Follow the Yellow Brick Road: A Harvard Psychologist's Guide to Becoming a Superstar

How do ordinary people like Richard Branson, Jack Welch, Oprah, Warren Buffett and the characters in The Wizard of Oz become superstars? What do they do that catapults them to the top while others struggle valiantly but achieve only moderate success?

Follow the Yellow Brick Road answers these questions based on Dr. Myra White's research into how over 60 people from business, sports, media and other arenas achieved exceptional success.

The book provides guidance and valuable insights for individuals who want to increase their career success, managers who want to bring out the best in their employees, coaches who want to help others succeed and people who just want to understand the success process.

In the book Dr. White identifies three factors that lead to extraordinary success. First, superstars have the same rich and complex array of talents and weaknesses that everyone else has. Like the characters in The Wizard of Oz, they are imperfect beings.

What sets superstars apart is that they know how to capitalize on their talents and minimize the potentially adverse effects of their weaknesses. Moreover, they have the same passionate commitment to their goals as Dorothy who never gave up her dream to return to Kansas.

Second, superstars understand the process by which you build success. They know the right steps to take, and they are aware that no one achieves great success alone.

Just as Dorothy traveled down the Yellow Brick Road with all its twists and turns and enlisted the help of the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion, superstars know the route to take to succeed and how to get others to help.

Third, superstars know how to manage their emotions and psychological states to bring out their best performances. In The Wizard of Oz when the Wicked Witch of the West threatened to destroy Dorothy, she and her companions always managed to step forward and save the day. This is what superstars do.

Based on her analysis of what makes people successful, Dr. White has broken down the road that superstars follow into nine simple steps that anyone can follow. Each step is illustrated with fascinating examples from the lives of the over 60 superstars in the book and vignettes from The Wizard of Oz.

Whether you want to create success for yourself or others or just learn how it is done, this book will show you the way and provide you with a great read.