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Publisher’s Letter What a magical night! Thought I was at the Emmys, or was it the Tonys?, actually it was the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD and NYC Big Book Award Ceremony & Dinner. An incredible experience from start to finish. With a cocktail hour, appetizers and open bar, on the terrace under the enclosed glass under a beautiful summer sky, taking photos in front of the awards screen, everyone was just so excited to be there. The main event did not disappoint! The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD and NYC Big Book Award honored an array of attendees from multiple continents. Awardees were treated like royalty, recognizing and respecting each and everyone. Award Sponsor Gabby Olczak said “It is our privilege to recognize you all and highlight your achievements. Your work represents a unique commitment to excellence in independent publishing and beyond. It is our mission and privilege to continue to showcase your work on an international stage.” Additionally, awardees were photographed up on stage, and then ushered out to again be photographed with their actual physical award in front of the Awards Screen. It seemed like something that would only happen in Hollywood. The ceremony wrapped up with famous writer Xuemo, who has over 100 million readers according to his translator. Later, thanking me personally, and promising to tell the world of the Independent Press Award. A special thanks goes out to all of those who helped make this happen, supported my efforts, the attendees, the speakers, the vendors, my friends, my family. I can’t thank you enough. For me, it was so rewarding to see such talent present and seemingly from all corners of the earth to celebrate our prestigious awards. I applaud these authors and publishers who have worked so hard to finally have the chance to take a victory lap and enjoy the moment. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us next year. Until next issue, keep on reading!
Ted Olczak Publisher
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Table Of Contents 4
Publisher’s Letter
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GAB TALKS with Barbara Lane, author of Broken Water
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Authors Share Their Stories & Thanks: Jayson Adams, Steven Dale Davison, Brittney Brackett
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Award Winner & Distinguished Favorite Photos
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GAB TALKS with Dr. Jennifer Nash, author of Be Human, Lead Human: How to Connect People and Performance
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What Are You Reading?: Joseph Howse, Scott Fad, Terence Ang
To submit your book, visit our websites:
No portion of this magazine may be reproduced without express permission from the publisher.
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The magazine Independent Press Award and NYC Big Book Award present is published eight times per year and has been issued the following ISSNs by the U.S. ISSN Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Format: Online Format: ISSN 2836-9157; and the Print Format: ISSN 2836-9149. Any questions or comments, please contact the Publisher Ted Olczak at Ted@GabbyBookAwards.com or Ted@PrintedWordReviews.com.
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All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system - except by a reviewer who provides us credit may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper without permission in writing from the publisher. To submit your book for review, send to: Printed Word Reviews, 63 Clinton Rd, Glen Ridge, NJ 07028. Allow 8 - 12 weeks. Unpaid reviews are not guaranteed. More details available on our website at https:// printedwordreviews.com/
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The magazine Independent Press Award and NYC Big Book Award Present is published eight times per year and has been issued the following ISSNs by the U.S. ISSN Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.: Format: Online Format: ISSN 2836-9157; and the Print Format: ISSN 2836-9149.
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Barbara Lane
BARBARA: The story tells you of the strength of bonding and attachment; the power of sibling connection. I was three when all this occurred. Several of us were placed in an orphanage. My trauma was when we were all placed in the foster care system. I watched my sisters leave with their little suitcases. I didn’t understand at that time that they wouldn’t be coming back. They planted in me a seed that just grew, to where from the age of three, I knew I would search for my sisters until we were reunited 43 years later.
AUTHOR OF:
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Broken Water:
An Extraordinary True Story
GABBY: What propelled you after all those years to search for your sisters? What prevented you from searching sooner?
arbara Lane’s memoir, Broken Water: An Extraordinary True Story was awarded a distinguished favorite in the 2024 Independent Press Award. Her story was featured in People Magazine and an adapted extract was printed in Newsweek Magazine. Barbara describes herself as a foster child, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, entrepreneur, speaker, child advocate, educator, ministerial counselor, and author. She has been a ministerial counselor for 25 years. Her educational background is in human development, social sciences, and family psychology with a focus on child abuse. Broken Water is a testimony to resilience, strength, courage, and experiences in the foster care system.
