About the Book
The “corporate contract” has been permanently broken. Today’s workers are free agents who sink or swim on their own. So what do you do about it? I wrote Free from Corporate America for folks like me - people who want to succeed in business, but on our own terms. There is a lot to be said for the entrepreneurial life, but running your own business is a hell of a lot more difficult than the informercial gurus would have us believe.
The last fifteen years have given me an opportunity to put business ideas to the ultimate test: do they pay the rent? I wanted to be successful without compromising my values or drinking the corporate Kool-Aid. When I graduated from college, I didn’t know much, but I did know this: I didn’t want anything to do with “pink slip culture.” But of course that was easier said than done.
Nobody should have to walk into work and train their overseas replacements. The best way to take control of your economic future is to adopt an entrepreneurial approach to your career. This does not necessarily mean starting your own business. It does mean developing your skills and creating assets that may someday put you in a more marketable position. “Financial freedom” might be one end result, but most of us would settle for comfortable living on our own terms.
This book is written a little differently than most: I’m writing it one blog entry at a time, so that you can read it as I write. Eventually it will be released in paperback form. I’ll publish it through my own company, so that I can retain total editorial control. The final book will be different than the “blog entry version.” The entries will be re-organized and polished and more “book only” material will be added.
I hope you enjoy what you read here. Responding to the global economy is a complex business; I’m not trying to solve everyone’s economic hardships, nor would I know how. But a lot of us are at the point where we don’t know where to begin. Well, we can begin by taking matters into our own hands and educating ourselves.
The best response to a changing circumstance is a creative one - one that draws on our strengths and relates directly to our core values. Most people who pat themselves on the back about “values and business” are full of horseshit. Doing business in accordance with your values take serious fortitude. There’s easy money out there that contaminates you as soon as you take it. On the flip side, there’s mortgage payments and hungry mouths, and how many of us bite our tongues in the cubicle to keep the roof over the family?
“Success with integrity” is not a weekend seminar, it’s a life’s work, and it’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do. If you pull it off, you’ll have my ultimate respect. Your way will surely be different than mine, but we can all benefit from the process of putting the most effective tactics in writing. And that’s what Free from Corporate America is about.
