For all of those near-entrepreneurs who are thinking about taking the leap, read this book, take a deep breath, take the risk, and be truly happy in your own career—not someone else’s or one that someone else prescribes for you. Prescribe your own future. Enjoy your own success.

The Book

Is the ability to succeed in business hardwired into our DNA? Are entrepreneurs, like racing thoroughbreds, simply born to win? Startling and groundbreaking, INSTINCT is the first book to apply the tools and insights of human genome research to the concept of success. Authored by Thomas L. Harrison, a corporate CEO who began his career as a cell biologist, it argues convincingly that successful people, particularly successful entrepreneurs, tend to have certain identifiable talents encoded in their genes. Yes, there are "born entrepreneurs," and their lives and work are characterized by genetic traits and markers, from risk-taking and openness to conscientiousness and assertiveness, that predict their eventual triumphs.

But does that mean the rest of us are doomed to failure or a lackluster career? Absolutely not. None of us have perfect genes. In fact, no matter who you are, there are learned success secrets you can put in place to compensate for what you inherited in your genetic lottery. Knowing who you are, in terms of your "DNA for success," enables you to adopt these compensating strategies that will allow you to win. Through inviting and inspiring personal analyses of highly successful entrepreneurs, Harrison shows readers how to assess themselves and leverage their individual strengths, so they can begin taking advantage of what he calls the success high—visualizing yourself in your picture of personal success and sequentially getting there. It’s what Harrison refers to as being addicted to success.

Stunning in its business scope and razor-sharp in its analysis of current science, INSTINCT essentially takes the Horatio Alger myth and stands it completely on its head. Far from being a simple matter of pluck and luck, financial success is seen here as largely a matter not of inherited wealth, not of fortuitous circumstances, not even of innate intelligence, but of inborn traits that have to be "switched on" to create the personalized winning scenario that's right for you. Ultimately, Harrison tells you how to think like an entrepreneur, to “paint a picture” of you in your next career or personal goal—and then make it a reality.

Combining hard scientific data and rich anecdotal evidence, INSTINCT will change the way you think about success, careers, and your own level of job satisfaction. It is sure to be discussed and debated from boardrooms to business-school classrooms across the nation.