How Writing on LinkedIn Prepared Me for Writing a Book

I’m excited to announce that my book, Purposeful: Are You a Manager or a Movement Starter? is being published on May 22nd by Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It’s about how each of us has the power to start movements and features inspiring stories from activists and entrepreneurs as well as some lessons from my own career. I’ve included a summary of the book and some of the early reviews below.

I’ll be sharing some excerpts from the book on LinkedIn over the coming weeks, but before I do that, I wanted to talk about how and why writing on LinkedIn has been a key part of this journey. You see, I never really thought of myself as a writer. I’m one of those people who is more comfortable talking than writing and I often prefer visuals to words in my communication. So, in 2013 when LinkedIn asked me if I would write on their platform as an Influencer after I joined Change.org as president and COO, I was both honored by the invitation and overwhelmed at the prospect.

Although I wasn’t sure where to start, I did what I now know is a key step in starting movements — I just got started. I thought about the various people I had worked with and the experiences I’ve had and I realized I had learned valuable lessons along the way from each of them. To make it easier, I decided I’d just think of 5 things I had learned from each one, and start with bullet points about those lessons.

So I started writing them down: 5 Leadership Lessons I Learned from Teaching High School, 5 Career Lessons I Learned in the Amazon, 5 Mentor Archetypes I’ve Met and How to Spot Them, and so on. And it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I actually really enjoyed thinking back on those experiences and extracting what I had learned from them. The process of coalescing the lessons to share what I had learned with others cemented the learning even more for me as well.

I wrote next about people who inspired me: 5 Lessons I Learned from Robin Williams (that I wrote shortly after his death), Size Doesn’t Matter - 5 Lessons I Learned from My Mom, and my most popular LinkedIn post to date: Don’t Work with Jerks - 5 Lessons I Learned from My Dad. And so it went; I added posts about other people’s inspiring stories as well as frameworks I’ve developed and more. (Not all of them were in the “5 things” format, though that was helpful when getting started.) I found the LinkedIn audience to be very supportive. People added their own ideas and thoughts in the comments, which made me want to write more.

So in 2015, when I was approached by an editor at Penguin Random House about writing a book after a speech he had seen me give, my first reaction was “Could I do that?” And my second reaction was, “Why not?” If I had been able to write for LinkedIn, why couldn’t I do more of it and create a book? As overwhelming as it was at the start, I found that a similar process worked. By breaking down each chapter into key themes and each theme into a story about an inspiring person, I could essentially turn the process of writing a book into a series of shorter pieces that each had key lessons. Then the remaining work was about tying the pieces together, which itself was just another step.

...my first reaction was “Could I do that?” And my second reaction was, “Why not?”

Of course I had a lot of help — from the incredible people I interviewed for the book, to people who helped with writing, editing, feedback and other steps — it was a community of people that came together in support of the final product, as all movements are. My hope is that the stories and tips in Purposeful will inspire more people to believe they can be movement-starters and that more of us will step forward to do that, whether it is by changing something in our communities, our workplaces or the world.

Excerpts coming soon to LinkedIn. You can preorder the book here.

Here’s a bit more about the book:

--------------------------------

SUMMARY:

PURPOSEFUL explains how you can turn your mission into a movement that creates change – whether you’re at a startup or a political campaign, an intern or a CEO.

Dulski shows readers how to create a clear vision, inspire supporters, persuade decision-makers, navigate criticism and more. She pairs her own experience as a startup founder, tech executive and social change leader with powerful stories of movement leaders from both business and activism.

Our world needs movement starters more than ever, to make it more compassionate, just and even joyful. Packed with practical advice and inspiring true stories from all walks of life, Purposeful will empower you to start your own movement, and make your mark on the world.

 WORDS OF PRAISE:

“An inspiring call-to-arms for everyone who wants to change the world.” -- Arianna Huffington

“Purposeful teaches readers how to bridge the gap between a great idea and real impact, helping you learn how to lead world-changing movements yourself.” -- Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com & New York Times Best-Selling Author of Delivering Happiness

“Dulski discovered firsthand what it takes to move from being a manager of people to becoming a leader of movements. Now the rest of us can learn what she learned and join the movement. I’m in . . . the question is: are you?” -- Simon Sinek, optimist and author of Start with Why, Leaders Eat Last, and Together Is Better