Review: The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life by Steven Bartlett

In The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life by Steven Bartlett, the British entrepreneur and social media star, is an extensive, intimate, and occasionally raw blueprint of the business and life principles of the high flyer. In these instances, he has established the social media marketing agency known as Social Chain and starred in The Diary of a CEO. Drawing from his experiences gathered from his career and interviewing some of the world’s eminent leaders, his book captures the wealth of experience, success, and failure.

This review will focus on the contents of this book and give an account of its structure, major messages, main ideas, and advantages and limitations that are likely to contribute to positive change to potential readers who seek to develop in their personal as well as in their working lives.

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Overview of the Book

The book, thus, has been divided into 33 separate chapters; each law is a chapter consisting of different sections of business and life according to the understanding of Steven Bartlett. These laws apply to such matters as identity, stress, relations, decision-making, team management, financial management and the like. Some of the laws are general trends, while others seemed to be written for today’s society and Bartlett’s experience.

It is hard not to conclude that the book is more of Bartlett’s diary, where he reveals his ideas and beliefs as he wades through the industry. This book promises valuable business and life lessons since Bartlett shares his findings with all the guests he has had on his podcast, plus an additional set of principles based on his own success story, as a young man who became a millionaire independent of having a rich dad.

Each of the 33 laws is in proper form of a short self-contained essay, peppered with the author’s first-person storytelling as well stories from people that the author has encountered throughout his life and/or lessons that the author has learned. While the essence of the book is targeted at businesspersons and aspiring entrepreneurs, it can be easily understood and applied by any person across the scale, regardless of their experience in business or personal development.

The Structure of the Book

The organization of the book is relatively simple though ultimately quite effective. For each law, Bartlett devotes a chapter to reflecting on exactly that, supported by practical cases, ideas, and experiences the author shares with the reader. The laws themselves themselves are not enumerated in any particular sequence but they are in a sequence which makes medical sense in terms of spiritual and business evolution. While this approach may appear irrational at this moment, it’s quite obvious that Bartlett’s goal is to replicate the real-life business environment where development is not always constant.

The amplification of voice is the most impactful aspect of the book and is evident most prominently in the author Bartlett’s both powerful and fragile position. He does not mind telling his audience about failures, mistakes as well as moments he experienced doubt. In every chapter, readers feel real and grounded, especially when he talks about accepting one’s mistakes, embracing who one is and staying honest to oneself. This tone is especially appealing because it is a sharp contrast to the conventional ‘grind culture’ possessiveness often found in business genre books.

Key Themes and Insights

The 33 laws cover a vast area of subject matter; however, eight principles form the core of the book. These ideas are inspired by Bartlett’s outlook and the current business issues in today’s dynamic and digital business environment.

1. That’s a really important concept: knowing ourselves.

Without any doubt, one of the most powerful ideas discussed in The 33 Laws of Business and Life is the self-awareness idea. As it will be recalled throughout the book, Bartlett incessantly emphasizes the importance of self-awareness as a person’s ability to identify strengths, weaknesses, wants and foes in the process of growing personally as well as in business. He asked what it is like being an entrepreneur nowadays and he mentioned how the most successful people are those who have taken time to think about who they want to be and what they want to do rather than changing for the world to accept them.

This focus of a person on self comprises the upliftment of self-awareness on the aspect of emotional intelligence. According to Bartlett, strategy and operations are insufficient to succeed in business instead it entails the ability to relate with people emotionally. He uses examples from several chapters to explain how self-introspection especially on issues of insecurity or doubt has been a strong driving force in leadership and business.

2. Resilience and Adaptability

Perhaps one of the topics that Bartlett stresses in his book is that of perseverance. Even yesterday’s success stories can hardly be told as smooth success stories, and as for Bartlett, his story contains accounts of failures and obstacles. He explains how he lost his first business and how in each case he learnt important lessons not only in persistence but in how to turn things around when things go wrong.

Specifically, one of the most outstanding laws in this section is the fact that failure should be regarded as an opportunity rather than a threat to the commercial success. In turning readers’ lens on failure, Bartlett insists that failure should not be thought of as a synonym for a poor result but as a functional component. His message is clear: also each failure has its lesson: they should correct their mistakes and return even stronger.

