Thanks to Rosemary Evans, former Principal of University of Toronto Schools for recommending this book to me by UTS Alum’ Asheesh Advani. I really enjoyed this book as an educator who works with highly motivated students and student leaders, and I can imagine this book being of great value to those students; though, don’t get me wrong, there were some real nuggets of gold for me too!

“Modern Achievement is a new way of thinking about the journey to success
and fulfillment that values the process of reaching your goals and objectives
as much as their attainment… Multiple and changing goals are and will be a
natural part of life and values the process more.”
(Advani, 10:32)

You would be interested in this book if you:
(1) Work with student leaders who want to challenge and change themselves(2) Work with highly motivated students who are looking for direction
(3) Looking for stories of and by high achieving students of their struggles and overcoming adversity
(4) Are an aspiring leader yourself looking for stories for inspiration and motivation

Structure of the Book:

One of the most effective pieces of the book is in the structure itself. The book is divided into 3 main sections: Fixed, Flexible and Freestyle. In each of these sections, Asheesh tells a story about his own leadership journey, and these are very effective; however, the true gold is in each of the lessons at the end of each section – sometimes by Asheesh and Marshall, and sometimes by students enrolled in the Junior Achievement program.

This makes the book manageable, and non-linear. You can pick up this book at any part to find an experience, a story and a skill that are valuable in today’s very unpredictable world. In this way, the authors provide a playbook, so to speak, to help understand, experiment, play and assess forward progress towards one’s goals.

Each of these three sections (Fixed, Flexible and Freestyle) and then subdivided into two sections: “self” and “career”. Lessons on how a Fixed approach can support one’s personal development is then expanded upon in the context of one’s career. In this way, this book is very practical and serves as a great reference for working with aspiriing youth, whether you are a mentor or a mentee.

This is the overall structure of the book and the main hypothesis of the authors. Namely, that much of what we know about good leader and leading in today’s world can be thought of in these three areas:

(1) Fixed: That meritocracy is not dead; that relationships and creating, maintaining and sustaining strong relationships with colleagues, peers and mentors; that hope and optimism are key skills to be learned, and storytelling is vital to strong communications.

In this section, the authors go through some excellent foundational knowledge, theories and insights of leading and leadership that is good for all of us to review; however, for young students, it is essential reading. For example, the authors address how meritocracy is not dead. Asheesh Advani tells his own story very effectively here, but also calls out the current notion that meritocracy is dead. He writes,

“I do not think that we live in a world where meritocracy thrives for everyone.
Meritocracy is defined as a system where everyone gets what they earn. Where
abilities achievement and merit matter most and determine how people are
chosen for positions…When class, race, ethnicity sex or any other personal
traits have outsized impacts on how we move through life and how we get access
to certain institutions, the meritocratic ideal is compromised… Exceptional
achievement, requires exceptional effort in all you do…”
(Advani, 2:50)

He goes on to really analyze the role of effort, merit, rewards, and the joy of the journey of learning. This is an important lesson for us at any age, but also am important thinking exercise for young students as they set goals and aspire to more.

(2) Flexible: In this section, the authors build on the foundational knowledge of leadership and leading, and of achievement to explain how one should adopt a flexible approach to decision-making, perspective-taking and resiliency. I found this section to be one of the most interesting and effective because of the use of stories and story-telling.

For example, in the section entitled “Don’t Let Feedback Get in the Way of Your Success” there is an excellent story about Asheesh’s journey in how to understand the purpose of feedback and how he muddled it with emotions and taking feedback personally. It wasn’t a positive experience; however, Marshall adds on to this explaining what “Feedforward” is. Feedforward is something that I was introduced to through taking a Certificate in Value-Based Learning at Royal Roads University, and I think that it is brilliant. While feedback focusses on what has happened, but we can only change the future – hence “FeedForward”.  The focus is on what is possible.

Marshall then outlines a structure for how to interact with others on giving and receiving feedforward. For many adults, this is valuable. But for young, aspiring leaders, it provides great context and understanding that their emotions when receiving feedback are natural, and how to handle and receive it.

(3) Freestyle: In this section, the focus in on designing and creating and innovating you – the reader. It is about designing the life you want. These 6 lessons feature a story of a young Junior Achievement participant. This section is story heavy, and these stories would appeal to a young, aspiring leader.

For example, “Embrace Your Inexperience and Cluelessness” – Asheesh draws upon his own early mistakes in his career, and how having a ‘novice mindset’ can be an advantage. Just because you don’t know the knowlege and experience required to set and achieve a goal, building on what you have learned in “Fixed” and “Flexible”, you can access the people, resources and experiences to get that knowledge. When speaking of his own journey, Asheesh writes:

I believed that I could bring an innovative lens to the organization or industry.
At times I would even call my inexperience an advantage that heightened my
optimism for what could be achieved…I call this approach “Naive Audacity”.
You can be audacious when you are inexperienced, and clueless and you can
be bold…”
(Advani, 4:22)

These lessons, and the stories that bring them to life are told in ways that are accessible and relatable to today’s aspiring youth.

I would recommend this book for two main reasons: the first is that you are hearing first hand from leaders and youth who are living the world right now. You hear from them about challenges, opportunities and their hopes and dreams. I feel that I have some concrete examples of how the world has changed since I was in highschool both socially, economically and politically. These stories bring to life how their tellers have navigated their pathways to where they are now, and how they plan to get where they want to go.

The second reason is that this book’s structure means that you can pick it up and flip it open anywhere and find a valuable leadership lesson, and associated story to go with it. It is a great book to have on hand, and even though I listened to this book on Audible, I will definitely buy the published edition to have on hand.