You Can Culture

If I were to read this book the way the author intends me to, I may never get the right time to brag about it and get as many people to read it, and that would be a shame. So, my sincere apologies to the author and heartfelt gratitude to the Publisher for granting me an ebook copy of this to read in exchange for a review.

You Can Culture delves in values-driven leadership and what it means to create, have and sustain a culture in an organization that thrives. There are 4 main habits that every leader ought to have to pursue this goal, and the habits one can explore and practice are broken down so that anyone who reads this book can go on a 12-month journey of practical life lessons.
Of the four main habits, I found myself drawn to the second habit "Get Clear," because I struggle with clarity and most recently the question of can one have permanent values or can they change based on a situation? If they change based on situations then what does that mean integrity-wise? Are we as ethical as we say we are or as we think?
I love how each chapter draws examples from case studies, situations where organizations and leaders had to take action and how they went about it.

The layout of the book is easy to follow and the introduction provides details on what to expect, so if a reader wants to know about one habit, they can easily track down the chapters and read on them-and also answer the reflection questions. It's a thoughtful way of ensuring the reader is engaged.

I would recommend this book as one to read for anyone in leadership or aspiring to lead, and also as a great companion for anyone in an organization.

I am writing this review for the potential readers of this book as well as the future me.

I received an eARC from #netgalley and #amplifypublishing.
Thank you to them and everyone involved in the publishing of this book. I read this book a couple of weeks ago (summer 2024).

Firstly, a bit of professional-and-personal-preferences context to help understand my rationale in this review. Due to my personal values and principles, I’m a bit distant to topics involving business.

Secondly, I have some professional experience at corporates, and worked in various positions; some involving management, and in different departments and industries from sales and marketing to IT, copyediting to customer/client relationships.

I consider myself an artist first and an educator-researcher second or simultaneously, rather than a corporate leader or manager. Nor have I the intention to become a business leader, but occassionally, I pick business books up as a form of guilty pleasure (like watching Nic Cage films) and/or to see if there are any changes, updates, new practices and insights, and especially those that can be implemented to creative practices, academia, creative industries, quotidienne life and be shared with our leaders, decision-makers and when I am in such a position/situation of decision making.

I requested this book with these in mind - keeping an open mind but due to the extensive amount of crap in self-help, reference, business publications, I was ready to read this when I was on a commute, and not get much value out of it. I was positively surprised and I loved the presentation, structure, the prose, the practical and genuinely useful and insightful discussions, questions, references in this title. I was able to take away plenty. Unlike similarly themed books, anything that is common sense or well known was presented from a different perspective and most of the inights were nuanced, focuses, specific and fresh.

The slight con was about 5% of the content is repetitive. Otherwise, this is what I expect from a non-fiction book. I loved the emphasis on progress, awareness, regaining trust, accepting mistakes, evolution of the culture, seeing mistakes as part of a whole cultural/systemic root, the values, principles and the culture. Funny as it might sound, I saw the insights as insights for life, being a better human and a trustworthy guide when people need to look up to you.

This book definitely represents a journey. I was really in awe of the authors openness. The stories are really interesting and it’s a bit of a manual for life really at work and beyond. I think this is a book I would come back to again and again for inspiration and guidance.