IRRATIONALLY PASSIONATE BY JASON KOTHARI

                                                   

"You don’t lead by telling people but by doing” – Ken Kesey

The book Irrationally passionate by Jason Kothari, proves the above said quote and it is a sincere attempt to present the adventurous journey of an entrepreneur. The book contains eleven chapters that are in perfect order and pours in enormous information on entrepreneurial deals.

 Jason Kothari –the author of the book holds a B.S. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is a member of Young President’s Organisation (YPO). He held the post of CEO in Three companies and CSIO of the other. How all these happened? The answer lies in the book. His struggles, efforts he made to face the challenges and acquiring the top posts is a lesson to learn and undoubtedly an inspiring story to the upcoming entrepreneurs. He shares that Walt Disney is his contemporary historical source of inspiration.

The Author shares his experiences of his business deals starting from the age of eight. Starting with chess board, then pizza and then the comic book deal protrudes his initial entrepreneurial skills.  He also shares the way he was being encouraged to identify his true potential. I quote from page 9 of the book “”Don’t worry, Jason,” Neil would tell me encouragingly. “”Don’t compare yourself to me or anyone else. Everyone is different. You have many great qualities I don’t have, and you will find your own path and passion. It just takes time. Be patient. Your day will come.’’ Prophetic word

The Author emphasises to follow your passion, which will fetch you good results and higher rate of satisfaction. I quote from page 11 of the book ”As I always tell aspiring business people that your passion are your spirit’s compass. Don’t ignore them. Take them seriously. Embrace them. I know I did. And in the end, that made all the difference.

The words like Zanier, zilch, out sized challenges, pin in exactly in the spot. Author also clarifies about the use of the term warehouses in plural form, explaining the meaning of Harbinger, ‘’Turnarounds”, “Balloon payments”, detailed description of comic characters and providing “bottom line” shows the pain staking efforts taken to be   clear with the readers.

In page 130 of the book I quote “By the end of the meeting my interest in the Housing.Com CEO position had jumped tenfold. It would be an extreme challenge, the business equivalent of pole vaulting over a skyscraper”. This helps us to understand the toughness of the job and also ensure that no high post is attained easily. Every post demands a high level of talent and dedication. One more example for this is found in the page 173 of the book; “Wake up…… research from morning until morning…… steal few hours of sleep……………….and then get up and do it all over again. I would have a zero tolerance policy for suggestions based on hocus-pocus hopes and wishes. Instead, we were going to keep our heads out of the sky and our hands in the soil.”

The author specifies about being holistic in approach, making excellence a habit and to have 360 degree perspective to learn and succeed. Communication Confidence is the other key aspect dealt by the author along with his hall mark approach to turning around companies.  In the book Team building and team work is highly emphasised and appreciated respectively. Deep focus listening is explained and given a due importance in the book.

Apart from the entrepreneurial adventures, author provides valuable insights on:

1. Reading habits (comic books): how they influence the approach toward life

2.  Education

3.  Advice to parents: to encourage children to embrace their passion

4.  Handling family money

5. Indian spiritual history

6. Muay thai- martial arts

7. Greek Mythology

8. Personal assets

9. Not to compartmentalise Life and business

‘’Kriyaa siddhis sathve Bhavathi

Mahathaam Nopakarane”

(Niti Satakam of Bhartrhari)

Success of action always depends on the one’s own will but not on the means.

 The following is the proven example of the above said lines.

I quote from page 159 of the book “In the end the business strategy that my team and I implemented during my 18 months as CEO, worked. In fact, it was so successful that Harvard Business School later created a case study on our Housing .com turn around for one of their classes and asked me to come speak at the University on how we achieved it.”

Definitely the book IRRATIONALLY PASSIONATE will create a lasting impact on the readers and will guide the young entrepreneurs to create many success stories.

(Received a copy of the book from Blog adda in return of an honest review)