Book Review – “Obstacles Welcome” by Ralph de la Vega

TweetThe subtitle reads “Turn adversity into advantage in business and life.” This succinctly covers the purpose and aim of the book: to help the reader learn skills which will help him or her adapt and overcome to succeed in life.

Ralph’s story beings with his life as a child in Cuba right after the revolution which swept Castro into power, then coming to the United States when he was ten years old, and on through a very successful career with Bell South, Cingular and AT&T. Although he has every right to brag about his accomplishments, he doesn’t. Instead he describes each success in his life in terms of what he (and his teams when appropriate) had to overcome to achieve them.

It is an autobiography, but it is also much more. Borrowing from well-known leadership teachers and then adding his own observations, Ralph’s role in writing this book is much more as a teacher than a chronicler of his life. He offers some excellent lessons in leadership such as integrity, values, education, team building, listening and learning, overcoming challenges and much more. He uses examples of his own successes and failures to show that leadership is a never-ending process of learning and doing.

The final chapters are devoted to helping the reader be the leader he or she wants to be. There are specific teaching points which help one to make a plan and work through it. He uses Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. working through the Civil Rights Movement as his role model in how to start up, lead and set an organization up for ongoing success. Ralph certainly has the heart of a teacher as shown by his work with Junior Achievement and the Boy Scouts of America. His teaching extends to those who read this book.

All in all this is an excellent volume. It not only tells an inspiring story about a kid who overcame huge obstacles to become the very successful CEO of a large telecommunications corporation, it uses examples from that story to help the reader become a better person. The writing is very good and flows quite nicely as it transitions from one topic to another. I highly recommend picking up a copy and reading it for yourself.

Disclaimer: I am a member of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program. Although Thomas Nelson Publishing provided the book at no cost to me, this review is my honest opinion of the work.

Tags: Book Reviews, brand, leadership