Jonathan Stanley on Purposeful Performance and Going Viral

Give people a quick the. The 62nd what your book is about and then I would love for you to then tell them a short version of what has transpired in the last month in particular.

So my book is about bringing humanity back to the workforce. It's really about leading with purpose and values that are aligned with that purpose and moving forward towards the aspirational change you want to make in the world with intention. The second part of the book is a strategic framework to help people achieve those goals and fulfill their purpose. It was a lot of fun writing the book and so I had this sort of moment in the universe where I was doing a Barnes and Noble signing and this little four year old girl, she bravely walked up to my table and told me that she wanted to be an author when she grew up. In that moment, it was just really special. She told me she created her first book and she touched my heart. At the same time, I didn't know that her mom, Taylor May, had recorded a 10 second video of me sitting alone at the table with no one stopping by when, when Taylor was there. So she posted this TikTok video that went HyperViral, a 10 second video that went hyperviral and touched every corner of the globe. Overnight I became an instant bestseller. Within a few days I was on Amazon charts for the most sold and read book of all books, placing at number nine. And of course with all of this came all of the media requests from People magazine to the Wall Street Journal to cnn, NBC News, getting national attention in Canada. It's been a wild ride.

I also want to take a step back and talk about how you were ready for this moment, which I think is something people miss, you know, when, when they see, oh, that was lucky. And I even saw some crazy comments like that. This was all a contrived PR play. And you know, you were out there promoting your book, you didn't stop, you were still doing book signings, which I always tell people, they look so cool in the photos, but they really are quite humbling I think is a good word as an author. Because people come by and they're like, do you know where the Starbucks is? Where's the cookbook section? Have you seen the bathrooms? And you're like, I got this really cool book, do you want to talk about it? And they're like, oh yeah, yeah, maybe later.

Exactly.

So yeah, so talk about what was some of the preparation that led to you being able to, you know, make the most of this moment.

I first want to see that, you know, the, the Media sort of took this angle that, you know, I was a lonely author, you know, sitting at a Barnes and Noble, and I want to say that that's not the case. I was incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to be at Barnes and Noble that day. And I think it's a privilege as an author to be able to have the opportunity to. To share your message with the world. And so, you know, I came back from that book having sold 12 books and I shared with my wife that it was a great day. I mean, I was really lucky to have the opportunity to speak with people and showing up is so important. And so from the moment the book was published, I really focused on the message. I started going and attending podcast interviews and having a LinkedIn strategy in terms of the message I wanted to share. So every sort of piece of this was about reinforcing the message I wanted to share with audience. But my entire goal through this process was to touch one person, to make a difference in one person's life. And sort of. The amazing thing about this is I. I write in my book about the power of kindness and, and how it can, you know, a small act of kindness can have a ripple effect that reaches every corner of the globe. And that moment was reflected back at me. I mean, I've had thousands upon thousands of messages from every corner of the earth. And the love and support, encouragement has been absolutely incredible. So I think there's a learned here. And number one is believe in you. Number two, believe in your message. Number three, have a strategy behind that message. And show up. Continue to show up, even when it's hard, even when no one's watching. Don't seek the approval from others. You know, fulfill that purpose even when no one's clapping. Just get out there.

It's so important. And that's why I love your story so much, because you touched that little girl's heart and vice versa. And now everybody around the world has. Has seen it, and thousands and thousands of more people have read your book. Even watching the Amazon reviews climb in the week after it was incredible. And people weren't just buying your book, they were immediately devouring the book. So it's good you had a good book when this happened.

I would say, Julie, that this would have been sort of a flash in the pan, that 15 minutes of fame, if the book didn't stand on its own. And so I've been very blessed, of course, and to hear back from readers that they're motivated and inspired and it's changing their perspective on leadership. I mean, that's deeply moving. And I've shared this with you, Julie. I mean, the most important part of this process for me was editing and working with your team and having those tough discussions. More than 60 pages of my book ended up on the cutting room floor. And you've got to be open to that. You can't be so in love with your story that you're not willing to give up pieces of it. And so you've got to strive to be the best version of yourself and be thoughtful about the tough discussions you need to have about what's working and, and what's not working and, and why it's not working. And so, you know, elevating that book was so important to the process. It really sort of took it from, you know, a possibly three and a half star review to five star reviews. And, you know, the outcome of this is, you know, I've got reaching out to me from every corner of the globe looking for foreign translation rights. I mean, it's just been an incredible privilege to be in a position to help others succeed.

I'm sure there's questions and we have other questions that we can bring up that you might answer as well. But I would say, what are you most excited about right now? Now that all of this has, I wouldn't say settled down because I know there's still lots of things happening. But what is happening right now from all of this that you are most excited about?

You know, for me, it's the opportunity to touch so many more lives. I can't speak in terms of confidentiality, but there'll be a press release in a couple of weeks and it's really exciting. So the book is going to go to much wider distribution and I'm really excited about that.

Some people are curious, like how everyone chose their titles.

I completely relied on Julie and her team to come up with some concepts around title and I let them fly with it. And they gave me 10 variations and I fell in love with purposeful performance, which by. I was on this sort of wild phone call yesterday with the publicist for bands like U2 and David Bowie and Depeche Mode and New Order. And he said to me, I love the title of your book, man. So thank you, team.