A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million

About the Book

The title grabs you, doesn’t it? Of course everyone wants to set themselves apart from the herd. But how do you do that? And can just about anybody do that?

A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million answers those questions. It contains and conveys a set of lessons and examples of behavior that, if practiced, allow us to be different—different in very positive ways. Is there anyone who wakes up in the morning and says, “Today I want to go out and be part of the herd,” or, “Today I think I’ll just blend in with the masses”? However, doing your job well in today’s business environment is the price of entry. Just doing a good job doesn’t ensure success and it isn’t the attribute that sets us apart. The differentiating factor really lay in being different. So in today’s business culture, whether you work in a mega-multinational company, a small business venture, or even if you work on your own for yourself, in order to be most successful, we must find a way to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the pack. Companies have strived to do this with their brands and products since the birth of consumerism. But, just like with products, it’s not about being gimmicky or superficial; the old “dress for success” isn’t good enough and isn’t where we’ve evolved. What this book is about is providing ways for you to differentiate yourself in a manner that is valued and appreciated, and in a way that should produce a meaningful impact to your success. Most of these observations transcend business, and actually have broad appeal and relevance that can be applied in our personal lives, thereby developing ways to become one-in-a-million with our spouses, children, friends, and colleagues.

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A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million is specifically constructed to be a quick read catering to the needs of the target audience: a generation of Americans who, at this time in their lives, work hard and play hard, and are looking for the best bang for the buck in all that they do. As the author explains, some of the most important and impactful advice he has ever received was given in a sentence or two. A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million delivers this bang for the buck.

About the Author

The author, Steven J. Heaslip, has worked for more than twenty-five years in the human resources field. Much of that time was spent with mega consumer products company Unilever. Armed with his undergraduate degree in chemistry, he started out as a production supervisor trainee in a soap factory in Toronto to eventually become the senior vice president of global human resources for Unilever’s Elizabeth Arden business headquartered in Manhattan.

Recently, as the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for International Flavors & Fragrances (a publicly traded 2.5-billion-dollar enterprise with approximately 5,500 associates operating in 37 countries around the world) and as a guest lecturer at Columbia and Fordham universities, Mr. Heaslip finds himself imparting these critical behavioral lessons to many young managers, business school students, undergraduates, and the like. The response he elicits from them is dramatic.

So that’s what this book is about. It’s about separating yourself from the herd. It’s about making yourself unique. In an everyday and conversational manner, with real anecdotal examples, A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million distills the author’s twenty-five-plus years of observation and experience into clear, crisp principles by which to work. It illustrates, in a relevant manner, that there are A Million and One Ways to be One-in-a-Million.