Michelle: Okay, Mark. You get five words to review this book. Go. Mark: Your career is your problem. Michelle: Ouch. Harsh. Mine is: "Tiny steps, giant career leaps." Michelle: It is, because we're diving into Think Like an Entrepreneur, Act Like a CEO by Beverly E. Jones. And what's fascinating is that Jones isn't some Silicon Valley startup guru. She's a D.C.-based executive coach with a background in law and has consulted for places like the Federal Reserve Board and the Smithsonian. She actually embodies the career reinvention she preaches. Mark: So it's less about 'disrupting the world' and more about 'not letting your job disrupt you.' I like that. It feels more grounded in the reality most of us live in. Michelle: Exactly. And Jones argues that the very first step in that process is internal. It's about taking control of the one thing you absolutely can: the voice inside your own head.

Mark: Okay, I’m already a little skeptical. The idea that my biggest career problem is the voice in my head feels like it lets bad bosses and broken systems off the hook. The book even says, "Most of our workplace blues comes from a sense of powerlessness." Isn't this just putting all the pressure back on the individual? Michelle: That's the perfect question, and it's the central tension the book tackles. It’s not about ignoring systemic issues, but about reclaiming your agency within them. Jones is incredibly open about her own struggles with this. Throughout law school and her early career, she was haunted by this relentless inner voice. Mark: What did it say? Michelle: Oh, the classics. First, it was, “If you don’t study, you’re gonna flunk.” Then, when she got into a male-dominated law firm, it morphed into, “They aren’t used to women here. You have to work harder than the men.” It was a constant, draining loop of anxiety and self-doubt. She was working herself to the bone, sacrificing everything, because this voice told her that was the only way to survive. Mark: I know that voice. It’s the one that tells you that rest is a form of weakness. Michelle: Precisely. But she had a breakthrough. She realized that just grinding out the work wasn't enough. Success also required building relationships, pitching clients, taking risks—all things her inner critic was screaming at her to avoid. So she developed a technique. After a disappointment, instead of letting the voice spiral, she would stop and ask herself a simple question. Mark: Which was? Michelle: "Okay, what did we learn here?" Mark: Huh. That’s simple, but it’s not just 'be positive.' It’s analytical. Michelle: It's strategic reframing! It turns a failure from an emotional catastrophe into a data point. An entrepreneur doesn't shut down the company after one failed product; they analyze the data and iterate. That's what she's arguing we should do with our own careers. It’s about building resilience. She tells another great little story about a client who was terrified of failure. Mark: What did they do? Michelle: He and his spouse signed up for a dance class. He had zero talent for it, was completely clumsy, and knew he would never be good. But that was the point. He was practicing failure in a low-stakes environment. By learning to be bad at something and just enjoy it, he mitigated his fear of not being perfect at work. He became more inventive and collaborative because the terror of looking foolish was gone. Mark: I love that. It’s like an inoculation against perfectionism. But you know, some readers have said this advice feels a bit familiar. What makes Jones's take on this internal work feel fresh? Michelle: I think it's the framing. It’s not just self-help; it’s a business strategy for "Me, Inc." Your mind is your company's most valuable asset, and if your internal dialogue is toxic, it's like having a rogue board member trying to sabotage every move. You have to manage them. And once you start managing your internal world, you can start thinking about how you project that to the external world.

