Great Stories of Trial and Triumph – Living Life Uniquely You

Wherever you are along your leadership journey, I highly recommend reading Ron Kitchens book Uniquely You. Rich with incredible stories about his life and very humble beginning, you’ll definitely take away a greater understanding of what really matters when it comes to living a life of influence and authentic leadership. Ron is very candid about sharing the hard lessons he learned early in life. I really like that. For example, he tells a story about how he bought a Rolex watch “knock-off” and the embarrassment experienced after someone more senior says something about it. It takes guts to be so honest.  The people who came into Ron’s life and made such a difference to his future. By expressing their solid belief in him despite many obstacles made him really see his value and potential for greatness. I only wish that there were more stories like these being shared by successful leaders today. This is why the book is utterly refreshing to read. The stories are great and soaked in humility. Ron still lives the lessons he learned as a young boy. I really admire his resolve to make something of his life despite the real poverty he grew up with. I have to give great recognition to his mom.  She had so much to endure and yet through it all, her son became a very successful man still appreciating the value of mandarin oranges (read why).

There are fantastic resources in the back of the book that I have printed and will keep visible. There are core axioms to leadership which I found very helpful. I too share Ron’s prioritization on living our life based on who we really are rather than trying all the time to be someone we are not. He covers great topics, everything from family, authenticity in leadership, need for continuous learning, self care and achieving preeminence when it comes to running a business. This is one very successful man (check out his company Southwest Michigan First and Catalyst University) with a deep body of work on leadership development and life long learning.

I will definitely be looking into other leadership and life books by Ron. Highly recommend Uniquely You. I also like Ron’s writing style, very easy to understand and relate to. Thanks Ron for all the work and heart and you put into the leadership space. (4/5)