Kip Kreiling

Part memoir, part guide to principles of personal transformation, Kip Kreiling's "The Imposter" draws upon the author's experiences as a juvenile criminal and drug addict to show that fundamental change truly is possible. This is no sugar-coated fairy tale, however. Kreiling's story of personal transformation features numerous wrong turns and setbacks, and he builds a powerful case that his successful career as a consultant to change-seeking corporations would not have been possible had he benefited from an easier, straighter path.

Besides its grit and honesty, the part of this book that impressed me most was the nuance and depth of his eight transformation principles. They grapple with weighty matters like the tension between objectivist reasoning and religious faith, the interplay between shifting one's mindset and genetic determinism, the relationship between addiction and negative environmental factors, and the value of intuitive thinking. While the quality of Kreiling's prose is a bit uneven in places and the ending has a somewhat abrupt feel to it, this is a book I would recommend to individuals and corporations that feel trapped on a negative trajectory and are looking for inspirational, yet practical, ideas for realizing their full potential.… (más)

From an early age, Kip Kreiling stole from his family, set fires, was arrested, and ended up in juvenile detention centers. He spent time in group homes, street shelters and living with foster families and, between the ages of 11 and 26, moved 34 times among these facilities. By the time he was 16, he had been arrested 13 times and was a drug dealer and small-time crime operator. His mother was told by a counselor that Kip would most likely spend most of his life in prison and to let go of her son. So, how did Kip go from this traumatic, damaging lifestyle to obtaining a master’s degree in business and working for companies highly regarded in the business world? The author explains his eight principles of transformation in this insightful, moving book.

This isn’t your typical self-help book heaped with platitudes and banal statistics. The author uses his life story as an exemplar as he explains the principles he utilized to transform his life. His story is intriguing and the historical anecdotes he presents interesting and on-point as he takes his reader on his journey toward changing negative behavior to positive in an effort to lead a better, more productive life. His plan doesn’t limit itself to those dealing with addiction but reaches out to everyone. Even those who may feel their lives don’t need changing or improving will benefit from reading this book. Its positive format and didactic message are uplifting and eye-opening and truly inspiring.… (más)

4669. The Imposter How A Juvenile Criminal Succeeded in Business and Life, by Kip Kreiling (read 4 Feb 2010) This is a self-published book which tells in a rather mixed-up fashion how the author who at age 13 ran away from home and led a life of crime and dope taking and dope dealing eventually turned his life around. While didactic and with an unclear time-line, it could well be helpful to some who need to take control of their life. One does wonder how anybody could do the dumb things he did as a child, but he does seem to have made a success of his life, which is good.… (más)