Becoming a Changemaker

An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at Any Level

By: Alex Budak

Narrated by: Alex Budak

Becoming a Changemaker is a radically inclusive playbook for leading positive change. It’s a fresh, inspiring, and research-backed guide to developing the mindsets and leadership skills needed to navigate, shape, and lead change and to thrive amidst uncertainty.

A faculty member at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Budak created and teaches the wildly popular course “Becoming a Changemaker,” which has quickly grown into one of the most highly-rated courses anywhere on campus. It’s regularly heralded by students as “transformative” and “life changing” but to date has only been accessible to students attending UC Berkeley.

Budak is driven by the belief that anyone—regardless of title, personality, race, gender, age, or class—can be a changemaker. This inclusive vision of leadership is the beating heart of the “Becoming a Changemaker” course, and is the driving force for the book as well. Tailored to the millennial/Gen Z set who are exiting school and entering the workforce, this book makes the lessons, insights, examples and excitement from class accessible to all.

Critic reviews

“Could you be an influential changemaker? Alex Budak believes that all of us have the potential. This warm and inspiring book, filled with examples and practical tools, will be a catalyst for a new generation of leaders committed to changing the world for the better.”
—Dan Heath, co-author of Switch, Upstream, and Made to Stick, and a Senior Fellow at Duke’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship

“In Becoming a Changemaker, Alex Budak issues a compelling challenge—be the leaders we wish we had and enact the change we want to see. Drawing on behavioral science and rich examples, he offers the tools you need to step up, play bigger and increase your impact. Truly the world is ready for this book!”—Liz Wiseman, New York Times bestselling author of Multipliers and Impact Players

"Alex Budak provides an invaluable blueprint for changemakers of all types --in business, education, non profits, or government-- with practical and actionable advice on how to drive leadership in any organization or community. The world needs more transformational leaders, and there’s no one better than Alex to teach us how to become one."—Aaron Levie, CEO & Co-Founder, Box

"This is a guide I wish I had when I was just starting out as a changemaker! I've led teams of people ranging from 20 to 20,000, and have seen first hand that Alex Budak's inclusive approach to changemaking is exactly what our companies, communities and world need right now. No matter what kind of change you hope to lead, this will be a book you turn to again and again to help you realize your changemaker goals."—Sara El-Amine, Head of Public Engagement, Public Policy at Lyft

"Professor Budak’s Becoming a Changemaker course was life changing. It helped me find my voice and transformed who I am as a person and a leader. I’m so glad that this book now makes the magic of his course available to everyone!"—Alicia Wilson, Olympic Athlete, Team Great Britain; Alumna, UC Berkeley

"Taking Alex Budak's course at UC Berkeley taught me how to lead inclusively, how to inspire others, and how to turn my ideas into reality. But most importantly it was the spark that turned me into a changemaker. It gave me the mindset, tools, and foundation I needed to lead positive change, and I can't wait for readers of this book to experience the same transformative power of Becoming a Changemaker that I experienced in the classroom."—Ibrahim Baldé, Founder, Blackbook University; Alumnus, UC Berkeley

"Alex Budak provides a fresh look at leadership today, showing how each of us can lead positive change, whether we are working from the top of an organizations or on the front-lines."—Ben Rattray, Founder, Change.org

Life changing!

This book inspired me to zig when others were zagging and do a strong career pivot towards something I really care deeply about. I love the way it talks not just about making change but about the inner qualities that one can cultivate to build a Changemaker mindset. Also the narration by the author makes it feel really personal. Highly recommend for anyone interested in improving the world for everyone’s sake and for the planet!

Great storytelling and very actionable framework

I love feeling out on a good leadership book and this one hit the mark for me - great anecdotes, strong frameworks, and actionable advice (even if you’re not leading a huge organization)

Insightful and Practical

This book invites the listener to be a catalyst for change. It is inclusive and regardless if you are new to change leadership or experienced, you can takeaway some practical tips. The canvas is a simple tool that can be leveraged to repeat. It’s simple approach enables the user to repeat and scale.

Be the Change…Reasons to read this book.

The beautiful thing about this book is that Alex Budak builds one chapter after another to create the proposition that all of us can become changemakers. In fact by the end of the book he completes the circle. I believe that I can now call myself a change maker. His insight is appreciated and his experience is vast. He is a most able communicator of this subject matter of which he is an expert. I learned a lot.

The wide range of examples made it easy to see how to apply the practice.

I appreciate the book speaking about change makers being people at all levels and functions at work.