Author Gary Laney: “A Book Needs to Invoke a Feeling of Building Something”
We periodically feature guest input from impactful authors we’ve worked with. Please enjoy this Q&A about the writing process with leadership speaker and author Gary C. Laney.
SPIRITUS BOOKS: Tell us a little about your book and why you wrote it.
GARY C. LANEY: Become a Super Leader was published in the spring of 2024. This is a follow-up to my first book, The Power of Strategic Influence, in which I teach 10 steps called “success factors” on how to access, utilize, develop, expand, and constructively use your influence. Become a Super Leader is a deep dive into the eighth success factor titled, “Identify and leverage your competitive competencies.” The book instructs leaders and emerging leaders how to identify and develop skillsets they need in order to maximize their performance at a proficient level. It also addresses the importance of identifying one competency in which they may possess a natural ability; this can potentially become their superpower as a leader and later a legacy they can leave behind.
How has writing a book helped you personally or professionally?
Writing my books has allowed me to finally document my teachings that spanned more than 35 years. On a professional basis, my books have given me more authority on subject matter topics such as influence and leadership development, business networking, and a variety of others I teach in my books.
What was the best or easiest part of the process for you?
Development of the outline, although I will say that I did move things around during the writing process.
What did you find the most challenging?
Making sure each chapter and section flowed well and made up a sensible reading journey.
What surprised you, or what do you wish you had known ahead of time or done differently?
I was under the gun to produce the book in six months because of a deadline to distribute my newest book at a leadership symposium I was organizing. The timetable worked when I committed to the deadline and seemed to come together faster than I expected.
What advice would you give to first-time authors?
Make sure your main theme and subthemes for your book are progressive. If you jump around too much, the readers will have a challenging time following your book. For me, a book, especially non-fiction self-help, needs to invoke a feeling of building something—which will develop a sense of completion or arrival at the end of the reading.
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
My basic message to anyone who wants to become an influential leader: You must identify those skillsets that can set you apart. I call leadership skillsets competencies, and I like to add the word competitive. When you identify competencies that are important to you personally, your interest will turn into passion during the development or self-mastery process. If you take the self-development process seriously, your competencies can eventually become your legacy.
Gary C. Laney is CEO of Success Masters and a bestselling author of The Power of Strategic Influence and Become a Super Leader. He is a serial entrepreneur and former high-tech executive. A dynamic speaker, Gary has motivated tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, business professionals, and salespeople. He is known for his ability to turn around businesses and create dramatic revenue growth. Gary has a triple major MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
