New Book Review: "Running with Purpose"
New book review for Running with Purpose: How Brooks Outpaced Goliath Competitors to Lead the Pack, by Jim Weber, HarperCollins Leadership, 2022:
Copy provided by Amazon.
One of the unique aspects of this book is the author's explanation of the history and purpose behind writing it in the first place. The push he needed to "commit, sit down, and write a book", in his words, came from Warren Buffett. The reason to write this book, was to tell the world about the Brooks story: "through focus, creativity, and hard work, the Brooks team has created an exceptional company, and I want more people – especially runners – to know about the brand." And from his perspective, the following are the most interesting angles about the Brooks story: (1) it's a great turnaround story, (2) it's a great David-and-Goliath, competitive strategy story, (3) it's a "purpose-driven" brand building story obsessed with runners, (4) it's a story about running with respect to the Brooks market and the author's "forty-year addiction to it", (5) it's a story about the Brooks dedication and commitment to helping managers develop into leaders, and (6) it's a story about the author's own personal journey, in which the reader might find useful lessons.
This book is broken down into 11 chapters to which Weber has interestingly associated a soundtrack, hearkening back to the music which filled his childhood home, as well as the playlists he has used during his many long runs over the years: (1) "Stumbling Out of the Blocks" – Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue" and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", (2) "Picking Up the Pace" – Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On", (3) "Pivot #1: Running Only" – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Running Down a Dream", (4) "Becoming an Authentic Leader" – Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages", (5) "Defining Moments: The Great Recession and an Earthquake in Running" – R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It", (6) "Meeting the Oracle of Omaha" – Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" and Pink Floyd's "Money", (7) "Pivot #2: Performance is Timeless (We Zig When They Zag)" – R.E.M.'s "Stand", (8) "Finding Another Gear While Navigating Global Disruptions" – Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime", (9) "Hitting a Wall: Fighting Cancer" – John Mayer's "Say" and Gregory Alan Isakov's "Second Chances", (10) "Filling the 'White Space' with Trust" – Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" and Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and "Chimes of Freedom", and (11) "On Your Left! Running Fast in a New Decade" – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Can't Hold Us" and Jakob Dylan's "Something Good This Way Comes."