Review by IreneAdler -- How To Be Successful
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IreneAdler
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- Latest Review: How To Be Successful by M. Curtis McCoy
Review by IreneAdler -- How To Be Successful
[Following is a volunteer review of "How To Be Successful" by M. Curtis McCoy.]
How to be Successful: Think Like a Leader is the most recent piece in the long line of coaching and inspirational books authored by M. Curtis McCoy. The book offers a combination of leadership advice and interviews with successful friends and relatives of McCoy. He is a successful entrepreneur and has a considerable following as influencer.
The volume comprises of twenty-seven chapters, including eight interviews. The chapters are short, fitting for aspiring entrepreneurs with a busy schedule. The author worked with a fixed set of questions, however, not all interviewees addressed all of them. These questions range from what the interviewees consider to be a pivotal moment in their lives to how they define success. Out of the eight interviewees (including McCoy himself), the author’s mother is the only women. An important common trait among the interviewees is their devotion to God, most of them express deep Christian faith, mentioning prayer as a key component in their decision-making mechanism. Therefore, this book might appeal to Christian or other spiritual readers especially.
The book has a sweeping narrative style, offering a wide variety of advice, addressing overlapping issues of personal development and honing leadership skills. I was impressed by the ease with which the author delivered on his promises. One central motif emerges out of the interviews, and often gets referenced in the advices chapters as well, that might explain why this book reads as an especially suggestive one. Most of the interviewees, including the author, share at least one absolute low point in their lives. In McCoy’s case, it was his cancer diagnosis, but we also read the responses of a former convict, and how the author’s mother made the difficult decision to escape from an abusive relationship. Their narratives about success and personal development are therefore, strengthened by the enormous obstacles they needed to overcome in order to become influential and wealthy entrepreneurs.
The message of the book is very clear: everyone can become successful through hard work and diligence. There is definitely a readership out there that can easily connect to this message and can implement many of the recommendations. However, there is little reflection on the constraints of the applicability of this framework. Most prominently, the male interviewees, while often emphasizing the role faith plays in their success, take their supportive spouses’ contribution and support for their career rather as a given. All of them are praising the importance of family but have such habits or recommendations – e.g. mountain biking in the morning – which are only possible if the children of the household are being taken care of by someone else.
The book shows the work of a professional editor, and makes an easy read; it refrains from profanity. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because it misses the opportunity to appeal to a broader readership through a more diverse selection of interviewees (I found the underrepresentation of women especially problematic) and the regrettable lack of acknowledgement of family support in the practical (not the spiritual) sense.
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How To Be Successful
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
How to be Successful: Think Like a Leader is the most recent piece in the long line of coaching and inspirational books authored by M. Curtis McCoy. The book offers a combination of leadership advice and interviews with successful friends and relatives of McCoy. He is a successful entrepreneur and has a considerable following as influencer.
The volume comprises of twenty-seven chapters, including eight interviews. The chapters are short, fitting for aspiring entrepreneurs with a busy schedule. The author worked with a fixed set of questions, however, not all interviewees addressed all of them. These questions range from what the interviewees consider to be a pivotal moment in their lives to how they define success. Out of the eight interviewees (including McCoy himself), the author’s mother is the only women. An important common trait among the interviewees is their devotion to God, most of them express deep Christian faith, mentioning prayer as a key component in their decision-making mechanism. Therefore, this book might appeal to Christian or other spiritual readers especially.
The book has a sweeping narrative style, offering a wide variety of advice, addressing overlapping issues of personal development and honing leadership skills. I was impressed by the ease with which the author delivered on his promises. One central motif emerges out of the interviews, and often gets referenced in the advices chapters as well, that might explain why this book reads as an especially suggestive one. Most of the interviewees, including the author, share at least one absolute low point in their lives. In McCoy’s case, it was his cancer diagnosis, but we also read the responses of a former convict, and how the author’s mother made the difficult decision to escape from an abusive relationship. Their narratives about success and personal development are therefore, strengthened by the enormous obstacles they needed to overcome in order to become influential and wealthy entrepreneurs.
The message of the book is very clear: everyone can become successful through hard work and diligence. There is definitely a readership out there that can easily connect to this message and can implement many of the recommendations. However, there is little reflection on the constraints of the applicability of this framework. Most prominently, the male interviewees, while often emphasizing the role faith plays in their success, take their supportive spouses’ contribution and support for their career rather as a given. All of them are praising the importance of family but have such habits or recommendations – e.g. mountain biking in the morning – which are only possible if the children of the household are being taken care of by someone else.
The book shows the work of a professional editor, and makes an easy read; it refrains from profanity. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because it misses the opportunity to appeal to a broader readership through a more diverse selection of interviewees (I found the underrepresentation of women especially problematic) and the regrettable lack of acknowledgement of family support in the practical (not the spiritual) sense.
******
How To Be Successful
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: How To Be Successful by M. Curtis McCoy
