Becoming a Changemaker - by Alex Budak

About the Book

"Becoming a Changemaker is a radically inclusive playbook for leading positive change. It's a fresh, inspiring, and research-backed guide to developing the mindsets and leadership skills needed to navigate, shape, and lead change and to thrive amidst uncertainty. A faculty member at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, Budak created and teaches the wildly popular course "Becoming a Changemaker," which has quickly grown into one of the most highly-rated courses anywhere on campus. It's regularly heralded by students as "transformative" and "life changing" but to date has only been accessible to students attending UC Berkeley. Budak is driven by the belief that anyone-regardless of title, personality, race, gender, age, or class-can be a changemaker. This inclusive vision of leadership is the beating heart of the "Becoming a Changemaker" course, and is the driving force for the book as well. Tailored to the millennial/Gen Z set who are exiting school and entering the workforce, this book makes the lessons, insights, examples and excitement from class accessible to all"--

Book Synopsis

"The tools you need to step up, play bigger and increase your impact." --New York Times Bestselling Author Liz Wiseman

Hailed by CNBC as a "top 5 non-fiction book everyone should be reading about work," Becoming a Changemaker is a call to action, showing how leading change from where you are can transform your career, community and even the world. Alex Budak, a celebrated UC Berkeley faculty member, distills the essence of successful changemakers in this accessible guide, unveiling the essential mindsets and leadership skills needed to spark change and create impact across roles, sectors, and hierarchies. Through a powerful blend of data-driven insights and diverse, relatable case studies, Budak builds a compelling case, one that frames being a changemaker as an inclusive, aspirational identity for everyone.

Inspired by the lessons and philosophies from Budak's wildly popular course of the same name, which he created at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, Becoming a Changemaker will show you how to:

• Develop your own unique voice as a changemaker, to lead effectively, empathetically, and authentically in any setting.
• Transform setbacks into stepping stones and uncover the art and science of turning failures into powerful catalysts for growth and innovation
• Influence without authority to inspire and mobilize others towards your vision - even when you're not in charge.
• Create a sustainable action plan to turn your aspirations for change into reality with the Changemaker Canvas tool and its tangible, manageable steps.
• Pursue Your Purpose and learn to harness your individual strengths and passions to drive meaningful change from wherever you are, in a way that's true to who you are.

To begin leading change, you don't need a fancy title, or a perfectly polished idea. But you do need to start. This book is your first step.

Review Quotes

"Alex Budak provides a fresh look at leadership today, showing how each of us can lead positive change, whether we are working from the top of an organizations or on the front-lines."--Ben Rattray, Founder, Change.org

"Taking Alex Budak's course at UC Berkeley taught me how to lead inclusively, how to inspire others, and how to turn my ideas into reality. But most importantly it was the spark that turned me into a changemaker. It gave me the mindset, tools, and foundation I needed to lead positive change, and I can't wait for readers of this book to experience the same transformative power of Becoming a Changemaker that I experienced in the classroom."--Ibrahim Baldé, Founder, Blackbook University; Alumnus, UC Berkeley

"Professor Budak's Becoming a Changemaker course was life changing. It helped me find my voice and transformed who I am as a person and a leader. I'm so glad that this book now makes the magic of his course available to everyone!"--Alicia Wilson, Olympic Athlete, Team Great Britain; Alumna, UC Berkeley

"Alex Budak provides an invaluable blueprint for changemakers of all types --in business, education, non profits, or government-- with practical and actionable advice on how to drive leadership in any organization or community. The world needs more transformational leaders, and there's no one better than Alex to teach us how to become one."--Aaron Levie, CEO & Co-Founder, Box

"Could you be an influential changemaker? Alex Budak believes that all of us have the potential. This warm and inspiring book, filled with examples and practical tools, will be a catalyst for a new generation of leaders committed to changing the world for the better."
--Dan Heath, co-author of Switch, Upstream, and Made to Stick, and a Senior Fellow at Duke's Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship

"In Becoming a Changemaker, Alex Budak issues a compelling challenge--be the leaders we wish we had and enact the change we want to see. Drawing on behavioral science and rich examples, he offers the tools you need to step up, play bigger and increase your impact. Truly the world is ready for this book!"--Liz Wiseman, New York Times bestselling author of Multipliers and Impact Players

"This is a guide I wish I had when I was just starting out as a changemaker! I've led teams of people ranging from 20 to 20,000, and have seen first hand that Alex Budak's inclusive approach to changemaking is exactly what our companies, communities and world need right now. No matter what kind of change you hope to lead, this will be a book you turn to again and again to help you realize your changemaker goals."--Sara El-Amine, Head of Public Engagement, Public Policy at Lyft

About the Author

ALEX BUDAK is an award-winning educator at UC Berkeley--with faculty appointments at Berkeley Haas, Berkeley Public Health, and Berkeley Executive Education--who helps people spark change, develop courage, and create impact anywhere. His beloved changemaker courses are consistently among Berkeley's top rated offerings, and have even inspired student tattoos. His book, Becoming a Changemaker, is hailed by CNBC as a "top 5 non-fiction book everyone should be reading about work," and has been published in 13 languages. Budak's change journey began when he co-founded StartSomeGood, which has helped people in over 50 countries raise millions of dollars to launch and scale new change initiatives. He's a graduate of UCLA and Georgetown University, a frequent speaker at organizations like Accenture, Lyft, and UNHCR, and once learned the hard way to never go budget skydiving.