So, you may have noticed that we have a loose screw around here...
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"Screw Leadership" is a bit...unorthodox. Let me tell you how this brand was born and what the little screw in our logo represents.
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The Story Behind Our Name and Our Brand
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I’ve always wanted to write a children’s book that would offer valuable lessons on leadership, teamwork, motivation, and a self-starting flexible mindset. I personally love children's books and animated movies and see a lot of teaching value in them even for grown-ups.
One day I came up with a fun idea for the story – an out-of-business watch repair shop with a bunch of old watch parts left behind in the drawer. I thought: “What if they were to create a watch on their own? Where would they start? Who would be the main characters?” And I started seeing random pieces of the story come together – the dreamer, the naysayers, the challenges, the doubts, the process.
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Steven King once said: “plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible.” (“On Writing: The Memoire of the Craft”) He believes that the stories essentially make themselves and a writer’s real job is to give them a place to grow. He likens story writing to archeology where you spot a fossil and dig it up carefully without knowing what will turn up. This lets the details of the story be “…organic, each arising naturally from the initial situation, each an uncovered part of the fossil.”
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Having borrowed from Mr. King’s timeless wisdom, I just started writing and allowed the story to tell me what it is about… And it did!
Meet Martin!
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Turns out, the main character, the little cute screw by the name of Martin, had his own plans for my story. Dreamer turned leader, he had a lot to say about self-doubt, challenging our "design" limits, gathering a team and learning to lead from a position of "I don't know."
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Martin's story CHOSE to be told as an inspirational fable with some pretty deep lessons and messages.
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As to my idea of this being a children's book.... Well, Martin kind of screwed me on that, and I was faced with a dilemma: what do I do with the content that clearly targets young entrepreneurs, yet reads like a bedtime story?!
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I decided to keep following the “let the story tell itself” path and to have the story illustrated to allow for the characters in my head to come alive on the pages of this little book. After conveying my characters to the illustrator in nauseating detail (the girl had real patience, let me tell ya!), I finally saw them come to life!
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I still didn’t know what I would do with this “unorthodox” format, but while playing with the names for the book, “Screw - The Leader,” lead to “Screw Leadership,” and I not only loved the way it sounded – I loved what it represented – Screw Normal, Screw Formats, Screw Leadership as we know it – Leadership (as Martin taught me) is not a goal, not a quality, not a position or a rank, but a mindset aimed at something other than oneself.
Mindset is like navigation - when your “mind is set” on something – you follow in the direction it shows (that is essentially self-motivation), and others may decide to follow you.
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That to me is leadership. It starts from within, from pushing your “self” - leading your “self” through and despite doubts, fears, disbelief, uncertainties, and criticism. That is why most effective leadership is truly that which is done by example and the best leaders are often those who never aspired to be leaders, nor ever considered themselves to be leaders, but instead wanted nothing except to further their commitment – be it to the betterment of themselves, their ideals, ideas, beliefs or goals.
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And this is how Screw Leadership Brand was born.
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So, what happened to Martin’s Story Itself? I am preparing to launch a crowdfunding campaign to bring it to life and I ask for your support – from comments and suggestions to helping me with the design for the cover and the name of the book, to signing up for future updates and supporting the campaign when it launches! Check out "The Screw Story" page to get a sneak peek into the story itself and help me publish it :)
Iryana
Chief Imagination Officer and Clarity Coach
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A Little Bit About Me:
I am a lot like this project... unorthodox. I love challenging everything that is "set in stone," bending reality until it takes the shape I want, developing new ideas, and jumping into new exciting ventures. I've changed direction in life so many times, that I feel I've lived a few lives just this time around. My life has given me a lot of opportunities to learn that no matter what comes our way, it is all for the best, it gives us tools to become stronger, better, smarter, and, most importantly, happier!
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My biggest joy in life comes from figuring out how to make things better and helping people get where they want to be.
Feel free to email me at screwleadership@gmail.com