BARBARA: Nothing ever stopped me from my desire to locate my sisters. As a young adult when I got married and my foster mother died, I felt really free to search for them, maybe in deeper ways. GABBY: It took you 15 years to write this memoir. You were the voice of each of your ten sisters writing their accounts. What inspired you to write the story?
GABBY: This was really a fascinating memoir about you and your ten sisters, whom you were separated from when you were three years old after you were all abandoned.
BARBARA: My sister Laverne would say to me, along with a few of the other sisters, “someone needs to write a book. Would you do that for us,
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Khuda Buksh: The Pioneer of Life Insurance in Bangladesh
How to Lie with Charts Fourth Edition
Muhammad Obaidur Rahim
Here’s the definitive, Eric Hoffer Award-winning textbook on data visualization. There’s added material on fake news and social media disinformation, misinterpretation of metadata, and the uses and abuses of Big Data. If you’re using a computer to generate charts for meetings and reports, you don’t have to be taught how to lie - you’re already doing it. You probably don’t know your charts are unreliable, and neither does your audience.
Gerald Everett Jones
Khuda Buksh, the Pioneer of Life Insurance in Bangladesh, is the story of a wizard of life insurance who believes passionately in a cause and dedicates his life to it. Buksh chose to serve humanity by sparking a movement in life insurance from 1935-1973 in three countries India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh—even during political unrest. Buksh remains a celebrated figure who transformed the Bangladeshi life insurance industry after calling off his time at EFU.
Trade Paperback - 978-0996543866 Casebound Hardcover - 979-8986095318 Trade Paperback - $29.99 • Casebound Hardcover - $59.85
This biography explores his legacy and the impact on South Asian development.
ISBN: 978-1637108758 • $24.95
Distributed by Ingram trade catalog • Available on Amazon
Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and online booksellers https://khudabukshlegacy.com/
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GABBY: Your goal is to de-stigmatize the fate of child abuse. How do you plan to do this and why is this so important to you?
Barbie?” There’s no way I could ever say no to anything they would ask. GABBY: What was the most alarming discovery about your family history and the journeys of each of your sisters?
BARBARA: Who should have to live with the shame of being abused as a child when it wasn’t your fault? We don’t have to live with that unless other people share their journey and say, this happened to me. You do not have to live with this. It’s not yours to keep. It’s yours to give away. To give it to God. Give it to the universe and go forth with the life you were born to live.
BARBARA: We were 11 girls and not one of us escaped sexual abuse in our childhood. That was shocking. Some were at the hands of foster families. Some were family, some were neighbors. When my older sisters were younger, we had no protection against this event. None of us. Many of us in the orphanage were abused by priests who visited and shared mass with the kids.
That message is getting out there through Broken Water and I could not be happier. Listen to the entire interview on https://www.thegabtalks.com/. To learn more about Barbara Lane and purchase Broken Water visit https://barbaralane.info/.
GABBY: How has speaking your truth empowered you?
To listen to the full interview or to learn more, please visit
BARBARA: I think I’m a totally different person. I will tell you the truth of child abuse. I will tell you what kids are going through today with a power that I think only comes when you yourself have had this experience and have had to come to terms with your own truth. Even though we hear so much about child abuse, it is such a hidden thing, such a secret. You can change that shame into pride.
BUSINESS-ENTREPRENEURSHIP & SMALL BUSINESS / MEMOIR
Unconventional: A Memoir of Entrepreneurism, Politics, and Pot Jamie Andrea Garzot An inspirational story about taking a chance, following your vision, and thriving in one of the US’s wildest emerging industries, Unconventional profiles Jamie Andrea Garzot’s journey as one of California’s legal cannabis industry pioneers. Garzot was one of the least likely people to become a cannabis entrepreneur, advocate, and industry pioneer. In this inspirational memoir, Garzot describes her trajectory from a cannabis retail rookie navigating an unregulated market to a cannabis authority.
