Amazing News: Leadership and Self Deception (4th Edition) by the Arbinger Institute has made the Hudson News Bestsellers List! 💯🥳🙌

🤓 Fun fact #1: Leadership and Self Deception is one of Berrett-Koehler Publishers top selling titles of all time with over THREE MILLION copies sold! 

I am so happy and proud to have edited this 4th edition, in addition to two other bestsellers by the Arbinger Institute: The Outward Mindset and The Anatomy of Peace. 

🤓 Fun fact #2: I've edited 2️⃣ of @bkpub's 3️⃣ top selling books of all time: Leadership and Self Deception AND Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

BK is where I got my start in books almost 20 years ago. Yup, I've been in this game for a time ;) 

I remain ever grateful for BK, its wonderful editors—especially Steve Piersanti, Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, and Neal Maillet—and the amazing authors they have connected with me. ​

My authors come from all over the world, including Singapore, Malaysia, Uganda, Australia, Peru, Mexico, Ibiza, Germany, Uganda, and, of course the US. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of.

I’ve worked hard to seek out authors from different backgrounds and cultures. In them, I see me. And in me, they often see themselves. 😍

I’m a 4th-generation Chinese-Trinidadian 🇹🇹 who grew up in a melting pot of cultures—Chinese, African, Creole, British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian, Arab, Amerindian… and the list goes on. Because of this, I feel connected to so many different ways of living and experiencing the world. And now that I’ve spent most of my adult life in the U.S., married to an American and raising our mixed-race child here in San Francisco, I feel like I have a unique insider/outsider perspective when it comes to writing books—for both US and international audiences. 

Now, I’m a woman of Asian descent who has never lived in Asia.

So it was fascinating to me to see the similarities—not only in culture but in experiences in the workplace—that I had with co-authors Ritu G. Mehrish, CSP and Rajita Saxena, and the 200 women they interviewed for their recently launched book: Rewrite the Rules: How Women Leaders in Asia are Changing the Leadership Paradigm (PenguinRandomHouse Singapore, October 2024).

The differences were just as eye-opening. 😳

I am so proud of this book and the work Ritu and Rajita are doing to empower Asian women to “challenge the status quo and redefine success on their own terms.” I loved working with them, learning from them, and supporting this important mission. Happy Pub Week friends!​

😍 Here’s what Ritu and Rajita had to say about working with me:

Editing and writing are two totally different processes. Trying to do them both at the same time is not only frustrating, it's counterproductive. It's a recipe for getting stuck.

Trust: The words will flow much more smoothly when you allow them to bypass your editing brain. 

Take the time to create a plan for your writing before you start.

Then, write, write, write. Don't look back. Your only job is to get words on the page. Reviewing and editing will only break your momentum. 

Once you've completed your first draft—no matter how "incomplete" or crappy it may feel to you--take a much-needed break. Treat yourself! Do something else fun, creative, and restorative. 

And then, only then, start editing. You'll be coming at your work with fresh eyes and perspective and the mental and emotional energy to take your draft manuscript to final.