Building the Pyramid celebrates its first birthday on the 9th March 2015.
Like all authors, I hoped that the book would be warmly received by the marketplace.
Twelve months on, it’s hard to believe that the story of a Pharaoh’s leadership and development journey has resonated with so many leaders and managers across the globe.
Every day brings an email, testimonial , phone call, tweet, text message or piece of news linked to the fortunes of the book.
Being shortlisted by the Chartered Management Institute for ‘Management Book of the Year’ was a lovely end to what has been a surprising and rewarding year for the publication.
A lot of people played an important part in our first year.
Many leading UK, European and Global publications supported Building the Pyramid.
HRDirector magazine loved the idea behind the book and kick-started the year by inviting us to submit a thought leadership article.
The Institute of Leadership and Management’s ‘EDGE’ magazine followed with an interesting historical angle linked to the leadership traits of the Pharaohs.
Training Journal magazine continued the ancient Egyptian theme with a piece aimed at their learning professional readership.
Editors seemed to like the format and quirkiness of the book. ‘Leadership lessons from the Pharaohs’ and ‘working like an Egyptian’ were common banner headlines.
The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management’s ‘Winning Edge’ magazine also embraced the leadership theme and we were delighted to submit a piece for the magazine issued to delegates attending the 2014 World of Learning Conference.
The HR publishing community were particularly enthusiastic in their support of the fable throughout the year with book reviews and recommendations obtained in the CIPD People Management magazine, HR Network Scotland magazine and HR Grapevine.
International HR Adviser also invited us to submit a ‘Navigating the landscape in our changing world’ piece for their autumn edition of their global magazine.
The ‘winning formula’ approach described in the book proved to be popular with Talk Business – the leading entrepreneurial publication – resulting in a FIVE STAR review.
Scottish Business Insider Magazine also reviewed Building the Pyramid in their September edition.
The journey, momentum, growth and engagement themes covered in the book also featured in regular business-to-business websites and publications including Real Business, HR Zone, Training Zone, Business Zone and Business Destinations.
The highlight of the year was the ‘Management Book of the Year’ recognition received by the prestigious worldwide body – the CMI.
The competition is held in association with Henley Business School and the British Library and to gain shortlisted status was a massive surprise.
Building the Pyramid was the only business parable to make the final and was described by the judging panel as ‘original, entertaining, simple and common sense, demonstrating an approach that really works’.
Thank you to the editorial teams of the magazine, journal, online and website publications for the support given to our unique leadership publication. We greatly appreciate the time and space you have given to the book and for helping to make the first year of Building the Pyramid so memorable.
Our final thanks go to the many professionals who continue to read the book and recommend it to others. – from chief executives to change managers, entrepreneurs to learning professionals, students to management consultants.
Thank you for your support and for spreading the Building the Pyramid message.
Best wishes on your journey, wherever it may take you.
John Stein, author of Building the Pyramid