978-1954854291 • $24.95 Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and online booksellers
www.jamieandreagarzot.com
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CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE / FAMILY / LIFE
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Revolutionary Marriage: How to Have a Marriage that Changes the World
E nâtamukw miyeyimuwin: Residential School Recovery Stories of the James Bay Cree (Volume 1)
Dr. Mark DeYoung Dr. DeYoung set out to write a book for Christian couples that was radically different from most published works.
Ruth DyckFehderau
In this quietly powerful and deeply human book, Ruth DyckFehderau and twenty-one James Bay Cree storytellers put a face to Canada’s Indian Residential School cultural genocide. Through intimate personal stories of trauma, loss, recovery, and joy, they tell of experiences in the residential schools themselves, in the homes when the children were taken, and on the territory after survivors returned and worked to recover from their experiences and to live with dignity. A tough, often funny, and ultimately uplifting book that’s not quite like anything else out there.
“This book is intended to present a revolutionary, countercultural model of marriage...What I propose here will confront both secular and current Christian views of marriage. The task is large, and the work between spouses will be difficult. Because of this, the approach must be radical...” - Dr. Mark DeYoung “Mark does an excellent job framing marriage in the category of vocation and removes it from the romanticized, self-actualization pinnacle often framed by religious and contemporary cultures.” - Dr. David Fraze
ISBN: 978-1989796238 • $18.60
ISBN: 978-0991131181 • $14.95
Available on Amazon and all major bookstores
Available on Amazon.com and author’s website. https://deyoungconsulting.com/revolutionary-marriage-book/
https://resschoolrecovery.org
MEMOIR & AUTOBIOGRAPHY, NONFICTION
FICTION /SUSPENSE/MYSTERY
Humble Yet Fierce: My Life Behind the Curtain of the CIA
Wild Fox Ridge Xue mo
Katy McQuaid
“Wild Fox Ridge, an enthralling novel by acclaimed author Xue Mo, is replete with suspense, mystery, deductive reasoning, and folklore. This captivating work will transport readers to a unique literary world and introduce them to the enigmatic China and the unexplored regions of western China.”
979-8889910039
Katy McQuaid, former deputy director of logistics in the CIA, brings her true-life stories of courage, faith, and adventure related to her thirty-two year journey in the secretive and often dangerous world of intelligence gathering. From the life-changing events in her first year of college to her remarkable career in the CIA, McQuaid shares that you don’t have to be loud to be strong.
• $37.00
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4DLTPSH http://www.xuemo.com/
ISBN: 979-8889269410 • $15.99 Retail / distributor availability: IngramSpark, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and www.katymcquaid.com
LITERARY FICTION/GENERAL FICTION
MEMOIR / BIOGRAPHY / PERSONAL GROWTH
CLEAR-CUTS
Petals from Mars: A Memoir of Resilience and Triumph over Adversity
In the ensuing seventy-two hours, a father’s legend, a family’s ancestral lore, and two brothers will all collide. Set in the rough-hewn woods of northern Maine, Clear-Cuts, is a tense fast-paced New England narrative, piercing and resolute in tone, relentless and unwavering in storytelling.
ISBN: 979-8986427041 • $16.99 Paperbacks: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org For Retailers: IngramSpark • E-Books: Amazon, Kobo, Nook www.joshuasnarinsauthor.com
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A raw, visceral, unflinching tale about the ties that bind coming unbound.
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From turbulence and heartbreak to grace, an inspiring memoir of a fiery battle for holding one’s power and standing firm when life demands submission. A moving story about refusing to be defined by one’s environment. Dziezak navigates enduring secret abuse from her mentally ill mother and how hard-earned treasures from that experience ripple into her success in male-dominated fields. Evoking hope, “Petals from Mars” unfolds a look at how difficulty can blossom into resilience, strength, and self-love.