3. Changing one’s mindset and mental health

Two more concepts that reflect Bartlett’s philosophy are mental health and, of course, mindset. He has also dived into how this challenging entrepreneurial life can affect one’s mental health and the need to balance success with mental health. Because he does not conceal the fact that for instance, he has been dealing with anxiety issues, the readers find themselves overwhelmed with success pressure. Bartlett notes that mindset is not about being stubborn about when and how to seek assistance and when to back off.

This message is however very relevant for today’s generation of businessmen and women who are coming out to publicly share their struggles with mental health due to the prevalent culture of working until exhaustion. To this extent, Bartlett advises the readers to cultivate health-correct mind-sets, especially those, which bring lasting joy as opposed to those that result in momentary triumph.

4. The Role of Leadership

Another promising aspect of the book is that of leadership. In this case, Bartlett’s laws on leadership are a blend between the how’s on leadership and the why’s of leadership. Bartlett on his part agreeing with the transforming leadership model argued that leadership isn’t about authority but about people trusting, genuinely caring for other people and having a vision with people. He puts much emphasis on the need to act honourably, communicate with the subordinates, especially with candour and recognize the welfare of people.

Leadership also entails weighing down on when to let go and sever business relations with the customers, suppliers or contractors who are not in line with leadership’s beliefs. He gives added visions of leadership as a process of transformation that entails lifelong learning, problem-solving, and successful communication.

5. Constructing a Sustainable Enterprise

Despite drawing upon many elements of entrepreneurship and business management, one of the significant ideas that underpin the opus is long-term business management and development instead of unfruitful short-term profit chases. These are important lessons that Bartlett would like to convey to his viewers as he says ‘never fall prey to the sweetened ‘get rich quick’ dreams’, and go for building businesses that can be of greater usefulness in the community. He talks about the requirements that every start-up founder should have to ensure that he or she remains committed to helping his or her business attain its goals and objectives.

With many of these teachings, Bartlett speaks from his lessons creating Social Chain which grew to become one of the UK’s most prominent social media marketing agencies. He engages in contemplating how one can grow a business especially while doing so he does not compromise the essence of the business that was responsible for the growth in the first place.

Strengths of the Book

He found many strengths in The 33 Laws of Business and Life. The first is the passion, with which Bartlett writes. He is not afraid to admit trouble, error, and failure, and this kind of frankness is rare in a modern leader. This makes the book very realistic, which is not the norm for many business-related books out there.

The last strength is the practicality of the book. In contrast to some other books for personal growth, where information given may seem too philosophical and is often not applicable in the reader’s life to the same extent that The 33 Laws is. Every law is reasonable and provocative, and Bartlett gives real measures that individuals can take to better themselves and their organizations.

Another valuable component of the book is the use of personal Berbart’s stories. I appreciate this level of the author because, in addition to receiving business knowledge at the intellectual level, one can understand who this man and businessman is.

Weaknesses of the Book

However, there are some aspects of The 33 Laws of Business and Life that a certain reader may disagree with. For instance, some of the tips that are given may seem quite ordinary to anyone who has read any books or articles on self-help or business. Most of the lessons, for example, ‘fail fast’ or ‘go with your gut,’ are normal phrases that you would find in contemporary books with tips on entrepreneurship. Those who have read widely in this genre will find some of the content repeated here and there.

Further, it has many insights to offer, yet it all in all lacks the structure that derives from the division of the advice per 33 rules. Consistent with its title, some of the laws overlap in terms of themes which leaves one with the feeling that the author should have linked it up better to give the laws a more logical flow.

Conclusion

The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life is a truly inspiring, thorough and rather intimate overview of what one might want to achieve in life and business. Combined with his straightforward writing style, Steven Bartlett provides readers with a guide on how to get through what can be a challenging odyssey of starting a business. Starting from such aspects as recovery, self-identity, the management of ourselves and people, and mental health, the book describes the ways of leading a successful life.

What’s more, despite the absence of breakthrough ideas for experienced entrepreneurs, the book is a perfect read for laymen, employees, and self-developers any would-be or existing business owners. Therefore, Bartlett’s book is outstanding evidence of a man who came to power by overcoming hunger and from poverty to wealth goal only, but also to live a meaningful life with honour and dignity.

Click here to read The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life for free with a 30-day free trial.