Book Review
Firestarters is the most appropriate book to begin 2018, the year of creating the life that you want to live. As we wake up to realizing that now is the time to reach for our dreams, this book, Firestarters, guides us by giving deeper insight and guidance on how to make things happen.
In the first pages, the authors, Raoul Davis Jr. , Kathy Palokoff, and Paul Eder, set our thinking straight: "Here’s what we believe. There are characteristics that individuals possess that can be amplified in the right situations to help them on the road to becoming a Firestarter."
With such a promising vision, the trio then unveils gems of wisdom and experience from their different perspectives that seem to weave together into luxuriantly meaningful phrases. Savor the first chapter that gives the reader some background information and explains how to use the book. Then launch right in!
The authors chose the term "Firestarters" to describe what others may call "movers and shakers," the people who make social, political, and economic changes in their communities, industries, and the world. The book explains key principles through looking at examples of success makers such as Oprah Winfrey, former Apple CEO John Sculley, teenage change driver Maya Penn, and recording artist Tupac Shakur as well as profiling remarkable people you have never heard about. The authors add a nice touch by sharing their own Firestarter dynamics through their parts in creating the book.
After grasping the change-maker quality of a Firestarter, the book breaks down the Firestarters into three types: Innovators (people who create), Instigators (people who disrupt) and Initiators (people who begin). Each type gets a voice through the authors: Davis, as the Innovator; Eder, as the Instigator; and Palokoff, as the Initiator.
The Firestarters book is, in itself, a product of using the principles to manifest a vision by showing what it takes to ignite, fuel, and accelerate a dream. It is also a useful guide on how others can either support or extinguish the ideas and actions of Firestarters.
The clear construction of the book's content presented through experience, analysis and research makes for a fascinating and easy read. The concept of the Firestarter, though novel, becomes a tangible phenomenon that each one of us can start to relate to, feel, and embody. This book sends sparks of hope and enthusiasm through the readers as they uncover their own potential. It is a gift of empowerment to both individuals and organizations.
Firestarters is a simultaneously grounded and visionary book. By using examples, the book anchors us in the reality of our common knowledge. Yet, beyond the factual foundation is a very well thought out model of success that these authors describe exceedingly well. They emphasize that success is not determined by personality, DNA or any other stagnant quality, but by "a phenomenon that requires multiple aspects of the self and situation to be in harmony."
The authors' rooting in research allows them to fly with bold statements such as "Cognitive convergence is a learnable state of mind". Basically, what they are saying is that any person can learn to have the mindset of the most successful persons, regardless of the current perceived situation or how stuck they feel in any moment.
There are many fresh insights in the book that the reader can recognize as qualities of persons who are change makers.
· A flexible identity is a success builder. "Firestarter types have the ability to be both stable and transient. Individuals may have a dominant type, but in the moment, Firestarters are flexible."
· Another key quality is discipline and engagement. "They [Firestarters] perceive a high degree of control over their thoughts and actions and freely choose endeavors that allow them to capitalize on the type of effort that is most personally motivating."
· Engagement means being real and accepting of your self. This includes protecting your vision and efforts. "Firestarters avoid or overcome elements of the environment and themselves that threaten to extinguish their flame."
· Taking authority and authorship over one’s personal vision is another sage insight revealed in the book. "They embrace the world as it should match the vision in their heads. And when something is missing from that vision, they fill the gap."
This trio of authors reveals grounded wisdoms in multifold by sharing what they have learned about success makers and then giving concrete how-to advice as well as individual and group exercises. This short review can mention just a few of the juicy bits in the 300-page book. Read it and feel like you have received several weeks of professional coaching.
I predict that Firestarters will be a foundational book for many budding success stories, which potentially includes all of us. "Firestarter" may become the new buzz word for 2018.