ISBN: 978-1954920750 • $19.99 Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and online booksellers https://judiedziezak.com
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MILITARY FICTION
NONFICTION/PARENTING & FAMILY/MENTAL HEALTH/ANIMAL LOVE
Weeds of War: Those Who Bled at Dien Bien Phu
Emptying the Nest: Getting Better at Goodbyes
Paul Alenous Kluge
Morgan Baker
Dien Bien Phu battle in 1954 would tip scales everywhere. France was desperate for a win. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh was betting on the support of the Soviets, the Chinese, and his own fire-eating army.Weeds of War is a story of common soldiers-privates with no authority-whose success was essential to the victory. On one side are the young zealots of the communist Vietminh who do not hesitate to throw themselves into suicidal wave assaults. People like Private Nguyen.
A memoir about reinventing yourself, learning how to handle loss, and emerging from depression. During her older daughter’s last year of high school, the family takes on an adventure of breeding their kind and gentle Portuguese Water Dog, Spray, and raising her ten puppies. They find loving homes for nine of the pups, and keep one, Ezzie. At the end of the year, Maggie, Morgan’s oldest, heads off for her own adventure at college. All these goodbyes don’t sit well with Morgan and she falls into a depression.
Then there are those who enlist in the Foreign Legion, which is teeming with Wehrmacht survivors-hard core, professional soldiers. Included is a troubled and naive Irish teen.
What she learns from climbing out of the depression is that life continually changes. Her dogs and children teach her lessons on living in the moment and embracing change, instead of running from it. Morgan’s identity shifts during the years after her kids leave the house.
But war is not all blood and guts. There is room for humanity and sometimes even a little romance across enemy lines. For this is a world of strange bedfellows where patience and resilience prevail.The privates depicted here are fictional, but their experiences are from
She discovers she’s more than a mother.
actual battles. This is how it really was, to live and die among the weeds.
ISBN: 978-1645384816 • $16.99 Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and online booksellers https://www.bymorganbaker.com/book
ISBN: 978-1736684313 • $14.00 Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org and online booksellers
P E R S O N A L G R O W T H / PSYC HOLOGY/ B U S I N E S S DI V E R S I T Y & INC LUSION
M i l i ta ry F i ct i o n
The Gift of Sensitivity: The Extraordinary Power of emotional engagement in life and work
Answering Lincoln’s Call: War in America T.W. Harvey
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In Answering Lincoln’s Call, T.W. Harvey gives us an illustration. Based on letters written by his own forefathers, Harvey provides us a window to peek into the past and see what motivated these brave boys. In doing so, he depicts not only some of the fierce fighting that took place in the early days of the war but also of the very souls of the boys who fought in them. -Dr. Larry P. Arnn, PhD, President, Hillsdale College
Elena V. Amber Sensitivity is the degree to which we sense and perceive the world. For too long we have seen it as a weakness, especially in business. Elena Amber demonstrates that it is the source of our most authentic strength, and our superpower for the future.
ISBN:978-1788605021 • $21.99
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play, Books-A-Million https://elenavamber.com/
Answering Lincoln’s Call: War in America is a true story originally told in the same 180 letters written by my great-grandfather Lieutenant Thomas S. Armstrong about his experiences in the Civil War that were the basis for Seeing the Elephant.
ISBN: 979-8987045107 • $14.99 Available on Amazon and TWHarvey.net
RELATIONSHIPS
Be Human, Lead Human: How to Connect People and Performance Dr. Jennifer Nash, PhD
Health / Parenting / Childcare
Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies:
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400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers
In a world where adaptability, empathy, and human connection have become more important than ever, Dr. Nash’s message is both timely and timeless. Be Human, Lead Human addresses a central issue facing contemporary workplaces: the urgent need for human-centric leadership that fosters engagement, creates connection, and powers performance.
