the adventures of a first-time author

Phil Buckley

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Who is Phil Buckley?

10 20 30

10 20 30

4 years

4 years

21 years

10 20 30

29 years

4 42 2 15 1 1

28 change assignments

22 countries

2

3

Why write a book?

• Help people by sharing what I know

• Prove to myself that I can do it

• Build my brand (“I wrote a book”)

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Why buy your book ?

My book builds confidence in leaders managing big change projectsby preparing them for the questions they will face.

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What gap does your book fill?

How-to approaches to managing change based on the critical every day questions that must be answered well to be successful.

Universal Requirements for Change

How is the vision different, better, and more compelling than today?

Are the leaders personally committed to the change (are they willing to go first)?

Does the organization have the capacity to make the change (time, skills, and money)?

How ingrained is the current culture (and what is sacred)?

Will the change deliver the outcomes?

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Insights on Change

• People who must adopt the changes are the ones who control

the long-term success of a project

• If leaders don’t go first people won’t go

• If you don’t have trust you don’t have accurate information

• Cutting corners around people support cuts the likelihood of

success

• Decisions always have repercussions – people know them

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What was your approach?

Write

Edit Research

Design

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1. Create a step-by-step plan

2. Research market – competition, gaps, etc.

3. Launch a blog to capture writing process

4. Build network – LinkedIn change discussions,

etc.

5. Define structure and content of book

What was your approach?

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6. Create first draft – mind dump, journals, etc.

7. Get feedback from advisory team

8. Incorporate feedback

9. Professionally edit for flow, grammar, etc.

10. Approach publishers

And absolutely everything else

What was your approach?

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Assumptions Versus Reality

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June

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ResearchWritingSelf-editing

Professional Editing

Weeks

Proposal 8 20 2 4 2

8 23 4 21 3

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"If you want the energy to create the show, sell the tickets first." – Dan Sullivan

• Told friends, family, and former employer I was writing a book

• Committed to a weekly blog on my book writing experience

• Understood that this will shape my next career step

What kept you going?

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What did you learn?

• Write about what you know – you already have the content

• People want to help – ask for it, even from strangers

• Consider all feedback and use what makes sense

• Work when you are inspired; don’t when you are not

• Set productivity quotas – be your benevolent dictator

• Don’t focus on the odds of success

• Don’t stop – the longer you work the better it becomes

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• Creates something meaningful!• Builds a competitive

differentiator – people are intrigued• Learn a lot• Flexible schedule• No commute

Things to Consider

• Long timeline with few achievements to celebrate

• No signals to stop working• Loneliness (at times)• People have expectations

– “Is it done yet?”• It doesn’t always come easily

ConsPros

Photo credits:Slide 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ bluepeony/29453004/

Slide 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemsipmatt/3307844930/

Slide 4: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsaint/4839649221/

Slide 5: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlpawlowski/3053833206/