Mark: Okay, so you've rewired your brain. You're treating failure as data. But what about the outside world? People still judge you. How do you project this new 'CEO of Me, Inc.' vibe? Michelle: This is where it gets really interesting, and a little uncomfortable. Jones dives deep into the idea of your personal brand, and she tells this unforgettable story about a client named Sally. Mark: I’m ready. Tell me about Sally. Michelle: Sally was a project manager at a tech company. She was brilliant, tech-savvy, collaborative—ticked all the boxes. But she was constantly passed over for promotions. Her manager was baffled and brought in Jones to figure out why. Mark: And the reason was? Michelle: Her colleagues thought she was a "flake." Mark: A flake? But you just said she was brilliant and collaborative. How? Michelle: It was her personal style. She had eccentric fashion, and she constantly talked about her hobbies, which were all related to fantasy worlds and games. Her professional competence was completely overshadowed by a brand that screamed 'unserious.' Mark: Whoa. So she had to change who she was to get ahead? That feels... wrong. It's the antithesis of the whole 'bring your whole self to work' movement. Michelle: And Jones is very careful here. She quotes a client saying, "Building your brand is the antithesis of being fake or manipulative." It's about becoming more attuned to how your work and your presence impact other people. Sally didn't have to give up her hobbies or her personality. The solution was more strategic. Mark: What did she do? Michelle: She developed a three-part plan. First, she managed her appearance. She didn't abandon her style, but she tweaked it to be more mainstream professional during work hours. Second, she stopped talking about her fantasy hobbies at work and started showcasing her technical expertise. She took an online course in a new technology and published an article about it. She was building and promoting her professional brand, not her personal one. Mark: And the third part? Michelle: She started consciously showing up as a leader. She kept a journal, visualized herself in a leadership role, and became more confident and direct in meetings. The result? Other managers started noticing her growth. She was seen as an innovative thinker, and she was finally assigned to a key project. She didn't lose her soul; she just got strategic about which parts of herself she amplified in a professional context. Mark: That’s a powerful distinction. It’s not about being fake, it’s about being context-aware. Like you wouldn't wear a bathing suit to a board meeting. It's not inauthentic to wear a suit; it's just appropriate. Michelle: Exactly. It's about sending a clear message. And this applies to everything, from your clothes to your speech habits. Jones talks about how 'uptalk' or using filler words can undermine your authority. It's all part of the brand you're projecting. Mark: Okay, so we have the internal mindset of the CEO and the external brand of the CEO. But honestly, Michelle, changing your inner voice and your entire professional presentation sounds like a massive, overwhelming project. How do you actually do it without burning out? Michelle: Ah, and that brings us to the most elegant and, I think, most powerful idea in the entire book. It's the engine that drives all the other changes.

Mark: I'm ready. What's the secret engine? Michelle: It’s called the "Sugar Grain Process." And the origin story is perfect. It came from Beverly Jones's own life as a teenager in New Zealand. Mark: A teenager? Not a CEO? Michelle: A teenager. She loved drinking tea with milk and sugar, but she was worried about the calories. Quitting sugar cold turkey felt impossible and miserable. So she came up with a different plan. Every day, she would take out just a few tiny granules of sugar from her cup. Just a grain or two. It was an amount so small, it was completely painless. She barely noticed. Mark: Let me guess. Over time, it added up. Michelle: Over nearly a year, she had painlessly weaned herself off sugar in her tea completely. She realized she had stumbled upon a profound principle: you can create massive change through small, almost unnoticeable, consistent steps. She called it the Sugar Grain Principle. Mark: That’s brilliant. It's like the opposite of a New Year's resolution. It’s not about a huge, painful effort. It's about a tiny, sustainable one. Michelle: Exactly. And she applied it to everything. She tells another incredible story from her time at Ohio University, where she was fighting for gender equality. The problem of discrimination felt huge, overwhelming. So she made a commitment to do just one small 'thing' every day. One sugar grain. Mark: What kind of 'thing'? Michelle: At first, it was just speaking up in class about an issue. Then it was starting a radio program. Then it was becoming the first woman to enter the university's MBA program. These small, daily actions created momentum. Eventually, the university president noticed and made her his assistant, tasking her with writing a report on the status of women. Most of its recommendations were implemented. A huge institutional change, all started with one sugar grain of an action per day. Mark: I love that. It connects everything. So for Sally, the 'flake,' a sugar grain wasn't 'rebrand my entire personality.' It was just 'choose a different outfit today.' Or 'share one work-related article this week.' Michelle: Precisely. For someone battling their inner critic, a sugar grain isn't 'I will now be an optimist.' It's 'I will argue back against one negative thought today.' The book is filled with 50 tips, but the Sugar Grain Process is the operating system that makes them all work. It’s the entrepreneurial method: small bets, consistent iteration, and gradual progress that leads to a huge breakthrough. Mark: It makes these huge goals feel… possible. It’s not about a heroic leap. It’s about a single grain of sugar.

Michelle: And that's the whole philosophy in a nutshell, isn't it? You cultivate the internal mindset of a CEO—resilient, analytical, and in charge of your own thoughts. You strategically craft your external brand to project competence and leadership. And you power it all with the quiet, relentless engine of the entrepreneur: tiny, consistent, 'Sugar Grain' actions. Mark: It’s a much more humane way to think about career growth. It’s not about hustle and grind. It’s about patience and consistency. It reframes ambition as a long-term, sustainable project, not a short-term sprint to burnout. Michelle: And it puts the power back in your hands. You don't have to wait for a promotion or for your boss to change. You can start making these tiny shifts right now. Mark: It makes you wonder, what's the one 'sugar grain' you could add or remove today that would completely change your career a year from now? It's a powerful thought. Michelle: It really is. And we'd love to hear what your 'sugar grain' might be. Find us on our socials and share your thoughts. What’s that one small thing you could start doing? Mark: This is Aibrary, signing off.