The Identity Code: The 8 Essential Questions for Finding Your Purpose and Place in the World (Hardcover)

~ Laurence Ackerman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book will introduce you to yourself.

Despite what you may have been told since you were a child, you cannot be whatever you want to be in life–you are already what you were meant to be. The secret to uncovering who you are, and your purpose, is built into you in the form of a code–the identity code. Much like your genetic code, your identity code provides a complete map of how you were designed to live.

Answer the questions that frame the identity code, and the contours of your life will shift. You will not only emerge stronger, you will emerge larger. Larger in heart, larger in influence, larger in your capacity to love and be loved. You will understand the why of your life.

In this life-transforming book, Larry Ackerman shows you how to crack your identity code. With more than twenty years of experience helping organizations and individuals identify their purpose, Ackerman reveals the Laws of Identity and the Eight Essential Questions they contain. As you answer these questions, your identity will gradually become clear. It will become the foundation from which you’ll make truly meaningful decisions about what work is right for you, how to build and maintain relationships that matter, and even what interests and hobbies make sense for you. These eight questions, and the call to action each one implies, are


WHO AM I?: Define yourself as separate from all others
WHAT MAKES ME SPECIAL?: Unearth what you love
IS THERE A PATTERN TO MY LIFE?: Make the connections that explain past events and
foreshadow your future
WHERE AM I GOING?: Use what you’ve learned so far to guide you on your path
WHAT IS MY GIFT?: Follow the signs of joy
WHO CAN I TRUST?: Take stock of who matters–and why
WHAT IS MY MESSAGE?: Declare yourself on the strength of your gift
WILL MY LIFE BE RICH?: Surrender to the pull of your identity

As Ackerman points out, unbridled freedom actually weighs you down. The myth of personal freedom–the notion that you have infinite choices in the course you set for yourself–is the unspoken agony of the modern person. True freedom comes with knowing your identity: the unique characteristics that define your potential for creating value in the world, for making a contribution that springs naturally from the core of your being and touches the lives of others. Within this framework, life’s seeming boundaries melt away.

Intelligent, provocative, and always practical, The Identity Code sets the reader on the classic quest: the discovery of self. Take the journey.

About the Author

Larry Ackerman is a leading authority on organizational and personal identity. As group director for the international identity- and brand-consulting firm Siegel & Gale, Ackerman is widely regarded as the pioneer in the field of identity-based management. His many and diverse clients include Alcoa, Maytag, Fidelity Investments, the Dow Chemical Company, Ernst & Young, Norsk Hydro, Interbrew, and Boise Cascade. His first book, Identity Is Destiny, set forth a revolutionary view of the nature of identity and its fundamental impact on organizational and leadership development. He lives in Weston, Connecticut, with his wife and son. Contact the author at www.theidentitycode.com.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Random House (December 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400064171
• ISBN-13: 978-1400064175
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 3.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #185,446 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The source of our potential, March 26, 2006

By	Douglas Eby "Talent Development Resources" (Beverly Hills, CA USA) - See all my reviews

In this elegantly concise book, the author details how identity is "the source of your uniqueness and potential. Exercise and express it and it will grow ever deeper and more powerful in its impact on your life and the lives of others."

Psychologist Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) noted that self actualization is the intrinsic growth of what is already in people, "or more accurately, of what the organism is."

Using his experience in corporate brand consulting, Larry Ackerman details key aspects of how our identity can be explored and made more true and authentic, leading to not only greater self actualization, but our ability to `do right' by other people. Your identity, he notes "is the living lens through which you can safely engage the world, make informed decisions, and thereby fashion a life that you, and others, can trust."

One of the most central questions or aspects is that of "gift" - our purpose or passion. He notes that many people may find it hard to accept that everyone can find and express a purpose: "The idea that each of us is born with a particular gift that informs what we might do with our lives scares people. The thought that you may actually have something akin to a purpose can be unnerving."

Our identity, he declares, is "fixed, transcending time and place, while its manifestations are constantly changing." With helpful exercises that accompany the clear explanations of the eight "essential questions," we can better understand how unique we are, and make a more powerful and positive impact with our lives.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Insights, February 27, 2006

By	Reader (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This is a book that, however you feel about "self help" literature, will get you thinking. Ackerman's process for distancing yourself to get a fresh perspective on your life is fascenating. His concept of identity is insightful-- as are the rules that he sets out. Ackerman not only outlines crucial questions for evaluating your potential, he includes, at the end of each chapter, a set of practical exercises for accomplishing the task. Whether you embark on the journey Ackerman recommends or simply find this book a source of introspection, it is a volume well worth reading.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book For Those With the Courage to Change, June 12, 2006

By	John McCloud "Retired Court Magistrate" (Elyria, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you want to: Get your bearings; Discover your true identity (which may surprise you); Discover your message to the world; Live out your message day by day; Find out who your real friends are; Change yourself and your world a day at a time: THEN READ THIS BOOK. You will find no book or self-help program better than this!