Ready to transform your leadership approach and craft a more empathetic, connected, and effective workplace? Be Human, Lead Human is your indispensable guide. Discover how to bridge the gap between people and performance — because to lead humans, one must first be human.
The most significant vaccine research summarized. Many positive reviews. 80,000 copies sold! “Should be required reading for every doctor and parent.” —David Brownstein, MD
978-1544533438 • $19.99 Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and online booksellers
www.drjennifernash.com/bhlh
978-1881217404
Purchase Price: $21.95
Available through IPG/Midpoint Trade Books, New Atlantean Press www.thinkchoice.com
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Authors Share THEIR STORIES &
Thanks
Steven Dale Davison
Jayson Adams,
author of The Road to Continental Heart: Befriending, and Defending, the Spirit of North America
Distinguished Favorite for Science Fiction
Distinguished Favorite for cross genre An artist friend of mine decided to join the Global Walk for a Livable World, a walk from Los Angeles to New York. I wanted to join him but couldn’t, so instead, I resolved to write him a poem for each week of the walk. For nine months, each week I researched the landscape he would be walking through in the next week, its geology and geography, its natural history, its creatures and features, its First Nation inhabitants, and wrote a poem from my research; or from whatever inspired me that week. Those poems form the core of Continental Heart. Alongside the poems are photographs George and a friend took along the way, letters we wrote to each other, maps, essays, and other materials from the Walk. The result is a hybrid, coffee table-style book, 320 pages, in hardcover.
author of ARES My mom was my beta reader. She was always upset when I sent her new chapters because she wanted so badly to know what would happen next. I’m glad others have found Ares as engaging as she did. Thank you for the Independent Press Award recognition! Computers were my artistic/creative outlet, which I explored in my various software start-ups. My switch to a corporate job limited the kinds of things I could work on. I started writing in 2018 because it allowed complete freedom to create whatever worlds I wanted. I’ve been a fan of science fiction since I was a kid and have read lots of physics books, creating a foundation and a starting point for my ideas. After collecting my rejection notices for my first book, Infernum, in the fall of 2020, I decided to self-publish to at least establish myself in the genre. I released my second book, Ares, in October, 2023. The people that influenced me most are my mom, who is a ravenous reader, and Steve Jobs, for his conviction that technology cannot stand alone—it must be married with the liberal arts. Vincent van Gogh is another hero. He’s inspiring because he took up painting not when he was young but at age 28. In just ten years, he went from nothing to becoming one of the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. It’s never too late to start something new, and the sky’s the limit on what you can achieve.
Brittney Brackett author of My Safe Place Distinguished Favorite for childrens: inspirational/motivational I became an author in 2011 searching for my purpose as an entertainer and found it when I wrote Bibi and The Great Outdoor Adventure. Since then, I’ve written 6 books to date, along with 5 audio books. My 7th children’s book, A Great, Big Love is currently in the works. My Safe Place won the 2024 Independent Press Award in the Childrens: Inspirational/ Motivational Category. My work aims to empower and motivate youth and adults for greatness, providing them the extra push they need to succeed. My parents and my brother have been instrumental to my success, because of their encouragement, support and partnership. Toni Morrison and Rumi inspire me to write about what hits me deep to my core. Then, I seek to share it with the world. I want to thank my entire family, Mom, Dad and Brooks. Thanks to Seajae for supporting our book at Garner’s, The Children’s Museum of the Upstate and various churches in my city for their support.
I am thankful for my wife Rachel, and my children Gage, Eden, and Liam. My writing can be summed up as “characters that overcome no-win situations with heart, wit, and grit.” I also want to thank the Independent Press Award for hosting BookCAMP!!!
