Our first Featured Creative for our July theme of Interdependence is Jonathan Miller, former Kentucky State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate, and now CEO of Second Act Strategies, a crisis management training firm. When I was consulting Jonathan as a client, I immediately identified his speech opening laugh line, The Recovering Politician, as a great premise for a community and was so excited to see his website become a hub for:”Insider Analysis of Today’s Scandals and Crises — and Tomorrow’s Second Acts.” As a very likeable guy with a rare passion for bi-partisan commentary, he managed to convince many career politicians from both sides of the aisle to be guest bloggers. Ultimately they became contributors to Miller’s book, The Recovering Politician’s Twelve Step Program to Survival Crisis and have become part of his Second Act Strategies team. Every day for the rest of this week you will get new daily teasers from each “step.” Hopefully no one reading will ever have to face the kind of mega-disasters the corporations they consult have to handle, but this is some good ammunition for coping in crisis–on any scale. Victoria C. Rowan, Ideasmyth’s Creatrix-in-Chief
Here in an excerpt from the introduction to The Recovering Politician’s 12-Step Program to Surviving Crisis, Jonathan Miller introduces the missions of Second Act Strategies, a company in which “esteemed, qualified experts who’ve earned their stripes in the arena’s spotlight teach leadership, teamwork, ethics, and reinvention.”
“While some references to the language of recovery might elicit a few chuckles, I compiled this book with solemn respect for those who have bravely joined twelve step programs to better themselves, as well as for those who have developed these curricula and saved so many lives in the process.
The use of recovery terms also reveals another particular passion of mine: To prove F. Scott Fitzgerald wrong–that there are meaningful and fulfilling second (and third…) acts in American life. You may have run across this book because you are currently suffering through a difficult crisis–in your firm, career or family. You likely know of a close friend, relative or business associate who has had to endure a challenging or embarrassing public episode.
If my co-authors and I accomplish anything, it is to empower you, through the sharing of our own experiences, with the comfort of knowing that recovery and rehabilitation are always around the corner; and that your journey, no matter how difficult it might seem in the present moment, will provide invaluable lessons for your own next act. We hope that some of the lessons we learned from our own crises–as discussed in the following chapters–can be helpful to you as well.”
To receive the full The Recovering Politician’s Twelve Step Program to Survival Crisis experience, purchase a copy of his book here.
See more of Jonathan’s Featured Creative posts on our Ideablog
Jonathan Miller, The Recovering Politician, has been elected twice as Kentucky State Treasurer; authored three books on faith, public policy and crisis management; graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with high honors from Harvard’s college and law school; practices as a crisis management attorney for Frost Brown Todd, a large regional law firm; serves as a Contributor to The Daily Beast and Kentucky Sports Radio, played straight man on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; reached the final table in the World Series of Poker; and with his summer camp sweetheart, raised two remarkable college-going daughters.
