Cambridge Business Association
Make Your Mark
Book

Make Your Mark

The Creative’s Guide to Building a Business with Impact

Jocelyn K. Glei and Scott Belsky
Amazon Publishing, 2014
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Editorial Rating

8

Recommendation

Editor Jocelyn K. Glei gathers essays identifying vital traits that creative professionals or “makers” need to build and lead successful companies. Twenty-one contributing entrepreneurs explain the qualities necessary for good leadership. The main sections address the importance of having a clear business purpose, the challenges of building a product and brand, the necessity of connecting with customers, and the need for creatives to become leaders. Glei offers lists, questions and exercises to help creative entrepreneurs learn to manage and to help them make the transition from makers to leaders. Each brief contribution provides busy professionals with digestible, applicable concepts and memorable stories. Four sections focus on these major areas, but just reading individual chapters as standalones can provide usable insights. Their ideas can revitalize an established company and lay a foundation of self-reflection for emergent entrepreneurs. getAbstract recommends Glei’s compilation to entrepreneurs, self-employed makers and executives in all creative fields.

Summary

“Defining Your Purpose”

As you leverage your creative work into a commercial venture, remember that a successful company does not exclusively seek profits or focus on products. A “purpose-driven” business wants to solve problems and “change the world” for the better. Pinpointing your firm’s purpose requires answering four questions: What does the world yearn for? What are your organization’s specific abilities? “Who has the company timelessly been? And who must it fearlessly become?” Use these questions to role-play, tell stories and become introspective.

These questions are equally relevant to seeking your personal purpose: What do you contribute to the world? What can you do that no one else can? Who are you at your finest? “Who must you fearlessly become?” Forget the ideas you have about yourself. Finding a purpose is not for ego building, but for identifying your core concerns. Use this exercise to arrive at a clear personal statement. A purpose reveals “emotionally intelligent stories” that communicate your goals.

“Why?”

As businesses evolve they must avoid remaining stuck in their established beliefs and patterns. Ask “why” your audience members...

About the Authors

Former global management editor at Flavorpill and founding editor of 99U, Jocelyn K. Glei also edited Manage Your Day-to-Day, and Maximize Your Potential.

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