Show Transcript:
Never Forget Why You Are Writing This Book
A two-time author on remembering his purpose for writing and pushing through self-doubt
Today’s Invisible Stories guest is leadership expert and author David O’Brien. David is the president of WorkChoice Solutions, LLC, a nationally recognized provider of leadership and team effectiveness consulting services. His corporate consulting career spans over twenty years and includes key leadership roles within a variety of industries including Aerospace, Healthcare, and Financial Services. He also works with many small and emerging market leaders to bring about lasting organizational and leadership transformation. David’s books, The Navigator’s Handbook and The Navigator’s Compass share his formula for leadership excellence and using a combination of personal reflection, storytelling, and consulting case studies, David explores some of leadership’s most pressing challenges. He provides proven processes and methodologies for helping leaders at all levels to expand their influence and impact.
In this podcast, David shares how he took his years of corporate leadership experience and adapted it for his two books. His goal is to show that anyone can be a leader, not just in their career but in their lives. David and I discuss:
- Learning to let go of timelines and self-imposed restrictions to writing, and instead just allow the creativity to flow the way it naturally wants to.
- How leadership and storytelling really go hand-in-hand: part of what makes an effective leader is the ability to share stories, to draw people in with them and compel others into action through those stories.
- How writing a purpose statement at the beginning of your author journey may help to remind you what you are writing for, and who you are writing for, and can ultimately help you overcome imposter syndrome.
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The Navigator’s Handbook
Based on lessons from a distinguished twenty-year leadership career, The Navigator’s Handbook: 101 Leadership Lessons for Work & Life is a collection of observations and personal experiences that explore the common denominators of truly great leaders. Using a combination of personal reflection, story telling, and consulting case studies, author David A. O’Brien explores some of leadership’s most pressing challenges, including:
– Employee Engagement,
– Organizational Change,
– Leadership Communication,
– Development Coaching,
– Career Management,
– and Employee Satisfaction.
It presents proven processes and methodologies for helping leaders turn these challenges into opportunities for peak performance. Full of fresh ideas, interesting stories, and first-hand accounts from the corner office, The Navigator’s Handbook is an action-oriented and practical guide for helping leaders bring out the best in themselves and their teams.
Key Takeaways
David: [00:10:52] and our voice. Right. We want, we, you know, to the earlier point, we want to publish our purpose. Right. And, uh, and this is [00:11:00] clearly my purpose. And I think that’s, it’s such a, so many good points you make. Jenn, you know, when you, when you free yourself up of that, you know, uh, kind of the external influences and expectations, I think a lot of it is to provide, you know, external expectations.
[00:11:16] It should be this, or it should be that. Like, Oh, the 101 as an example. And when you free yourself up from that and get into your flow, I think of it as being in the writer’s flow, right. Where you kind of strip that stuff away and just get more deeply connected to why you’re doing it and what your intentions are behind it.
[00:11:37] That’s really the why. Uh, then you free yourself up to, uh, to not be burdened by that.
