On Power: My Journey Through the Corridors of Power and How You Can Get More Power
Written by Gene Simmons
Narrated by Alan Sklar
4/5
()
About this audiobook
YOU DESERVE TO HAVE POWER.
IT IS YOURS FOR THE TAKING.
GENE SIMMONS IS HERE TO UNLOCK THE DOORS TO THE TEMPLE.
Gene Simmons, KISS front-man, multi-hyphenate entrepreneur, and master of self-invention, shares his philosophy on power—how to attain it, how to keep it, and how to harness it as a driving force in business and in life.
As co-founder of KISS, America's #1 gold record-award-winning group of all time, Simmons knows the thrill and seduction of power firsthand. But gold records alone don’t equal power. The decisions you make once you attain a certain level of success are what separate the pretenders from the pantheon.
Inspired by Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, Simmons offers his unique take on the dynamics of power in every realm of life, from the bedroom to the boardroom, to the world of rock, celebrity, and social media, to politics. With one-of-a-kind anecdotes from his life and career, as well as stories from historical and contemporary masters of power, including Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Warren Buffett, Michael Jordon, Oprah, and Elon Musk, Simmons crafts a persuasive and provocative theory on how the pursuit of power drives civilization and defines our lives.
The rules of power are changing in today’s fast-paced, hyper-connected world in a way that Machiavelli never could have imagined, and we all need to learn to adapt. Simmons tells listeners: Ignore the negatives. Be unrelenting. Rise above the rest. You are the architect of your success.
Gene Simmons
Known as rock's ultimate showmen, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons founded the hard rock supergroup KISS in the early 1970s. Since then, KISS has sold more than eighty million albums and performed more than two thousand shows around the world, and is still touring today.
More audiobooks from Gene Simmons
Me, Inc.: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kiss and Tell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kiss and Make-up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ladies of the Night: A Historical and Personal Perspective on the Oldest Profession in the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sex Money Kiss: Revised and Updated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to On Power
Related audiobooks
Backstage Pass Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Face the Music: A Life Exposed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Raising Hell: Backstage Tales From the Lives of Metal Legends Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers: The Rise of Motörhead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex, Drums, Rock 'n' Roll!: The Hardest Hitting Man in Show Business Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cherry on Top: Flirty, Forty-Something, and Funny as F**k Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twisted Business: Lessons from My Life in Rock 'n Roll Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death Punch'd: Surviving Five Finger Death Punch's Metal Mayhem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/518 and Life on Skid Row Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Son of a Milkman: My Crazy Life with Tesla Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fathers, Brothers, and Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, and Anthrax Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard, and Beyond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be a Man: and Other Illusions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dancing with Myself Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cause & Effect: Motley Crue Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rainbow in the Dark: The Autobiography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N' Roses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As Above, So Below - The Unauthorized Yngwie Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Call Me Supermensch: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock'n'Roll Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strange Beautiful Music: A Musical Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where’s My Guitar?: An Inside Story of British Rock and Roll Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography, and Life Through the Distorted Lens of Nikki Sixx Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Music For You
The Storyteller: Expanded: ...Because There's More to the Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Effin' Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No Bull Music Theory for Guitarists: Master the Essential Knowledge All Guitarists Need To Know Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Relativity: The Special and General Theory Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Music Theory: A Complete Guide to Understand the Fundamental of Music for Beginners Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sweat the Technique: Revelations on Creativity from the Lyrical Genius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Paris: The Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Perfect Union of Contrary Things Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dark Story of Eminem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Autobiography of Gucci Mane Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Heroin Diaries: Ten Year Anniversary Edition: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Open Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Song Maps: A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Me: Elton John Official Autobiography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within, Book & Includes Online Downloadable code Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I've Had to Think Up a Way to Survive: On Trauma, Persistence, and Dolly Parton Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5More Myself: A Journey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Music Is History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for On Power
20 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reading a great book is like speaking to the wisest of people throughout the ages... I feel truly honored that Mr. Gene Simmons took the time to 'speak' to me. I am already on my way to realising my dream, but this conversation re-lit the fire under me and truly helped me refocus! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Straight talking, enjoyable and inspiring. I intend to listen to it again, and probably again...
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I thought it was about power? You won't learn it here.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm giving this book four stars not because I agree with everything Simmons writes, but because I think it's a smart, engaging look at an important aspect of life which -- as he himself points out -- too many people don't think clearly about.
“So much of our popular mythology focuses on the negative aspects of power that we forget that gaining power is, perhaps, the only way to enable ourselves to make a difference in our lives and in the lives of others.”
