Exceptional: the Uncommon Art of Excelling at Work and Life : The 12 Mental Shifts That Matter

Success is not the same as satisfaction. Through decades of observation and research of successful professionals, a persistent pattern emerges: many people who reach extraordinary heights in their careers struggle to find a comparable sense of fulfilment in their lives overall. And yet, a select few manage to achieve both.

In Exceptional, leadership expert Scott C. Rutherford distills twenty years of privileged research and observation – from boardrooms, leadership retreats, and candid executive coaching conversations – into 12 mental shifts that distinguish the "exceptional minority" from their equally accomplished but less satisfied peers. By examining the stories of professionals from hundreds of companies and dozens of countries in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, he brings to light the invisible choices that affect every professional’s life, career, and growth. At each fork in the road, there is a conventional path that reliably delivers career advancement, and a less common one that integrates ambition with meaning. The difference is subtle yet powerful.

Drawing on insights from over ten thousand professionals – many of them senior leaders at Fortune 500 companies – Exceptional makes a confident but hopeful claim: achieving extraordinary career success while enjoying a deeply fulfilling life is very much possible. This book gathers the inspirational stories of over a dozen people building remarkable careers and creating deeply fulfilling lives at the same time. Not by working less or wanting less, but by thinking differently.