Purposeful

Are You a Manager or a Movement Starter?

By: Jennifer Dulski

Narrated by: Jennifer Dulski

Managers accept the world as it is; movement starters push the boundaries to make it more just, compassionate, and even joyful. We all need to decide: Are we managers or movement starters?

Jennifer Dulski, the head of Groups at Facebook, and former president of Change.org, explains how you can turn your mission into a movement that creates change - whether you're at a startup or a political campaign, at a Fortune 500 company or a local community group, or an intern or a CEO. Anyone can spark change if they believe in the power of taking action, no matter where, or how small, they start.

Dulski explains how to create a clear vision, inspire supporters, persuade decision makers, navigate criticism, and more. She pairs her own experience as a startup founder, tech executive, and social change leader with powerful stories of movement leaders from both business and activism.

Our world needs movement starters more than ever. Packed with practical advice and the inspiring true stories of movement starters from all walks of life, Purposeful will empower you to start your own movement and make your mark on the world.

©2018 Jennifer Dulski (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“An inspiring call to arms for everyone who wants to change the world.” (Arianna Huffington)

“Yes! Yes! Yes! If we want to live in a world in which each of us can wake up inspired, feel safe at work and return home fulfilled at the end of the day, then we need more books like this one! Dulski discovered firsthand what it takes to move from being a manager of people to becoming a leader of movements. Now the rest of us can learn what she learned and join the movement. I’m in...the question is: are you?” (Simon Sinek, optimist and author of Start with Why, Leaders Eat Last, and Together Is Better)

“Drawing on her experiences as a key leader at Change.org and Facebook, Jennifer Dulski shows aspiring organizers what they need to do to start movements that create massive positive impacts. For anyone who wants to change the world, this is crucial reading.” (Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn and coauthor of The Alliance and The Startup of You)

Insightful

I love this book so much, very insightful and extremely motivating! Thank you for writing it, Jenn.

lengthy at times, stronger towards the end.

lengthy at times, stronger towards the end.
i would still recommend it for NGOs at least the summary.

Helpful for a movement starter

This was my first book that I’ve listened to on Audible and I really enjoyed it. As a community builder and movement starter, I connected with the stories described by Dulski. Her professional experiences (change.org and now Facebook to name a few) really do provide her a strong understanding of social campaigns. I appreciate the time she has taken to analyze, write and share trends.

Dulski’s voice was clear, relatable and easy to follow. I will be recommending this book to other community builders.

Solid, Genuine, and Useful

Jennifer brings a realistic candor to her writing. This book will likely not give you a methodology to fully define a purposeful life in your work, but her mix of anecdotes and useful techniques are refreshing and give guidance on how to better find purpose or redefine it in your work.

Lots of good takeaways for both managers and individual contributors.

Narrator needs improvement

This book could have great content, but the narrator is very hard to follow. Seems to not pause or accentuate to give the listener a story. It feels more like a bunch of words linked together without clear delineation between thoughts or even sentences.

Inspirational and action oriented

As an aspiring movement starter, I found this book both inspirational and action oriented with a number of helpful tools.

Very Inspirational

After listening to this book I truly feel inspired. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

very inspirational book

I truly enjoyed listening to this book. I definitely want to purchase the hard cover book to read myself & for my collection.

I loved this book and hope it becomes a classic

In "Purposeful: Are You a Manager or a Movement Starter?", author Jen Dulski provides a series of lessons on purposeful leadership, told through a series of poignant vignettes and challenges us to both imagine and create a better world. I particularly appreciated was that many of her stories were personal and all the others were original, many drawn from her experience as president of Change.org.

This book defies categorization. If I were a bookstore owner, I'd certainly put in the Business/Management section, because the subject is one of growing businesses and organizations. But it would fit equally well on the shelves of Self Help/Personal Growth as well as in the Women's literature section, because most of the stories she tells seem to be about women doing amazing things. It's also the story of a Silicon Valley shining star and many of her lessons reflect its History and Culture. I think most of all, however, it's a manual on what "Authentic Leadership" means, in the way that Strunk and White's Elements of Style is a manual on writing well. This book also made me both shed tears and giggle out loud several times, and it that way, reminded me of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

I listened to this book, which was great because the author narrates it. I think books are always better when heard in the author's own voice. Yet even though I listened to it, I find myself wanting to open it up and refer back to it. So, I will also likely buy the hardcover to keep in my office.

I loved this book and hope it becomes a classic.