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Permission to Screw Up

By: Kristen Hadeed, Simon Sinek - foreword
Narrated by: Kristen Hadeed
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Summary

The inspiring, unlikely, laugh-out-loud story of how one woman learned to lead - and how she ultimately succeeded, not despite her many mistakes but because of them.

This is the story of how Kristen Hadeed built Student Maid, a cleaning company where people are happy, loyal, productive, and empowered, even while they're mopping floors and scrubbing toilets. It's the story of how she went from being an almost comically inept leader to a sought-after CEO who teaches others how to lead.

Hadeed unintentionally launched Student Maid while attending college 10 years ago. Since then, Student Maid has employed hundreds of students and is widely recognized for its industry-leading retention rate and its culture of trust and accountability. But Kristen and her company were no overnight sensation. In fact they were almost nothing at all.

Along the way Kristen got it wrong almost as often as she got it right. Giving out hugs instead of feedback, fixing errors instead of enforcing accountability, and hosting parties instead of cultivating meaningful relationships were just a few of her many mistakes. But Kristen's willingness to admit and learn from those mistakes helped her give her people the chance to learn from their own screwups too.

Permission to Screw Up dismisses the idea that leaders and organizations should try to be perfect. It encourages people of all ages to go for it and learn to lead by acting rather than waiting or thinking. Through a brutally honest and often hilarious account of her own struggles, Kristen encourages us to embrace our failures and proves that we'll be better leaders when we do.

©2017 Kristen Hadeed (P)2017 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

"A brave and generous book, the ideal antidote to the perfection and invulnerability we pretend are essential to succeed.” (Seth Godin, author of Linchpin and Tribes)

“If you’re looking for the sunshine and rainbows version of success, this isn’t the story for you. If you’re looking for the down-to-earth, nitty-gritty, honest journey of a leader, proceed to chapter one.” (Susan Cain, author of Quiet)

Permission to Screw Up pulls back the curtains and reveals what it’s really like to be a leader - a must-read for anyone who wants to start a company. Kristen isn’t afraid to own up to the mistakes she’s made along the way, and encourages us to do the same.” (Kip Tindell, cofounder and chairman of The Container Store)

What listeners say about Permission to Screw Up

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Refreshing and inspiring

I refer all of my friends who start their first businesses to this book. Gives effective perspective both in professional and personal life.

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One extraordinary honest book

I just LOVED this book, particularly because it gives you the full picture - the ups and downs, the lessons and failures.

The audio was also great, Kristen is a great, engaging narrator! Thumbs up!!

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Read more, learn more, read more.

I never had to read soo many other books after listening to this one.

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Realistic and Authentic

"Trust people with enormous responsibilities, allow them to mess up and then give them a chance to fix their mistakes and learn." This superb piece shows how a humble business can grow into a big success if the team of employees is dealt with humanity and empathy. True leadership can inspire the team to put their heart and soul into the company.

Amazing performance and I was glued to listening till the very end - Kristen you rock!

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Wow just wow

One of the best audio books I have listened to in years an amazing story and a very easy listen

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what a fantastic way to present ideas for leaders

what a fantastic way to present ideas for leadership. great ideas on how to engage with millennials.
a great start middle and end well done for a first book.
a must read for any budding entrepreneur new leader or just somebody that wants to understand how the business world really works.

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Great book - just ends so quickly !

Like the narrative ! but just wished it had gone a bit deeper into some topics and been longer.

but overall great

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Inspired

I am touched and felt connected with her journey and sharing what things can go wrong and how she manage to pull this together. It is giving the other side of Entreprenuer which rarely people talks about.

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An authentic, often hilarious look at leadership

If you listen to one leadership book listen to this one. A honest and heart warming look at one amazing leader's journey.

The book I'd wish I'd read twenty years ago before starting my company.

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A Fantastic Read, Highly Recommended

I bought this title purely on impulse, because I wanted to listen to something different. Well, this title is certainly that. As a young college student, Miss Hadeed starts cleaning peoples houses to make some cash, and before she knows it she has more work than she can handle on her own, and so she takes on an extra pair of hands to help out. And then another, and then another, and before too long her little part-time money earner has turned into a fully-fledged business, with all the aches and pains that entails. And almost at every turn, she goes left when she should've gone right, she zigs when she should've zagged.For example she secures a business loan so that she can expand her business, buy materials, take on some more staff, but the first thing she does is throw a wild party for her staff to celebrate how well things are going, only to find the next day that the party has used up a huge percentage of her loan.

And yet, she somehow survives, learning from her mistakes and growing as a result, as do her very loyal staff.

Highly recommended...

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