What is most important to your success as a sales or business professional? Is it education, experience, product knowledge, job title, territory, or business dress? Is it your company’s reputation, product, price, marketing collateral, delivery lead times, in stock ratios, service guarantees, management strength, or warehouse location? Is it testimonials, the latest Forbes write up, or brand awareness? Is it the investment in the latest CRM software, business 2.0 tools, or social media strategy?
If you want to know the real secret to what matters most in business, just look in the mirror. That’s right, it’s YOU. Do these other things matter? Of course they do, but when all things are equal (and in the competitive world we live in today, things almost always are) People Buy You. Credit: Excerpt, People Buy You; Jeb Blount.
Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world? In the spring of 2013, David Graeber asked this question in a playful, provocative essay titled “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs.” It went viral. After a million online views in seventeen different languages, people all over the world are still debating the answer. There are millions of people—HR consultants, communication coordinators, telemarketing researchers, corporate lawyers—whose jobs are useless, and, tragically, they know it. These people are caught in bullshit jobs.
Graeber explores one of society’s most vexing and deeply felt concerns, indicting among other villains a particular strain of finance capitalism that betrays ideals shared by thinkers ranging from Keynes to Lincoln. Bullshit Jobs gives individuals, corporations, and societies permission to undergo a shift in values, placing creative and caring work at the center of our culture. This book is for everyone who wants to turn their vocation back into an avocation. Credit: Bullshit Jobs; David Graeber.
Dr. Bob Rich is an Australian author, and activist
who calls himself a "Professional Grandfather" because his primary
motivation is to work for a survivable future for the younger
generations, especially those born after 1993. He has retired from
several previous occupations but remains active in writing and various
advocacy efforts for environmental and humanitarian causes, including
his political work with the Australian Greens party. Dr. Rich has run a counseling psychology practice for decades helping clients in
need. His role as a "Professional
Grandfather" involves promoting a global culture of decency, compassion,
and cooperation to address issues like climate change.
He
is also a storyteller with 20 published books in a variety of genres
including both fiction and nonfiction. Seven of his books, and over 40
short stories, have won awards. Everything he does, including his
writing, is working toward a survivable future for them, and one worth
surviving in. He carries on much of this work at his popular blog, Bobbing Around. Credit: Dr. Bob Rich.
You’ll never see leadership the same way again after reading this book.These fifteen commitments are a distillation of decades of work with CEOs and other leaders. They are radical or provocative for many. They have been game changers for us and for our clients. We trust that they will be for you too.Our experience is that unconscious leadership is not sustainable. It won’t work for you, your team or your organization in the long term. Unconscious leadership can deliver short term results, but the costs of living and leading unconsciously are great.Fear drives most leaders to make choices that are at odds with healthy relationships, vitality and balance. This fear leaves a toxic residue that won’t be as easily tolerated in an increasingly complex business environment.Conscious leadership offers the antidote to fear. These pages contain a comprehensive road map to guide you to shift from fear-based to trust-based leadership.
Once you learn and start practicing conscious leadership you’ll get results in the form of more energy, clarity, focus and healthier relationships. You’ll do more and more of what you are passionate about, and less of what you do out of obligation. You’ll have more fun, be happier, experience less drama and be more on purpose. Your team will get results as well. They’ll be more collaborative, creative, energized and engaged. They’ll solve issues faster, and once resolved the issues won’t resurface. Drama and gossip will all but disappear, and the energy and resources that fueled them will be redirected towards innovation and creativity.Any one of these commitments will change your life. All of them together are revolutionary.
Leaders who practice the 15 commitments:· End blame and criticism· Speak candidly, openly and honestly, in a way that invites others to do the same· Find their unique genius· Let go of taking everything—especially themselves and their problems—so seriously· Create win for all solutions· Experience a new relationship to time and money where there is always enough. What do you need to bring to the table?Be curious.Sounds so simple, and yet in our experience it’s a skill few have mastered. Most of us are far more interested in being right and proving it, than we are in learning, growing and shifting out of our old patterns. By default we gravitate towards the familiar. We’re asking you to take a chance and explore the unfamiliar. You’ll get scared and reactive. We all do. So what? Just stay curious and let us introduce you to a whole new world of leadership. Credit: 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership; Conscious Leadership Group.
