Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky, Jessie Asya Kanzer
Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky, Jessie Asya Kanzer
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Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky
Lessons We Can All Learn from an Unexpected Leader

Author: Jessie Asya Kanzer

Narrator: Natalia Payne

Unabridged: 6 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/24/2023


Synopsis

This program includes a bonus conversation between the author and editor.

Volodymyr Zelensky captivated the world when his country was invaded by Russia in February 2022. His appearances were accompanied by countless inspiring statements. But there's a single one that informs Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky: "We are all simple people."

Jessie Kanzer sees Zelensky as a Spiritual Leader for Our Times. As a native Russian speaker (like Zelensky himself), she picks up on the deep philosophical ramifications behind his words. Rich and yet easily understood, the life lessons in Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky are accessible and wise, and are more about starting where you are than about war.

Kanzer herself has a bit part in Zelensky's life story, acting in one of his movies filmed in the States. She's a self-described "spiritual nerd" who followed Zelensky long before he stood before a blue and yellow backdrop on the national stage. She writes, "What is so incredible about our man Volodymyr is that his belief in himself stems not from seeing himself as special, but from seeing himself as ordinary and from knowing there is great power in this ordinariness."

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press Essentials.

About Jessie Asya Kanzer

JESSIE ASYA KANZER is the award-winning author of Don’t Just Sit There, DO NOTHING and Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky. She was born in the Soviet Union and left at age eight. A former reporter and actress, she once found herself on the set of a Zelensky film and has been following his story ever since. Kanzer’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, and many other publications. She's been interviewed on podcasts and TV programs across the country. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and two cats in Dobbs Ferry, NY.

About Natalia Payne

Natalia Payne is a stage, screen and voice actor who has acted in over 50 international plays, TV shows, films, audiobooks, video games, and commercials. She has collaborated with Tony, Emmy, Golden Globe, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning artists. Originally from Toronto, Natalia fell in love with acting at a young age, frequently attending the Stratford Festival of Canada. She studied acting at Yale University, before moving to New York City where she has originated roles in plays by Edward Albee, David Ives, Sarah Ruhl, Jon Fosse, Bryony Lavery, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Anna Ziegler, and many others. An accomplished voice actor, Natalia has narrated over 20 audiobooks (winning Audiofile Magazine’s Earphone award). She is a frequent narrator for Apple News+ Audio, and has voiced roles in numerous radio plays, video games, and documentaries. Natalia grew speaking, and is fluent in, Ukrainian, and is also conversant in French. As a narrator, she is particularly drawn to multi-character stories, and enjoys using her foreign language skills to voice words, names and dialects from various Slavic and Romance languages.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Cindy on October 09, 2023

Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky, by Jessie Asya Panzer is mostly a self-help manual based on her interpretations of his speeches and career choices. It is both superficial and very repetitive. The same material is reworked in several chapters. Zelensky may say he is ordinary, and the author concludes......more

Goodreads review by Kathryn E Hagen on June 14, 2023

"Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky" is part biography and part self-help book. I continue to be amazed at what Volodymyr Zelensky has been able to do for his people and how he has led them through this unexpected-- and unwanted-- invasion. Jessie Asya Kanzer wrote enthusiastically about her subject. She......more

Goodreads review by Joan on November 14, 2023

I was amazed at the sudden and powerful image of leadership Zelensky exhibited on the world stage. Who was this man and how did he, a comedian, possess such strong leadership skills? Kanzer says we can learn many valuable life lessons from Zelensky, lessons that do not depend on a positive outcome. H......more

Goodreads review by Kate on July 18, 2023

Although this book ( or man!) is not perfect there are smart takeaways that could benefit everyone: *Just because you don't have specific background for a job doesn't mean you can't do it (Zelensky went from comedian/actor to Ukrainian President) *Give people the truth and let them chose to process/re......more

Goodreads review by Jackie on June 22, 2023

This is a book that could stimulate a lively discussion about the leadership of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Jessie Asya Kanzer begins with a note that his last name ends with a double “y” which he prefers as it’s the way it would be spelled in Ukraine, opposed to one “y” in Russia. She also explains that f......more


Quotes

"This book not only illustrates a new leadership benchmark, but buoys every "ordinary person," as President Zelensky calls himself. We see how he leaned into his life and its lessons and how we can as well. Kanzer, herself a Soviet refugee, helps us fully grasp what Zelensky and his people are up against, how those same forces show up in each our lives—and how we can follow Zelensky's example of courage, faith, and perseverance.`` --Jen Pastiloff, author of National Bestseller, On Being Human


"People tend to look at heroes as unreachable beings way beyond them. But in Unlocking Your Inner Zelensky, Kanzer takes us from admiring the Ukrainian president to being inspired by him in our own lives. She skillfully uses Zelensky's words and story to show us that we can each be the hero we've been yearning for...in fact, that's what we're being called to do: to find our Inner Zelensky and run with him!" --Joe De Sena, New York Times bestselling author of Spartan Up!, Spartan Fit!, and The Spartan Way

“Jessie Asya Kanzer beautifully shares Zelenskyy’s message. And her book shows why it’s so valuable, not just for leaders, but for everyday people. The lessons Zelenskyy learned on his life journey are extremely valuable to all of us.” --Serhii Rudenko, Ukrainian journalist, commentator, and author of “Zelensky: A Biography”