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Nobodies to Somebodies : How 100 Great Careers Got Their Start Peter Han 
 Format: Hardcover, 256pp. ISBN: 9781591840862 Publisher: Penguin Putnam Pub. Date: May 5, 2005 Average Customer Review: 
For Bulk Orders Call: 626-441-2024  Description and Reviews From The Publisher: Peter Han cofounded a software company soon after college and sold it a few years later. By any measure he was already successful, but he still was curious about how others found long-term meaning in their work. So he set out to learn what a diverse group of influential "somebodies" had done back when they were still "nobodies." Nobodies to Somebodies is based on Han’s interviews with one hundred fascinating people who figured out how to find and pursue big opportunities. They span a wide range of fields, including politics (former Senator Bill Bradley), business (Reebok CEO Paul Fireman), acting (John Lithgow), activism (Sierra Club president Larry Fahn), writing (Tom Clancy), science (Nobel Prize physicist Anthony Leggett), and the nonprofit world (Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp). Han synthesizes fourteen big lessons that anyone can apply, including: • Pay the rent first, conquer the world later • Become the big fish by mastering the small pond • Learn when to stay and when to go Nobodies to Somebodies blends inspiring stories with the proven wisdom of one hundred somebodies who haven’t forgotten what it was like to be nobody. Reviews "Books celebrating the successes of today's leaders are commonplace, however with 'Nobodies to Somebodies', Peter has focused on the all-important beginnings of careers. This is a valuable resource for anyone unsure of what comes next." —Brad Anderson, CEO, Best Buy "I love the idea behind this book. Successful people often want to tell their stories, and young people want to hear them!" —Ann Richards, Former Governor of Texas "When I started my career, I never thought I'd end up founding a company like Reebok. But those early years were really important to my development. I'm glad a book like this focuses on the stories of those early years." —Paul Fireman, Founder and CEO, Reebok "'Nobodies to Somebodies' is an inspiring look at people who have succeeded in ways measured not in dollars, but in visions and deeds that positively impact our world. I was pleased to be included among the leaders Peter interviewed. I hope the book moves readers to realize the potential for success and for good that lies within us all." —Millard Fuller, Founder and President, Habitat for Humanity International "I hope that Peter Han's humanization of so many of today's 'somebodies' will provide encouragement and inspiration to the somebodies of tomorrow." —Bill Phillips, Nobel Prize winner in physics "There were times early in my career that I definitely felt like I was choosing the path less traveled. It's very important for the next generation of leaders - whether they're in business, law, medicine, non-profits, or the arts - to understand their options, and to make informed and impassioned decisions about their life's work. Peter's book does a great job sharing what my generation learned along the way." —Ron Sargent, CEO, Staples "This is a fantastic resource for all those who are seeking to lead a life with purpose, and to maximize their personal impact on the world." —Wendy Kopp, Founder and President, Teach for America "Choices have consequences. The choices young people make early on shape everything that follows, and a book guiding and defining those choices is long overdue. Don't miss this one." —Steve Odland, Chairman, President, and CEO, AutoZone "Talking to Peter about this book brought back many memories for me. Those years right after college when I was in graduate school were important ones. Like anyone else, I nursed dreams, felt pressure, and had to make big choices. This is the guide I wish I'd had then!" —Daniel DiMicco, CEO, Nucor
From the Author Q: Why did you write this book? The book really started as a labor of love. In both the Introduction and the Conclusion, I allude to a conversation I had with a good friend back in the winter of 2002. I'd just finished a roller-coaster ride with my startup company, with some really exciting and happy moments mixed with really tough ones, and I was at a crossroads. I was trying to figure out what to do next professionally, and who I wanted to become personally. In that conversation back in 2002, it occurred to my friend and me that a lot of people our age, meaning twenty- and thirty-somethings, were feeling the same way. We have dreams, but we lack clear plans for achieving them. We work hard and have good intentions, but we drift sometimes. We're human, and stray off pre-set paths and neat career ladders defined for us by others. I took that for granted; the question was how people who'd gone before us, and done really well for themselves, handled the same kinds of issues back when they were anonymous young people starting their careers. Q: What did you learn from writing this book? This is definitely the question I hear most frequently! Not surprisingly, my answer is to buy the book! More seriously, though, I did feel like there were some interesting takeaways from the 100 people to whom I talked. What struck me was that despite their fantastically diverse backgrounds, the leaders showed a lot of similarities. I make clear in the book that the biggest lesson imparted by leaders centered on change and self-development. Somehow, I had a stereotype in my head that the types of people who become society's pillars - the CEOs, the scientists, politicians, artists, and so on - get to the top by following well-accepted paths, by being "straight A students in life". What I learned, though, was that this was only sometimes true. There were a lot of offbeat characters among the people I met! What was much more consistent was the leaders' capacity for recognizing potential growth in themselves, and then pushing towards that growth. The growth could be any number of things: it might be new skills, new industries, new ways of picking up information or relating to people. What mattered most was the energy and discipline to keep pursuing self-improvement. During the interviews, I was continually amazed at the number of leaders who achieved moderate success early in life, but remained restless and kept improving themselves. They never seemed to rest on their laurels: "Oh, I've reached the finish line." Even now, many have a youthful air about them, and I really believe it's that essential curiosity and restlessness that gives them their vigor and underlies their success. In the end, I realized that my conclusion was really fitting, because after all my book was about transformation - nobodies turning themselves into somebodies through lifetimes of hard work, integrity, and honesty. But it was interesting to come full circle - to start with curiosity about these people who'd made something of themselves, and then to see the gritty detail of how openness to small changes on a daily level enabled these leaders to create incredible change over the course of their lives. About the Author Peter Han, a thirty-year-old Harvard graduate, has written for The New York Times, The Houston Post, and the Associated Press. He currently works for Microsoft.  |
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