2021 update | Some interesting reads - Strategy, Marketing, Self Improvement, ...

Recently I read a few very interesting books whose messages really resonated with me. After all, if books are able to motivate you to become the best possible version of yourself you can possibly be, and then encourage you to persevere, push through the hardships along the way to go for the gold and really make a difference in the world, there isn't much more (in my opinion anyway) that you can ask from them. True, books take time to read, but as Mark Twain once famously remarked: 

There is little difference between who someone who won't read and someone who can't.                                                                                                             -- Mark Twain

 

I almost didn't pick up this book in the library. From a distance it looked like it was about cooking. Then I thought to give it a try, and I am glad I did. Unfortunate title (the author is a fan of good food and cooking), but packed chockful of excellent ideas in how to build a brand, differentiate from competitors, and deliver outsize results for your business. This is one I will likely re-read. Impactful.

Bernadette Jiwa was a real find. Her books showed up in my suggested reading lists in Amazon, and I figured why not give the book a try - free samples and all that. 4 or 5 books in, I must say she delivers a real punch. We may know the underlying messages intuitively, but when presented with so many examples that are so concrete, it really drives the points home, and makes them actionable. Leaders should know to tell stories... but they should also know what stories to tell when for maximum impact. 

Seth Godin needs no introduction. I find some of his writing powerful, and other parts somewhat less so - but that's just me: like everyone I like some ideas more than others. Regardless, the above two books I think are very interesting and encourage the reader to think more. When should you quit and when should you push on? How can you deliver a valuable positive experience to your customer? (notice this last common thread in this post?)

This one is a truly powerful book. The stories, ideas, and tools he shares within it will accelerate learning, focus on results, and achieving of outcomes. Jim Kwik's personal story is also touching and relevant - a childhood brain injury led him to be called "the boy with the broken brain", with severe learning disability. Not only did he dig himself out of that predicament, but now he helps "more normal" people excel at what they do. Inspiring. 

I find a lot of senior people in firms claim they are "doing strategy" or "being strategic", but don't really have a plan or method to what they do. Sometimes they merely follow a pre-defined plan or template that they fill in. Others run "strategy sessions" yearly, requiring their teams to create PowerPoint slides that change year to year, with little to connect them to what they're actually doing in the business. Books like the one above cut through the noise and let you learn how to do it right - assuming of course that you have the humility to accept you need to learn something, and not continue to wing it ("you're the expert, and no one will know the difference").

 

Simon Sinek needs no introduction. I really like his work in general, but this book more than the others. Knowing why you feel you need to do something gives you the fuel, the courage, the grit to stick with things when the path is difficult, to walk through the mud, head held high, with eyes fixed on the stars. Inspiring.

Don Miller tells you step by step how to build a sales funnel, then use it to drive your brand's adoption more widely. Very readable, and the content is immediately actionable. The kind of book that gives you good return on the time spent reading it. His other book tells you how to effectively build a story brand.

Lower your barriers to doing what needs to be done. Focus on big picture success and let small imperfections go in every engagement. Set easily achievable binary outcomes for success. These are some interesting takeaways from this book. E.g. if you need to exercise every day, define success as doing anything, however small, to contributing towards that goal - even one pushup just now. Then grow from there. Be kind to yourself as you start working on developing habits. Gradually ramp up towards where you want to be. Most self help books have one core idea - which is that before people set out to change the world, they need to fix the conversations they have with themselves, in their mind. Novak Djokovic is right, you do have to win the game in your mind before you win it on the court.

Tom Ziglar is the son of legendary motivational speaker Zig Ziglar. Zig rose from humble beginnings to become a leader in his field. Tom recounts some stories from his interactions with his dad, and also summarizes some of the lessons you get from watching Zig in action in some of his later presentations. What I particularly liked is that Tom doesn't shirk from sharing from his failures - this vulnerability lends his book an authentic feel.