Practical Genius: The Real Smarts You Need to Get Your Passions and Talents Working for You

Leadership development coach Rudan challenges readers to intertwine their strengths, passions, and values to establish the complete formula for success. She offers a series of reflective exercises to help readers find their innate genius by identifying, taking responsibility for and using both their own soft assets (values, creativity, passion) and hard assets (strengths, skills, expertise). Rudan surrounded herself with authors, educators, and entrepreneurs who were living at the intersection of what they love and excel at, and she likewise encourages readers to cultivate meaningful relationships that will feed their genius, incorporate brain food into their diets, get plenty of sleep, consume content voraciously, and learn to shut down and unplug to let their own intuitiveness flourish. Rudan warns that meaningless tweets deplete genius. Although her methods sound familiar, this serves best as a workbook for corporate clients who have gone through her coaching firsthand. As a stand-alone without the full force of her personality, the book feels flat and hackneyed. Illus. (Oct.)