While there’s no doubt that some women are on the rise, the majority of us are still struggling to be valued professionally, financially, politically, and culturally, around the world and here at home. Whether it’s our fault or not, it’s time to ban together, stand up or take the driver’s seat and fix this.
According to new research by the Social Science Research Council’s Measure of America project, for our nation’s 5.8 million “disconnected youth”—the one in seven Americans between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four who are neither working nor enrolled in school. This cohort, whose numbers were stable for a decade, surged by 800,000 after the Great Recession and includes not only children from poor and minority families but significant numbers of white, middle-class youth as well.
It’s time for an upgrade. In Rana Florida’s latest book, she outlines what she considers to be the new imperative- integration of business and personal life strategies to improve the quality of our lives. In a recent interview with Rana, she shared her motivation for writing this book and the inspiration and insights drawn from the leaders she interviewed.
Upgrade: Taking your Work and Life from Ordinary to Extraordinary by Rana Florida McGraw-Hill 2013 review and author interview by Donald Officer and Kelly Okamura.
Rana Florida’s book, Upgrade rises above the somewhat-predictable list of seven key principles, thanks to her inquiring mind, diverse background, interviews with fascinating people, solid research, and honest, practical approach.
David Hershkovits of Paper Magazine interviews Rana Florida on her new book, Upgrade.
Rana Florida holds court on how to take charge of your life with Extraordinary book.
Day two of the 2013 B.C. Energy Conference in Fort St. John wrapped up Wednesday night with a banquet and keynote address by Doctor Richard Florida, a professor and best-selling author. Florida told the crowd of industry leaders and politicians about what he calls the “Creative Class”, and stressed the importance of tapping into the inner creativity of workers.
As entrepreneurs we are used to being our own one-stop-shop. Successful leaders know their own strengths and accept their weaknesses. Finding the right partners or teammates early on who can compliment your skills maximizes results and can often differentiate a successful business from a doomed one.
Last February, best-selling author and renowned “urbanist” Dr. Richard Florida took the stage at the 2013 Detroit Policy Conference, providing his analysis of Detroit’s continued comeback at MotorCity Casino Hotel. At the event, Florida stressed the importance of tackling urban development with an entrepreneurial spirit and remarked on how impressive the amount of progress made in Detroit has been.
About five months after his keynote speech, Detroit filed for bankruptcy, kicking off a nationwide discussion about the state of the city. The Detroiter caught up with Florida to discuss how bankruptcy has impacted his views of the Motor City.