Gene Simmons was born in Israel and began his life in poverty. His father walked out when he was very young, and his mother worked hard to support them, setting a powerful example he would always carry with him. They immigrated to America when he was still a child. As he grew up, he was driven by the desire to have money to be able to take care of his mother. He worked multiple jobs, saved his money, and made the conscious, deliberate choice to adapt his accent, his appearance, and his name to become more like those he observed to have power.
Simmons criticizes the idea that having power is inherently wrong, pointing out that power enables someone to accomplish their goals, to build a better life for themselves and those they care about, and have the ability to do meaningful good in the world. And I think he's right. Power and money are neutral in themselves. It's what a person does with them -- and to achieve them -- that carry ethical weight.
And this is where Simmons' himself becomes an interesting case study. While he does not advocate criminal behavior, he states again and again that a person needs to be ready to do whatever is necessary to achieve power and not worry too much about their own tender feelings. Flatter, lie, replace your deadbeat friends, if that's what it takes. If you're a beautiful woman, use that to your advantage without qualms. Once you're in power you can work to change the rules, but until then, ruthless pragmatism is necessary. And a lot of hard work. Although unashamedly Machiavellian in his outlook, Simmons pulls no punches about his belief in the necessity of working harder than anyone else, improving one's self, and achieving mastery of one's craft/art/business. His essential message is work hard, play the game, adapt yourself, and get to the top. Once you're there, you can take care of your loved ones, donate to charity (he lists, without self-congratulation, the charities he himself supports), and help others. "Secure your own breathing mask first," he orders. "Then you can help others."
It is only late in the book, when he discusses Warren Buffett, that Simmons discusses the importance of ethics in the drive to power. He admires Buffett's integrity and honesty and points out that they are essential to success. While not stating it directly, comparing the two sections of his book, he clearly considers social dishonesty acceptable as part of advancing one's self, but one's business ethics need to be above reproach.
The second half of the book is a series of case studies of successful people he admires, including Napoleon, Oprah, Michael Jordan, Buffett and others. They are less interesting than his own stories, but do provide a useful range of examples of different personalities and areas of achievement.
I think this would be a great book to read with one's kids (or other adults) and discuss. What do you think of power? What are the consequences of having it versus not having it? What are the ethical considerations? Do the ends always justify the means? How are you willing to change yourself -- or not -- to get what you want? Does power always corrupt? How did the people in Simmons' case studies -- and he himself -- change themselves or remain true to themselves in the course of their lives? Whether you agree with everything Simmons says or not, he offers a lot of food for thought.
Best of all, Simmons is a good writer. This isn't going to be a college textbook, but it's intelligent, easy to read, clear in its arguments, and frequently entertaining.
I was never a fan of KISS, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed getting to know Gene Simmons a bit and spending some time in his virtual company. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gene Simmons On Power🍒🍒🍒
By Gene Simmons
2017
It's a small, black and not very thick book. If not for its size, I may have missed it entirely. It's small size is why I noticed it. And it's how I have come to understand or "know" this man in a more " personal" way. A man who never stopped believing in himself and never gave up on his vision of success, or power. Power = Money. This is a man whose ego has no boundaries and that is exactly how and why he is the man we know today as Gene Simmons.Wealthy. Comfortable. Intelligent about who he is, what he is and what he wants. What inspired him to become Gene Simmons. And he's proud of it.
"You must be in a position of power if you are going to make a difference to those without power" p. 27.
Gene has truly made himself- his self created image, his beliefs and definition of power, his philosophies on life- into a marketing commodity. He sold it to the world. And the world bought it. Loved it. Bought it by the millions.
"Power is an inconvenient truth, a necessity, whether we like to admit it. To throw a little philosophy in, it is my opinion (and, really, everything in this book is my opinion) that if you can stand in front of me in clean clothes, knowing how to read, with food in your belly, and say things like "I don't care about money" or "Power corrupts", you are able to do so only because you are sheltered. Frankly you are lucky to be standing on the backs of those with power without realizing it" p.31
((He seems to have it backward. The truth no rich person wants to admit, Gene included, is how they like to claim the rise to power is on the backs of them, the wealthy; however relying on those "below " him to buy into his image and buy his product is how he became a self made man. While the wealthy want to believe everyone else rely on them and rides their backs, the reality is the opposite.))
Athough most peoples definition of power may differ vastly from his ( and thankfully, mine are nothing like his and I will never ever be anything like him)you have to admire his ability to use every person and situation to further himself. To define and go after your goal with tenacity and not caring who you run over. ......and to honestly not believe power corrupts....
He never gave up on his vision......
Interesting read.....