Nobodies to Somebodies: How 100 Great Careers Got Their Start

Peter Han

Penguin, 2005 - Business & Economics - 233 pages

Peter Han cofounded a software company soon after college and sold it a few years later. By any measure he was already successful, but he still was curious about how others found long-term meaning in their work. So he set out to learn what a diverse group of influential “somebodies” had done back when they were still “nobodies.”

Nobodies to Somebodiesis based on Han’s interviews with one hundred fascinating people who figured out how to find and pursue big opportunities. They span a wide range of fields, including politics (former Senator Bill Bradley), business (Reebok CEO Paul Fireman), acting (John Lithgow), activism (Sierra Club president Larry Fahn), writing (Tom Clancy), science (Nobel Prize physicist Anthony Leggett), and the nonprofit world (Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp).

Han synthesizes fourteen big lessons that anyone can apply, including:
• Pay the rent first, conquer the world later
• Become the big fish by mastering the small pond
• Learn when to stay and when to go

Nobodies to Somebodiesblends inspiring stories with the proven wisdom of one hundred somebodies who haven’t forgotten what it was like to be nobody.

Contents

• Become the Big Fish by Mastering the Small Pond: 44
• Learn When to Stay and When to: 53
• Learn How to Stay and How to: 69
• Dont Let Old Plans Get in the Way of New Opportunities: 84
• Work Hard Work Smart and Work Some More: 94
• Be Productively Competitive: 112
• Find the Social Animal Within: 118
• Keep Learning No Matter Who the Teacher Is: 143
• Go Crazy in the Office but Stay Sane at Home: 150
• If Theres Magic in Success It Lies in Willpower: 163
• Things Dont Have to End Where They Begin: 177
• Closing Thoughts: 192
• Appendix A Capsule Biographies of the 100 Leaders: 199
• Appendix B Basic Question Guide for Interviews with Leaders: 217
• Acknowledgments: 223

About the author

Peter Han, a thirty-year-old Harvard graduate, has written for The New York Times, The Houston Post, and the Associated Press. He currently works for Microsoft.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Nobodies to Somebodies: How 100 Great Careers Got Their Start
• Author: Peter Han
• Publisher: Penguin, 2005
• ISBN: 1591840864, 9781591840862
• Length: 233 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Investments & Securities / General; Business & Economics / Motivational; Self-Help / Personal Growth / Success