Be Unreasonable: The Unconventional Way to Extraordinary Business Results [Hardcover]

Paul Lemberg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 007148163X | ISBN-13: 978-0071481632 | Publication Date: April 25, 2007 | Edition: 1

When you're reasonable, you use the same strategies everyone else uses. You do things like set your goals a bit higher than last year's, say yes to things because everyone else likes them, and pad your deadlines so you can reach them on time.

Being reasonable about your business will only bury you deeper in the pack. If you want to get out in front, you have to break away from yesterday's conventional thinking.

Paul Lemberg shows you how unreasonable strategies can bring you unprecedented success. Through real-life case studies of successful and unreasonable businesspeople, Lemberg shows you how to

BE Uncompromising by sticking to your goals no matter what.

BE Demanding by expecting more, not less, from everybody.

BE Critical by changing old systems that just don' t work.

BE Outrageous by creating your own Business Brain Trust.

BE Prepared for real success on your terms.

Paul Lemberg, one of the world's leading business growth consultants, teaches top level executives and entrepreneurs how to get more out of themselves, their companies, and their clients by using strategies that sidestep the prevailing business thinking.

Being unreasonable is about assessing the situation and leaping into the unknown-not foolishly, but courageously. Only by going against the norm, and perhaps ruffling feathers, can you be competitive, innovative, and successful.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Sometimes, you have to be unreasonable to be unbeatable.

Paul Lemberg's Be Unreasonable makes it easy for people to step beyond the hum-drum of doing what's expected, and transform themselves into something extraordinary. It's a step-by-step guide to the mindset for rule breaking and destiny making, and will help readers take control of their business future.”-T. Harv Eker, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind™

“I was enlightened and delighted to discover Be Unreasonable. It was not only brand new and fresh, but it was also a pure joy to read.”-Jay Conrad Levinson, The Father of Guerrilla Marketing, author of the Guerrilla Marketing series of books

“Paul Lemberg is one of the truly great strategic minds in the business. Every day, for hours on end he works on the front lines of capitalism, helping companies large, medium, and small build totally new strategies designed to drive their growth. He takes companies that are fundamentally tactical and turns them into formidable and sophisticated strategic business and marketing forces.”-Jay Abraham, business growth strategist/expert

About the Author

Paul Lemberg, “The Unreasonable Consultant,” is Chief Business Accelerator and CEO of Quantum Growth Consulting. He has worked with Accenture, Adobe, American Skandia, Cisco, Goldman Sachs, IBM, LexisNexis, OpenText, and SAIC, as well as thousands of fast-growth entrepreneurial companies. His newsletter, Extraordinary Results, is read by more than 20,000 subscribers.

Visit his Web site at paullemberg.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007148163X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071481632
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #583,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Lemberg helps small business owners become wealthy.

Since 1995, Paul has worked directly with the owners of around 150 "small businesses" from North and South America, Europe and Asia, ranging from solopreneurs and lifestyle businesses, to pre-revenue investor-backed startups, to mature businesses with tens of millions in sales. He has coached and advised them to achieve greater success, double and triple their profits, and sometimes grow their companies more than 10-fold.

He has also worked with executives from dozens of Fortune-100 companies like Cisco, Goldman Sachs, Accenture, Adobe Software, Mass Mutual, and JP Morgan/Chase.

Over the last few years, his private small-business coaching advisory clients have added more than $350 million in profits -- bankable cash -- the equivalent to over $1 Billion in extra sales from implementing Paul's strategies and tactics.

Paul launched his first business, a banking software company, with a partner and $3,000 of credit card debt, selling it three years later at a valuation of almost nine million dollars. He and his partners used some of the cash to start another company, this time selling to a large European bank.

After spending the next few years as market strategist for giant technology companies like HP, Dell, IBM, AT&T, and Verizon, Paul found that his passion and talent was helping other entrepreneurs become super-successful, and in 1992 coined the term "business coaching" to describe his work.

In one form or another, he's been doing that ever since. He has developed numerous services and products for entrepreneurs, including The Growth Strategy Workshop, Lead Landslide, FormulaFIVE, Blueprints to Profits, and the new Getting Started in Business Course.