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TOP LINE: Angela Terry; Barbara Lane; Beth Ann Hooper; Brittney Brackett; Laurel Anne Hill for the California Writers Club San Francisco Peninsula Branch; BOTTOM LINE: Morgan Shumway for Carla Crane Osborne; Caytlyn Brooke; Chris Lengle; Claire N. Rubman; C.L. Olsen;
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TOP LINE: Danielle Camer; Ted Olczak, Bob Hill, and John Clark; David Benjamin; Derek Corsaro; Donna Marie Hayes; BOTTOM LINE: David Rockwell; Edward Belfar; Elaine Bapis; Esther Mollica; Gary E Smith; www.IndependentPressAward.com
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TOP LINE: Grace Torres-Hodges; Heather Leigh Strom; T.E. Lane for Howard Berk & Peter Berk; Jayson Adams; JC Compton; BOTTOM LINE: Jeanine Thompson; Jeff Beamish; Jennifer Nash; Jessica Bantom; Jessica Clancy; www.IndependentPressAward.com
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Dr.
Jennifer
AUTHOR OF:
Nash
Be Human, Lead Human:
How To Connect People and Performance
B
e Human, Lead Human: How to Connect People and Performance, by author Dr. Jennifer Nash, is Winner of the 2024 Independent Press Award in the Relationships category. Through real world stories, extensive interviews, research and empirical data Jennifer concisely outlines how to be a successful leader by connecting on the human level. Be Human, Lead Human is a take action road map to successful leadership and elevated performance by pinpointing your current skills, outlining your goals for leadership and arming you with the necessary tools to be a successful leader. Her research has been presented at Harvard /McLean Institute of Coaching and Columbia University. During the past 25 years Jennifer has held executive roles at Deloitte Consulting and Ford Motor Company. A Strategic Advisor, Executive Coach, consultant, and professional speaker, Jennifer is the founder and CEO of Jennifer Nash Coaching & Consulting. She received her MBA from The University of Michigan and her PHD from Case Western Reserve. Jennifer currently resides in Texas.
It’s an invitation to use what we typically call soft skills as their primary skills in leading people. Human leadership is a set of principles and practices that help leaders put people first in their decision making and first in their consideration. GABBY: Your tagline says “prioritizing people to power performance” what does this entail? JENNIFER: Instead of prioritizing that procedure or prioritizing that process or prioritizing profitability, we’re asking leaders to think about what it takes to help your people perform at their best and give them the tools that they need to succeed. When those two things happen, everything else falls into place. GABBY: Why is trust so important and why do leaders lack that trust with their workers?
GABBY: This was really a fascinating memoir about you and your ten sisters, whom you were separated from when you were three years old after you were all abandoned.
JENNIFER: It’s so complex because there’s a lot of factors that go into that. When you lack trust, it’s hard to have a relationship with someone. Leaders have been taught throughout the years that you have to make people earn your trust.
JENNIFER: We have had this belief that leaders needed to be perfect, they needed to be the heroes, and they needed to have all the answers. There wasn’t a lot of questioning going on and we sort of put them up on pedestals. We looked at them as these superheroes and they were infallible. We took away that human quality from them. There’s often this tendency to that if someone is kind or someone is compassionate or someone demonstrates some type of empathy in the workplace, it can be viewed as a weakness.
For some reason, that has proliferated throughout organizations. It’s interesting because in high trust organizations, they outperform the market 286%. We have these quantitative results that show that when you lead with trust first and you give trust first, that organizational performance is much better. GABBY: You introduced the research based “humans framework”, which includes six elements. Which of the six elements are most critical according to you, to becoming a human leader?
GABBY: What is human leadership and why is it needed? JENNIFER: www.IndependentPressAward.com
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JENNIFER: They all integrate, they all are connected. The six elements are actually connected by the relationships that go around it, they’re the energy, that power in that framework. If I had to pick one, I would say that it’s the relationships. Without relationships,we don’t have any way to interact with one another, communicate with one another. Relationships are the glue that get work done in organizations.
Listen to the entire interview on https://www.thegabtalks.com/. To learn more about Dr. Jennifer Nash and purchase Be Human, Lead Human visit https://drjennifernash.com/.
