The Half-Full Book Review – “The Radical Edge” by Steve Farber

I became acquainted (virtually) with Steve Farber through Phil Gerbyshak – he is a big proponent of Steve’s “WUPs”, or “Wake-Up Pads”. Intrigued as I am by so many of Phil’s typically enthusiastic recommendations, I subscribed to Steve’s blog to find out more. One day I came across a post where he articulated the core theme of his book, The Radical Edge, in the form of a question: Is it really possible for a leader to “stoke their business”, “amp their life”, and yes, even “change the world”, all at the same time? Now this is a lofty trio of possibilities, to say the least. He supplemented this question with a link to a video by an organization called Ashoka, which showed several cases of “leading entrepreneurs [who] are creating a world where everyone will be a change maker.” I looked at the video with great interest, and drew enough inspiration to post a comment that said, “Yes Steve, it is possible”.

I subsequently used this post and another by Trevor Gay as a basis for a post of my own that paid tribute to those who would dream of taking leadership to a higher, more noble plateau. I then went about buying the book so I could see for myself how this dream was fully articulated, and how those “WUP’s” fit into it.

The book is written in the form of a story written from Steve’s perspective, with a set of characters used to put “The Radical Edge” in a practical framework. The tale centers on Steve’s effort to coach a character named Cam Summerfield, a highly successful Type-A salesperson that has risen to a Senior VP position, but is “flat out brutal” with the sales team he manages. While there are other characters that support Steve’s effort to turn Cam around, the most important one is Agnes, a 90-year old owner of a local restaurant called The Wake-up Call (clever name!). A series of events lead Steve and Cam to her restaurant, and that’s when the path to The Radical Edge is revealed, step by step, with the WUP as a key element in the process.

It was a refreshing twist to a book like this, because by having characters speak the words rather than displaying bullet points, it allowed me to “see” The Radical Edge as applied by Agnes and her circle of friends. I had to suspend reality a bit though, because a lot of the “explaining” dialogue, and especially Agnes’, was quite “dense” and almost too literate. But since this was a leadership lesson and not a romance novel I was able to get past that very easily and absorb the concepts as they unfolded.

So what about the Wake-up Pad (WUP)? It’s a powerful enabler of the process, because in order to get to The Radical Edge, one needs to carry it so they can:

- Scan the environment and write down what is seen and heard, unfiltered
- Review, ponder and reflect about what’s written down
- Talk about it (with teammates at work, for example)
- And then, try something new

According to Steve it’s really the “secret sauce” to eventually finding a core living principle, or “frequency”. “Tuning in” to this frequency and then “Turning it up” in all aspects of one’s daily activities is a critical part of the process, because it opens the gates to a more meaningful and productive business experience (I really liked one of Agnes’ key lines – “doing what you love in the service of people you love”), and sets up real opportunities to change the world (or whatever “world” is defined).

After digesting all this you really do get the idea of the “Radical-ness” of the premise of the book, and why even after it was published Steve is still asking the question – is it possible? He’s trying to take leadership to an entirely different place – a place that dares to go beyond “business success” and into the realm of self-realization and finding one’s place and purpose in this world. Yes, Steve Farber is a dreamer, and he has succeeded in bringing his dream to vibrant life in “The Radical Edge”.

Next up, a little change of pace: “1776” by David McCullough

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