Boom!

I loved this book! Although the Freiberg's write about blowing the doors off business as usual, I learned much more about myself personally while reading this book. While I would have rated my career life as pretty great and would say that I led a fairly fulfilling home life...I realized after reading BOOM! that I was not doing either to the fullest extent of my potential. To date, I have made just a few of the suggested changes (but plan to make more) and find I have more time, confidence, and control over my life. However, the most exciting change is that I am having more fun and I spend less time straining to get through day-to-day life and enjoying the journey by focusing on the positives. Thank you for writing BOOM! it is my favorite of the three books you have written.

"Boom!" tells us to stop whining. It tells us to get up off our butts. Get off the sidelines and get in the game and serve others -- and succeed in ways we can't even imagine. The world tells us it's all about us, that the way to the top is connive and backstab. Jackie and Kevin remind us there's another way. Everyone is free to serve, but so few do. Jackie and Kevin believe you are powerful beyond measure if you choose to serve others. Kevin once said: "If you were going to be really powerful today, what would you do?" Seems he and Jackie took this concept to heart in writing Boom! A must read.

While many people - and authors - lament the blurring of the lines between "work" and "life," Kevin and Jackie Freiberg have embraced the concept and created a roadmap to help readers dramatically improve both. While some of the insights in Boom! about embracing personal responsibility and leadership are simple, what makes the book stand apart are the authors' head-on approach that both challenges and supports readers to take the difficult steps necessary to actually live them. The online companion Boom Box provides even more and deeper resources that make great "bulletin board material" for personal motivation as well as "passalongs" for co-workers (and even bosses!) to spread positive change throughout the workplace. If you're looking for sharp, 360 degree insight into how your personal life directly impacts your work life, you'd be hard pressed to find a better guide book than Boom! And for those of us who understand that change is good but lack the motivation to make changes when the process or even outcomes appear too difficult, the Freiberg's are unparalleled coaches when it comes to making us all "players" at home and at work.

I have long admired Kevin and Jackie Freiberg -- they are gifted business writers and speakers. If you haven't seen them in person, then you should make a point of doing so the next time they're in town. This particular book -- Boom! -- is different from many business books of this type in that Kevin and Jackie take off the gloves and really tell it like it is. Boom! is NOT politically correct, and the Freibergs don't beat around the bush. Their mission is to fight the growing epidemic of Dead People Working -- you know, those men and women in many businesses who have mentally checked out long ago, but who still come to work to be sure they get that regular paycheck. The Freiberg's antidote is a mix of inspirational stories of people who are fully engaged in the work that they do (people like ski instructor/amputee Kim Francom, and the Dancing Cop, Tony Lepore) along with a series of seven prescriptions (called "Choices") for becoming indispensable on the job. These choices include such things as "Be a player, not a bystander" and "Choose service over self-interest." Long story short, Kevin and Jackie Freiberg have written an engaging book that is certain to forever change your work life -- and perhaps even your personal life -- for the better. Highly recommended.

Having just completed the book, I found it to be the Freibergs' best book yet! I thoroughly enjoyed their practical suggestions to become more engaged to my organization and to be able to make a difference to my employer and more importantly to myself. It is without any hesitation that I can recommend this book to just about everyone.