Digital Leader by Erik Qualman

In my class, we’ve transitioned into reading Digital Leader, a book with quite a different speed than Likeable. This one requires you to focus more on yourself in the digital world and how you reflect and affect your company or brand.

Digital Leader is written by Erik Qualman. The book is somewhat of an instruction guide to being a leader in the digital world. It is broken down into five main parts meant help you develop your own digital STAMP. They are Simple, True, Act, Map and People. This break down is super helpful in understanding how to apply the wide range of topics discussed.

I enjoy reading this book. I really like the tone, it is conversational enough to not feel like a lecture but motivational enough to make want to take notes and work on applying the “digital deeds” and other calls to actions he puts forward. I like that he doesn’t give one way to apply his suggested methods, it’s about making technology work for you as a digital leader. It has really surprising methods such as those surrounding conquering failure but doesn’t end the chapter without giving you examples and resources to understand why they work. The examples also feature of wide-way of leaders, companies and situations which add to the success of the book I think because if you can’t relate to one you probably relate the next.

My Favorite Quotes

“Fail forward, fail fast, fail better”

"When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion. - Abraham Lincoln

“It’s not a matter of if we are going to make a mistake in our online and digital presence. Instead, it’s a question of when we are going to make this mistake and how we handle it.”

“Utilize your strengths, meet challenges head-on, and continue on your path toward success.

"Your true personality is just a camera phone away from being discovered"

"If we dislike change but it is all around us, we are on a direct path to frustration."

"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs 

However, my only reservation is I think that the but is above my pay grade. I find it somewhat hard to relate to the examples and sample situations as a college student without much experience in the working world. I do suggest this book as a good read but I think it’s for someone we more experience in the industry.