A REVIEW OF ADEMOLA AKINBOLA’S NEW BOOK – VALUE CREATION: YOUR PATHWAY TO ENDURING BUSINESS AND CAREER SUCCESS
A new book is always a thing of joy, not only to the author but also to knowledge seekers and avid book readers who believe in continuous self-improvement. Being his sixth book, Ademola has over the years carved an enviable niche for himself as an author of repute specializing in management texts that focus on how to support career professionals and business managers in their bid to perform better and deliver enhanced results.
Value Creation: Your Pathway to Enduring Business and Career Success is, therefore, a continuation of Ademola’s efforts to share knowledge with those who desire to be relevant, successful, and impactful in their careers and businesses. The 220-page, six-chapter book with an illuminating cover is well laid out on a cream paper with an appealing, eye-friendly font that makes reading a pleasure.
The simple, breezy style the author employs makes the book easy to comprehend, and you can actually read the entire book in three days if you are a voracious reader. However, this is not a book you should read in a hurry. It is a book you should read several times while also making copious notes of strategic insights you should apply to your personal or corporate brands.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The book is targeted at career professionals and entrepreneurs who are deliberate about building valuable brands by producing value-adding products and services that will meet the identified needs of consumers and exceed their expectations.
THEME
The central theme that runs through the book is the overaching relevance of value creation and value addition in building and managing personal and business brands. The author dwells extensively on the need for individuals and organisations in the private and public sectors to build strong brands that thrive on value creation. He also harped on the need for strong corporate reputations for businesses to become valuable and impactful.
Dwelling on his professional experience spanning over three decades, the author writes from the point of view of a hands-on manager who has seen a lot and done a lot in the areas of corporate communication, branding and reputation management.
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FOCUS
The book focuses on how a value re-orientation revolution could be achieved in the private and public sectors. He identifies the patent lack of appreciation of the need for value creation and addition in Nigeria while enumerating strategic steps that should be taken by career individuals, entrepreneurs, corporate bodies, and public sector organisations to become value-driven, impactful, and valuable to their stakeholders.
CONCLUSION
CEOS, career managers, entrepreneurs, and government officials will find this book an inseparable companion. The book is a strategic roadmap for organisations that are value-driven and vision-propelled. It is a must-have for CEOs who are focused on building strong corporate brands that can deliver value to stakeholders while achieving sustainable and trans-generational profitability.
The author needs to consider writing a sequel to this book with the objective of a further deep dive into some salient sub-themes which he mentioned in this edition. Value creation is a wide field and the author will do well to consider a further exploration of the subject in subsequent editions.
On the whole, Value Creation: Your Pathway to Enduring Business and Career Success is a “damn good” book, to borrow that popular American slang. It is an uputdownable book that I strongly recommend to you. It is a book that will add value to your career and business if you endeavor to internalize the various action points recommended by the author, and also immediately put them to good use.
Alabi is CEO, Prospers Strategy