His has written three books, including Faster Than the Speed of Change, Earn Twice As Much with Half The Stress, co-authored with Tom Matzen, and his latest, the business best seller, Be Unreasonable.

On television, he has appreared on Good Morning America, CNN, Financial News Network , and dozens of national radio programs. His work has been featured in over eighty magazines and publications including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, as well as the worlds largest circulation newsletter, Bottom Line Personal.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Actionable Unreasonable Ideas That Produce Results, May 8, 2007

By 

Emily S - See all my reviews

This review is from: Be Unreasonable: The Unconventional Way to Extraordinary Business Results (Hardcover)

I just devoured Paul Lemberg's Be Unreasonable: The Unconventional Way to Extraordinary Business Results. I read Lemberg's Faster Than the Speed of Change last year and loved it, so I've had this one on pre-order for weeks.

I find that most business books can be condensed into 4-8 pages, perfect for Soundview summaries. Not this one. This book - written as six main chapters broken into many short sections, has gold on almost every page.

Much of this is (un-) common sense, but there is much that is surprising, often delighting. There's a whole theme about spending money to make money, a great bit on how to use sacrifice to your advantage, a chapter on pricing, especially raising prices, and my favorite section - The Art of Unreasonable Requests. I started using this immediately and I'm already having people say "yes" to things that I couldn't have gotten yesterday. Lemberg calls it "More Cycles and Bigger Bites."

In keeping with Be Unreasonable's thinking about ROI: I've already earned back way more than the cost of my time invested in this one.

Great read, great ideas, great book! And very, very actionable. I like that.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most inspiring books in recent years, May 31, 2007

By 

J. Revel (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Be Unreasonable: The Unconventional Way to Extraordinary Business Results (Hardcover)

I was immediately drawn to this book by its unconventional title. "Be Unreasonable" is a business book written with the perspective that being reasonable has lost its initial meaning and now it means nothing more than selling out to an average way of life. The book is divided into six sections, with a step by step explanation of the unreasonable way of life. Paul Lemberg makes a very strong point for the unreasonable approach and I found myself agreeing with him more with every page that I turned. One of the few common denominators of very successful people is their ability to think big (unreasonably) and their dogged determination to bring their dreams into fruition. Mr. Lemberg puts it this way: "Imagine decisions forged in the depths of your clearest vision without being diluted by what you or anyone else thinks you are supposed to do". The book kicks off with a strong bang with An Unreasonable Manifesto, after reading this chapter I knew that I would enjoy the rest. Lemberg writes clearly and uses a lot of good sources to support his position. Paul Lemberg is a very powerful thinker and he has written one of the most inspiring and compelling books in recent years. He has certainly made me rethink a lot of my assumptions and positions. Being reasonable now seems uninspiring and dull. This book has challenged me to think bigger; to BE UNREASONABLE.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plan To Spend Some Time With This Amazing Book, September 17, 2007

By 

Cathy Stucker "IdeaLady.com" (Sugar Land, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Be Unreasonable: The Unconventional Way to Extraordinary Business Results (Hardcover)

I am a fast reader, and I can zip through the average business book on a plane trip. You know . . .yadda, yadda, yadda, think outside the box . . .yadda, yadda, yadda, be proactive . . .

"Be Unreasonable" is NOT your average business book. I found myself stopping every few pages to absorb the powerful concepts presented, think about what they mean to me, and generate ideas that will transform my business. This is real-world information, and Paul Lemberg shows us how real businesses have used being unreasonable to overcome obstacles and achieve remarkable success.

It is hard to pick one part of the book that is "best," but if I had to choose one chapter it would be the one on Unreasonable Thinking. Every page had me thinking of new ideas and changing the way I look at things.

Stop reading this review right now, and order your copy of "Be Unreasonable." And do not put it on the shelf with all those other books that you haven't gotten around to reading yet. Set aside some time every day to read a part of the book, then reflect on what being unreasonable can do for you. It will change your business, and your life.

And the next time someone tells you that you are being unreasonable, simply say, "Thank you!"

Cathy Stucker, IdeaLady.com