Review by Deepshikha Bhagat -- The Smartest Person in th...

[Whispers Of Pages]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Smartest Person in the Room" by Christian Espinosa.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The book.The Smartest Person In The Room. is about the requirement for a critical attitudinal shift. The author, Christian Espinosa has mainly used the context of the technical industry, more so the Cybersecurity field to talk about this subject. The sub-title of the book The Root Cause And New Solution For Cybersecurity is self-explanatory.

But his words are equally relevant to all the industries. The author helps the reader connect to the topic by explaining it in the introduction part itself. He outlines The Root Of The Problem and the Solution for it proposed by him -The Secure Methodology. He uses, in his personal and professional life all the tools and techniques that he has mentioned. He applies these ideas for recruiting and training people in his own cybersecurity services company.

I liked the conversational tone of writing used by the author. While reading, it feels as if the author is directly speaking to you. The main focus here is to highlight the significance of certain life-skills that people can use to enhance the quality of their professional and personal lives. The book thoroughly explains how the human mind and feelings work. The subject is well-illustrated through several real-life examples, personal anecdotes, and references from various resources (like books, websites, Apps, YouTube, videos about personal growth and management for attaining success) which makes the topic more interesting. Being a coach himself, the author urges his readers to take action on the information and techniques that he shares.

Anyone can use this book as a self-improvement guide. This book can be used as a reference manual by professionals like Trainers, Coaches, Mentors, Managers, and Leaders. Espinosa provides the major steps in the process of analyzing and dealing with different individuals and their personality types. He lists out various training concepts and emphasizes the role that those techniques can play in bringing about the required attitudinal shift.

Various training concepts and techniques discussed include:

* Secure Methodology which he describes as a journey towards constant improvement (Kaizen)
* Growth Mindset to bring about the changes that are required for improvement.
* Acknowledgement when the positive changes are achieved.
* Empathy, the author prefers Cognitive empathy for technical employees.
* Role of Awareness in improving the quality of Communication.
* The importance of knowing what motivates people.

The readers would discover a lot of practical, relevant, and helpful tips and suggestions like these:

* Both the employer and the employee need to learn How to Communicate with each other.
* For better and wholesome organizational output, the employers need to include certain actions in their interactions with their staff like Acknowledgement, Rapport Building.
* The technical people need to simplify their language so that they can have better communications with others. For this, they should translate their complicated technical jargon into simple human language.
* There is a need to shift focus from Multi-Tasking to Deep-Focus. So that the result is Productivity, not Busyness.

There is no negative aspect to the tips and techniques given here. On the contrary, this book would provide the reader with clarity and encouragement to follow the path of Kaizen (constant improvement).

I give this book. 4 out of 4 stars. I strongly feel that the value of what is written in this book rests on the fact that it comes from a person who is handing out his own experiences as an employer, a business leader, a trainer, a coach, a mentor, and an airforce veteran, all rolled into one.

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The Smartest Person in the Room
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[Ezra Dapaah]

Work ethics are very important in every circle of professionalism.

[Amy Luman]

From what I’ve seen every room has a “smartest” person. Sometimes they make sure everyone knows it and sometimes not. It’s the ones who don’t that really capture the attention of others.

[Whispers Of Pages]

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” - Alexander Graham Bell

[Whispers Of Pages]

“How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.” — Yvon Chouinard