GABBY: You have said that this book is designed to help you upskill your leadership for the 21st century. What does that mean? JENNIFER: Typically by the time a leader gets promoted into a leader position, it’s 15 years until they get some type of leadership training. Upskill yourself so that you are able to lead people going forward.
To listen to the full interview or to learn more, please visit
GABBY: Is Be Human, Lead Human for professionals only? JENNIFER: It is designed for leaders, or managers, or people that are in the workplace. However, it’s not just for people who have the title or role of a leader or a manager. It’s also for parents who want to help their kids develop social skills, develop communication skills, and develop their ability to interact with others.
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TOP LINE: Jim Reiman; Joel A. Davis Brown; Amanda Zeidan for John Kershaw Ed D; Joseph Howse; Josh McConkey; BOTTOM LINE: Judie Dziezak; Judy Kelly; JW Warner; Katherine Davis-Gibbon; Kathleen Vallee Stein;
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TOP LINE: Keven Renken; Kevin Wayne Johnson; Kristen Donnelly; L. M. Coppa; Laurisa Brandt; BOTTOM LINE: Lee Woodman; Marc Vicente; Christopher E. Segal; Mariela Rodriguez; Mark DeYoung;
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TOP LINE: Marty Ohlhaut; H.L. Howard; Mary E. McDonald; Matthew J. Louis; Megan Henry; BOTTOM LINE: Michele Kwasniewski; Morgan Baker; Monique de Maio; Muhammad Obaidur Rahim; Parris Sheets;
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TOP LINE: Keven Peter Eliott; Rebecca Miller; Rey A. Banda; Robin Reams; Rumki Chowdhury; BOTTOM LINE: Samantha Richardson; Shane Svorec; Sherrie Poitier-Liscombe; Sterlin D. Williams; Steven Dale Davison;
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TOP LINE: T.E. Lane; Vincent Yeoh for Terence Ang; Theresa Lynn; Tong Ge; Tracee Dunblazier; MIDDLE LINE: Vicki Reed; Xuemo; Ernesto Atkinson; Benjamin M. Weilert; Suzanne Lezotte; BOTTOM LINE: Deborah Tant; and Michael C. Higgins, PhD
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What Are You Reading? Joseph Howse author of The Girl in the Water Independent Press Award 2023 Winner Right now, I am reading new novels from African writers (Farai Mudzingwa, Shubnum Khan, and others) as I head to Johannesburg to speak at Kingsmead Book Fair. I am Canadian but, after winning the 2023 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction, I was able to secure traditional distribution and media coverage in South Africa for my debut novel, The Girl in the Water. On this trip, I will have the chance to do research for the sequel, The Circus and the Atom, in which a couple of new characters are shaped by the history of Apartheid in South Africa and Namibia. Thanks to Willow Trading SA (distributor) and JDoubleD Publicity for being my boots on the ground on this other side of the world!
Scott Fad author of King of Nod Independent Press Award 2024 Winner Summer reads are for relaxing, stepping out of the routine to immerse yourself in another world. Set in the sun-soaked beaches and lush salt marshes of the Carolina low country, King of Nod is an epic southern gothic mystery, a timeless love-story, and a comingof-age tale, simmering in superstition and fed on social consciousness. With characters you’ll fall in love with - I know I did. And like the summer itself, stories you never want to end. Thank you, Independent Press, for this wonderful honor.
Terence Ang author of Emerging From the Dark:
Stroke...The Untold Stories Independent Press Award 2024 Distinguished Favorite As the author of Emerging From the Dark: Stroke... The Untold Stories, being recognized as a Distinguished Favorite in the Independent Press Award 2024 is an incredible honor. It’s not just about the accolades; it’s about the opportunity to amplify the voices of stroke survivors and shed light on their journey of resilience and hope. My hope is that readers find solace, inspiration, and a sense of connection within the pages of my book, discovering the power of resilience and the beauty of the human spirit. Summer is a time for exploration and reflection, and I believe there’s no better companion than a captivating book. I am currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear to help me accomplish more by focusing on less.
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