George S. Smith Steve Burnett
Author bios
Steve Burnett, president of the Burnett Group, a management, brand, and communications consulting company in New York City, is a professor of communications design at the Pratt Institute. His company’s clients are a Who’s Who of global brand names. He’s also an accomplished artist, and is creator of the “whimsy” style of art.
George S. Smith, director of communications services for Topcon Positioning Systems, is a former newspaper editor and publisher, community development consultant, and national motivational speaker. He has taught management courses at the college level and has been a certified online instructor in strategic management and critical thinking.
Burnett and Smith are co-founders of Whimsy Creations, LLC, a firm that develops unique fund-raising products that involves mixing “whimsy” drawings and poetry for small, non-profit organizations.
They say …
Joe Ford
Former Chairman and CEO, Alltel Corporation
Partner, Westrock Capital Partners
Just when you thought you had seen the latest and greatest message about what steps people need to take to become great managers, along comes the Circumference of Me.
If you have read other books on management theory or practice, fine, but you need to read this one. It has been my pleasure to work with both of the authors on projects ranging from global communications to brand awareness to internal and external communications practices. They do not just talk a good game; they know their business.
Consider yourself warned: This is not your typical management book. The Circumference of Me is about … you.
It does not present the safe-at-all-costs practical side of corporations, management practices, and expected behaviors for employees. There is no do-this-or-else business theory included, nor is there the predictable management truisms speckled with visual word-posters designed to build Spirit, Enthusiasm, Motivation, Optimism, or Team Building.
Circumference of Me will give you a view of the various steps necessary to rise to the challenges of being a manager -- or a better manager – and create the environment for you to realize your potential through its unique presentation and content.
Kevin Dial
Director of Operations
CBIZ Medical Management Professionals
The Circumference of Me is a classic example of pull/push marketing. Most of us know – or think we do – what we want and who we are; it is the stopping to look and the prompting and pulling out of us that is usually needed more than the simple act of pushing an idea into us.
There is a fine line between teaching and shaping someone’s understanding and motivating their will to act. I believe an effective teacher has to do both and there is a nice balance in the lessons of this book.
There are two words to describe this book: Fresh and creative. The illustrations are directly connected to the writing and help the reader create a mental image.
Circumference has many mini-lessons about life and about business, to not only think about, but to remember and use.
This book creates a pathway to dream about things that really stir us up and make us better at what we do and not just create traditional goals. Encouraging that in people is very important and Circumference of Me shouts that message loud and clear.
John Trotti
Editor
Grading & Excavation magazine
At first, Circumference of Me seems to be an awful lot to chew, particularly for one who has "been there and done that" with varying degrees of success and satisfaction.
It was hard for me to want to let go of one thought and move on to the next. This is validation of the idea that "It's not a goal...it's a mission, so it's the journey that counts."
Smith and Burnett have found a way to draw the reader into their concept of management philosophy without a bunch of guideposts. Instead, the reader enters as a wanderer and quickly finds himself engaged.
Circumference reminds me of Rome, a city where you can walk the same streets day after day, a hundred times, and never become jaded...never feel that it's lost some of its freshness.
While it reminds me of areas where I've missed the mark, it also lets me check off the things I've done correctly; both are good exercises for the mind and spirit.
John Wallace
Retired director - Verizon Communications
Welcome to the world of George Smith and Steve Burnett-- where whimsy consistently opens the door to profound and practical insights.
Burnett crafts illustrations that are simple yet stunning, capturing the essence of chapters in minimal brush strokes. Smith paints word pictures like few others can, exploring life circumstances from a unique and insightful perspective.
The chapter-ending takeaways offer common sense that is, unfortunately, far too uncommon in business and government today.
Just read it. Put it into practice. You will be glad you did.
Bobbie Jean McCarty
Elementary Principal
Commerce (Texas) Independent School District
As schools have sought to meet the public demand for more accountability, educators have searched for ways to merge the principles of management in the business world with that of the educational realm. During 40 plus years as an educator and administrator I have read numerous “management” books and had yet to find one that could be so applicable to the educational community.
Circumference of Me is an exception to this. Build upon the principle of self-development and the dynamics of relationships, the authors have managed to connect the principles of business while reflecting the central component of effective educational institutions: First you teach the child. Without knowing and being comfortable with oneself, an educator cannot reach the heart of a student. The ability to have effective interpersonal skills impacts and extends beyond the classroom to the staff, parents, and community.
The whimsical drawings are wonderful for those who need more than the written word to grasp the total meaning of the thought. As any good piece of children’s literature, the illustrations should reflect the words of the author. The drawings by Steve Burnett are more than illustrations; they are intuitive and thought provoking in and of themselves.
Circumference of Me is an easy-to-read book, perfect for those who feel rushed, with great and lasting application to those in the field of education.
SECTIONS
Foreword
Circumference of Me
Unconditional Wisdom
Unconventional Wisdom
Processed Advice
Afterword
Foreword
Each chapter of The Circumference of Me was designed with someone just like you in mind, someone who wants to explore the realistic depths of his or her abilities, to think not only about realities but also about perceptions and how they influence our lives.
Circumference is designed to provide guideposts to enable you to improve your business self, enhance the understanding and expansion of your leadership abilities, develop a sense of the importance of the synergies that are possible if your business and personal lives are in sync, and to be as successful and personally fulfilled in whatever business you choose.
It is, in a single phrase, a take-away tool kit of ideas. Regardless of whether you own your own business, or where you now sit in a professional organizational chart, or if you are just starting a professional career, you will take something positive away from the Circumference of Me.
There are fifty-five chapters in this book and some of them – guaranteed! – will speak directly to you. As you peruse the Content Page, or check out the individual chapter headlines, you will quickly be able to identify the chapters that interest you at this point in your career.
When you start reading the book from the front, or when you start selecting chapters to read at random, you will begin to ask yourself questions:
Why did this chapter heading interest me?
What is the intent of the chapter and how can I use it?
Will this chapter give me advice to advance my career? Make me a better employee?
Better manager?
What was the take-away lesson?
Would that work in my organization?
What would people think if I tried that at work?
This book is not a cure-all for the Business Blahs. It is only one small piece in the multiple building blocks that make up your life. The individual chapters are tools to put into your business or association tool belt and pull out when needed. It is designed not to change the way you view your professional world, but to create a need to think about your business world and explore different options that might lead to success.
With its mixture of unique visuals and around-the-corner word images, Circumference of Me encourages you to take the different shapes and parts that appeal to you so you can think about you in a different way. You can take familiar patterns in your life and, using the ideas in this book, discover the possibilities that exist when you change integral parts and shapes. Like Lego building blocks, by using the ideas, thoughts, real-life examples, and advice in these pages you can take diverse pieces and design options for various pathways you choose for your life.
The chapters are designed to stimulate thoughts about how each individual looks at themselves and provides images – in drawings and words – to enable them to start to contemplate their personal shape and how they can start corralling the errant pieces of their professional lives and rounding off the corners to create a symmetrical Circumference of Me.
There are pieces of all sizes and shapes in this kit from which to choose. You can read them all or mix-and-match to suit your mood. You decide which parts are crucial to defining your personal Circumference of Me. Or you can use the individual chapters to create new boundaries on which to build your career … and life.
The challenge is to open your mind, to think, and learn; the challenge is accepting; the challenge is in your personal ability to view yourself from an analytical point of view and, where necessary, to change that which you decide needs changing.
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