Do It, Mean It, Be It: The Keys to Achieve Success, Happiness and Everything You Deserve at Work and in Life
Corrie Shanahan
Career Press (2017)

“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” Margaret Mead

I cite the Margaret Mead reminder because it expresses so well the importance of respect for one’s self as well as for others. In fact, it is difficult (if not impossible) to respect others if you don’t respect yourself.

There is no shortage of books that offer advice on how to accelerate one’s personal growth and/or professional development. Paralleling a bromide from the residential real estate industry that “for every house there’s a buyer,” it also seems true that “for every a self-improvement book there’s a reader.”

I have no doubt that for many people, Corrie Shanahan’s book will prove to be among the most valuable they will ever read but only if (HUGE “if)” they read it and then re-read it with care, and, then make a best effort to apply the information, insights, and counsel that are [begin italics] most relevant to their circumstances [end italics].

One of the major of strengths of Shanahan’s approach is that after she has briefly but sufficiently identified the WHAT and explained the WHY, she focuses most of her attention on HOW. I also admire her skillful use of Exercises and boxed self-assessments. These devices help to facilitate her reader’s interaction with the material. I highly recommend having a lined notebook (I prefer the Mead “Marble” model) in which to record notes, comments, questions, etc.

In Breaking Bad Habits, Freek Vermeulen suggests that sometimes “inefficient practices and strategies spread and persist for decades, or even longer. They persist just like viruses persist inn nature. They take on lives of their own and continue operating despite leading to suboptimal results in companies that embody them. The good news is that smart managers and purposefully identify and eradicate them, and then turn them into a profitable source of renewal and innovation.”

Corrie Shanahan fully understands how and why organizations as well as individuals can become hostage to what James O’Toole so aptly characterizes as “the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom.” It is also true that organizations as well as individuals can adopt practices and develop the kinds of habits that will help them to “achieve success, happiness, and everything [they] deserve at work and in life.”

I think this book will be especially valuable for those now preparing for a professional career or have only recently embarked on one. Also, to business coaches. And finally, I highly recommend it to all supervisors because the material will help them to expedite their own personal growth and professional development as well as the personal growth and professional development of those entrusted to their care.