Leadership is one of the world’s oldest professions. There are countless resources for one to learn about leadership and do in-depth study. In this book, my goal is not to provide a scholarly tome, but rather to provide emerging leaders simple messages for guidance and success. I do this through 140 simple messages that have helped me navigate life.

Why am I providing 140 messages, some have asked? Why not use traditional numbers, like five, ten, or 100? The answer is very simple. We are living at a time when Twitter and its 140-character limitation (now 280) is being used by leaders in all areas of life and at all levels of organizations. Some leaders are exemplary in their use of Twitter, and others less than exemplary. My goal is to leverage the zeitgeist we are living in to show how by using the limited characters allowed by Twitter, leaders can communicate strong messages that make a positive impact on people’s lives. For that reason, this actionable leadership journal contains 140 Twitter-length messages written as a guide for emerging leaders on living, learning, and developing themselves and others on their journey to success.

Additionally, I have become convinced of the power of well-crafted short messages for another reason. I was a Forbes contributor for a year. As a member of the Forbes Coaches Council during that year, I contributed to thirty question-and-answer columns. The answers to the Q&As I submitted to Forbes were required to be 400 characters or fewer. This is slightly longer than Twitter’s new 280-character limit. Some of the columns I appeared in were read by as few as 2,000 people. My most popular column, however, was read by more than 30,000 people. This clearly shows that people found value in our succinct messages and shared them with others. Hence, I believe there is value in the messages contained in this book designed to be an actionable leadership journal.