I officially finished my first book this year on the last Friday of this month.

Note, the keyword is “officially.”

I’ve been “read-hopping” between 7 books, of which the 3 main books are:

No Room for Small Dreams — Shimon Peres

This is Marketing — Seth Godin

And

1001 Ways to Market Your Services — Rick Crandall.

However, I have done more videos, audiobooks, and podcasts than book reading this year. So my mind has been pretty occupied.

Now back to the first book I officially finished — No Room for Small Dreams.

Let’s see if I can do a brief review of it.

The book captures the whole essence of leadership i.e. courage, creativity, making the hard decisions, dogged pursuit of one’s belief even if you have to stand alone, living and dying for a cause, seeing options where there seems to be none, change management, determination, and dreams.

So where do I start?

How do I do justice to a book about a great man?

Well, the book is about the start and growth of the Nation Israel shortly before the Second World War. It captures the challenges, crisis, and scarcity, the small Nation had to overcome to be what they are now.

At the center of the start and growth of Israel was the man — Shimon Peres.

I think this review is best done by sharing some of his views that I found captivating.

Ideas that stayed with me

1. Young countries and young businesses grow by investing time, money and heart. Fear of failure can itself become the greatest risk.
2. Operation Entebbe illustrates his belief that leaders facing coercion must preserve agency, think creatively under pressure and remember that an unlikely solution is not necessarily impossible. Expert opinion should be tested, and a sound decision can still produce an unsuccessful outcome.
3. Peace is the goal worth pursuing; war is a reluctant instrument rather than a purpose.
4. Being outnumbered does not require accepting defeat. Resourcefulness can compensate for scarcity.
5. Leadership sometimes requires standing alone when imagination and conviction point toward an important idea.
6. Temporary austerity should not prevent a nation or organization from pursuing an ambitious future.
7. When two alternatives appear to be the only choices, leaders should search for a third possibility that has not yet been created.
8. Success strengthens confidence, while failure can strengthen resolve.
9. Vision and strategy are not enough. Leaders must understand the practical details of the work they ask others to undertake.
10. History turns on success and failure, but responsible leadership depends on clear thinking, wise choices and moral judgment—not hope alone.
11. The world needs leaders who create and compete rather than destroy, who accept principled controversy and who use imagination more than memory.
12. Peres’s reflections ultimately encourage us to dream more boldly and to treat life as a gift that should be fully used.

I could only capture a little of the gems he dropped. But I hope you find meaning and relevance in the above views.

Thank you for your time.

Regards

Olumide Holloway (King Olulu)

No Room for Small Dreams

Shimon Peres

Memoir · First published 2017

Book information

About Olumide Holloway

Olumide Holloway (King Olulu) is a poetpreneur, storyteller, screenwriter, author and spoken-word poet. He is co-founder and Chief Content Curator of Poetreel and has been closely involved in developing Nigeria’s spoken-word ecosystem through platforms including WORD UP and War of Words.

PoetreelLinkedInBooks & work