-examination you can ferret out these goals and rid yourself of them if they threaten you or nurture them if they support you.

"Your Inner CEO" begins with exploring existing and desired "Style-of-Life", vision, and mission. "Style-of-Life" centers on our organized convictions about life, which, at best, we are only dimly aware of. It has three elements: self-image - who am I?; worldview - what life do I lead?; and, a central Goal - what pulls me forward (the attractor which is either a looming threat or guardian presence). These three elements shape our actions and reactions.

Cox guides us in recognizing lost dreams and values, and the boundaries that keep us unaware and inept. Cox then provides exercises for developing "boundary competence" - the ability to cross a boundary that separates a dull life from an extraordinary life of a destiny fulfilled.

Success in the long run has less to do with finding the best idea or business model than it does with discovering what matters to us as individuals. Extraordinary people, teams, and organizations are simply ordinary people doing extraordinary things that truly matter to them and overcoming boundaries that limit awareness and performance. Extraordinary requires self-awareness and courage.

So as you lay plans for your career, your team, or your company, implement the steps necessary to excel. "Inner CEO" provides the framework and the necessary steps. "Inner CEO" requires time and attention to reap its rewards, but the rewards are great - wholeness and a compass that will point you to your destiny.

(From quoting Thomas Loarie, USA)

Target readers: Executives, managers, professionals and entrepreneurs.