Stake or Place: A New Call to Conscious Influence in the Workplace
In an age where workplace culture is rapidly evolving and performance often overshadows purpose, a new voice is calling professionals to rethink how they show up, contribute, and lead. Stake or Place: The Employee Guide to Ownership and Influence by Ameze Osague-Iduh, with a foreword by renowned life coach Dr. Lanre Olusola, challenges employees to move beyond merely occupying positions to becoming conscious contributors who shape culture, drive purpose, and take ownership of their impact. It is more than a career guide; it’s a timely manifesto for meaning, influence, and transformation in today’s world of work. Sunday Ehigiator writes
In today’s workplace, where performance metrics and profit margins often overshadow purpose and people, a quiet revolution is taking shape; one that calls for depth, consciousness, and authentic ownership.
At the center of this awakening is Stake or Place: The Employee Guide to Ownership and Influence, a new book by Ameze Osague-Iduh, with a foreword by Africa’s leading life and behavioral transformation coach, Dr. Lanre Olusola, fondly known as The Catalyst.
But this is no ordinary professional guidebook. It is a manifesto; one that challenges every employee to rediscover meaning and influence in their daily work.
Beyond Presence, Towards Purpose
Dr. Olusola begins the book’s foreword with a piercing truth: “In every organization, there are two types of people, placeholders and stakeholders.”
It’s a statement that reframes how we think about work. Too many employees fill spaces; too few shape them. Yet, in an era defined by artificial intelligence, automation, and constant transformation, those who bring heart, creativity, and ownership will remain indispensable.
Ameze Osague-Iduh, a seasoned workplace navigation strategist, writer, and bestselling author, has long helped individuals and organizations bridge the gap between performance and purpose. Her background in human resources and data privacy has positioned her as a voice for workplaces that are not only productive but deeply human, inclusive, engaging, and sustainably high-performing.
Beyond her writing, Ameze extends the philosophy of Stake or Place through Naviwork, her professional development platform and YouTube series dedicated to helping young professionals navigate the evolving workplace.
Through conversations, coaching insights, and real-world scenarios, Naviwork has become a trusted companion for emerging talent; demystifying organizational culture, guiding career transitions, and inspiring a generation to lead with purpose and clarity.
It is this same mission; to turn awareness into action, that powers every page of Stake or Place.
With Stake or Place, she extends this mission, urging professionals to reimagine their roles, not merely as employees executing instructions, but as co-creators of culture, value, and legacy.
Reframing the Employee’s Journey
What makes Stake or Place stand out is its invitation to a new kind of leadership, one that transcends titles and job descriptions.
Dr. Olusola notes: “The moment an employee begins to see themselves not as a hired hand, but as a partner in purpose and progress, everything changes; performance, productivity, creativity, collaboration, even profitability.”
That simple but profound shift; from placeholding to stakeholding, sits at the heart of Ameze’s message.
Through real-world insights, reflective exercises, and practical tools, she helps readers navigate the emotional and strategic dimensions of influence. Drawing from her signature blend of faith, empathy, and professional wisdom, Ameze argues that ownership isn’t about authority, it’s about alignment.
Her earlier book, Buddy Up, championed the importance of collaboration and empathetic onboarding. With Stake or Place, she goes deeper; redefining collaboration as consciousness and urging employees to stop waiting for change and start becoming the change.
A Timely Conversation for a Changing World
The book’s release couldn’t be more timely. We now live in a VUCA-BANI world; volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, brittle, anxious, nonlinear, and incomprehensible.
In such times, technical skill is no longer enough. What organizations need most are individuals with self-awareness, initiative, and emotional intelligence; people who understand that systems don’t transform unless their people do.
As Dr. Olusola aptly puts it: “Systems, structures, and strategies matter; but people make them live.”
Ameze’s work provides a roadmap for this transformation, helping readers evolve from consumers of opportunity to contributors of value; from external validation to internal conviction, from being managed to being self-led. It’s a call not just to survive but to thrive; by leading from within.
Taking Root Where You Stand
The title Stake or Place itself carries a quiet challenge: that influence is not reserved for the powerful, but for the purposeful.
Ameze’s message is clear; every space you find yourself in holds a purpose. The question isn’t whether you have influence, but how intentionally you choose to use it.
Her writing blends conviction with compassion, grounded in faith yet profoundly practical. She reminds us that significance isn’t about being seen everywhere, but about standing true somewhere; with excellence, clarity, and grace.
As the book launches this November, readers can expect more than just a reading experience. Ameze and Dr. Olusola will host open, virtual conversations; honest dialogues on purpose, influence, and transformation in the workplace. These discussions promise to bring the book’s ideas to life, creating a space for shared wisdom and growth.
The Quiet Revolution of Ownership
Ultimately, Stake or Place isn’t just a book for employees; it’s a wake-up call for everyone who occupies space in the modern workplace.
It compels us to ask hard questions: Are we merely filling roles, or are we shaping the story of our organizations? Are we waiting for change, or are we the change?
In an age where disengagement and burnout threaten creativity and innovation, Ameze Osague-Iduh and Dr. Lanre Olusola are rekindling an essential truth; that real progress begins when people take ownership, not only of their jobs but of their growth, purpose, and impact.
Because as Stake or Place reminds us, influence isn’t about where you stand; it’s about how deeply you take root.
