February in New England is a time for crackling fires in the hearth, a comfy chair, and a stack of good books.
Here are five I’ve recently finished and why I liked them:
- Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
by Seth Godin. I’ve been a Seth fan since the day I picked up Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
, because I like the way he makes me think. Tribes is no different and I emerged from the book with pages of ideas on which to take action in the coming months.
- Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition
by Guy Kawasaki. This one took a long time to finish, but not because it’s a big book. It took a long time because it’s filled with bite-sized wisdom and I made a point to read just one or two pieces a day (the book’s organized to make that easy) and digest before moving on to the next. This one will stay on your shelves as reference for a long time to come.
- Trust-Based Selling: Using Customer Focus and Collaboration to Build Long-Term Relationships
by Charles Green. Charlie’s book was an immediate connection for me because its emphasis on relationship- and connection-building with customers meshes so nicely with the approach I took in Making Mediation Your Day Job
. His four principles for trust-based selling will feel very right to a lot of mediators.
- The Energy of Money: A Spiritual Guide to Financial and Personal Fulfillment
by Maria Nemeth. An old friend suggested this book sitting over coffee one summer morning at an informal reunion, when talk turned to careers, success, and finance. I found most compelling the sections of the book that explored the “hidden landscape” of beliefs, patterns and habits that grow from our own families’ financial histories and the ways those landscapes influence career success.
- Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell. My women’s book club chose this one for January and the discussion over dinner was robust. Like Seth Godin, Gladwell helps me re-consider things I thought I knew, and I emerged from Outliers with a lot of my assumptions about success turned on their head.
What good business book have you read lately?
