Unleashed Potential

Nobody hands you the instruction manual for adult life. This book is it.

You spent years on chemistry, history, and calculus. Nobody taught you how to write a resume that survives the screening software, negotiate a salary, pick a health plan, build credit, or decide whether you're even in the right career. Unleashed Potential fills those gaps. It was written by a career federal executive and university professor who has spent decades on the hiring side of the table.

This Second Edition is fully revised for 2026 and nearly double the length of the first, with six new chapters:

• The new two-page federal resume standard. What changed in 2025, with the author's own executive resume as a working example.
• Interviews and salary negotiation. The trick questions, the follow-up, and tactics worth thousands of dollars at the offer stage.
• Money in plain English. 401(k)s and HSAs at current limits, the S&P 500, gold, credit scores, and why a house isn't for everyone.
• Life skills school skipped. Utilities, cooking, smart shopping, health insurance, and travel.
• AI at work and in the job search. How to use it well, and a quality-control protocol for a technology that makes things up.
• People skills that decide who advances. Winning people over, motivating a team, surviving a toxic boss, and playing the career long game.

Every chapter ends with practical exercises. A full chapter of discussion questions and a capstone project makes the book ready for career courses and business communication programs.

For students facing a first job search, professionals planning a next move, and new managers learning to lead. This is everything school never taught you, from someone who learned it the hard way.