Many people believe that ambition, understood as striving to be better than others, improves us as individuals and advances society. But what if the opposite is true? In The Cost of Ambition, world-renowned theologian and award-winning author Miroslav Volf argues that striving for superiority actually makes us worse. Working his way backward in time, Volf explores what three influential thinkers—Søren Kierkegaard, John Milton, and the apostle Paul—say about the cost of ambition. He also explores what the teachings of Jesus and the stories in Genesis say on the matter. Volf explains that striving to be better than others, though widely accepted as part of modern life, devalues our achievements, the things that surround us, and our relationships because it makes them into mere means to an empty goal. He reveals ambition's negative consequences in all domains of life, showing that it is at odds with the key convictions of Christian faith. Credit: Miroslav Volf, How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse.
Patrimony, a true story, touches the emotions as strongly as anything Philip Roth has ever written. Roth watches as his eighty-six-year-old father—famous for his vigor, charm, and his repertoire of Newark recollections—fights the brain tumor that will kill him. The son, full of love, anxiety, and dread, accompanies his father through each fearful stage of his final ordeal, and, as he does so, discloses the survivalist tenacity that has distinguished his father's long, stubborn engagement with life. Credit: Patrimony, Yiddish Book Center.
Will Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world. How did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Guidara’s team surprised a family who had never seen snow with a magical sledding trip to Central Park after their dinner; they filled a private dining room with sand, complete with mai-tais and beach chairs, to console a couple with a cancelled vacation. And his hospitality extended beyond those dining at the restaurant to his own team, who learned to deliver praise and criticism with intention; why the answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more—not less; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner. Today, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Featuring sparkling stories of his journey through restaurants, with the industry’s most famous players like Daniel Boulud and Danny Meyer, Guidara urges us all to find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve. Credits: Unreasonable Hospitality; Will Guidara.
Ten years ago, Rick Warren wrote The Purpose Driven Life, which became the bestselling hardback non-fiction book in history, and is the second most-translated book in the world, after the Bible. PDL has inspired and changed tens of millions of lives, more than any modern book. Now, Rick has updated and expanded the book with new chapters on the greatest barriers to living your purpose, plus 42 video introductions to each chapter theme, and 42 additional audio messages that go deeper into each chapter. Read more here; Purpose Driven.
Credit: Never Spit the Difference by Chris Voss with Tahl Raz
Overview
After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stakes negotiations and into Voss’s head, revealing the skills that helped him and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. In this practical guide, he shares the nine effective principles―counterintuitive tactics and strategies―you too can use to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal life. Life is a series of negotiations you should be prepared for: buying a car, negotiating a salary, buying a home, renegotiating rent, deliberating with your partner. Taking emotional intelligence and intuition to the next level, Never Split the Difference gives you the competitive edge in any discussion. Credit: Harper Collins /Amazon; Audible.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Total Money Makeover and radio and podcast host Dave Ramsey comes an informative guide based on how he grew a successful, multimillion dollar company from a card table in his living room. Your company is only as strong as your leaders. These are the men and women doing battle daily beneath the banner that is your brand. Are they courageous or indecisive? Are they serving a motivated team or managing employees? Are they valued? Your team will never grow beyond you, so here’s another question to consider—are you growing? Whether you’re sitting at the CEO’s desk, the middle manager’s cubicle, or a card table in your living-room-based start-up, EntreLeadership provides the practical, step-by-step guidance to grow your business where you want it to go. Credit: EntreLeadership.
Kara Stokes is an Australian SEO Copywriter for fitness and wellness brands. With over five years of copywriting experience and decades of hobby writing tucked into her backpack, she’s a master at creating engaging stories. When she’s not whipping up fresh, attention-grabbing messages for her clients, Kara loves to watch, read and write fantasy stories. She lives in stunning WA and spends her free time floating on the ocean, adventuring with her three kids and husband, or getting stronger in the gym. Learn more about Kara here.
Credit: Writers Series, Presented by Sasha Talks | Bracha Goetz
Meet Bracha Goetz
Bracha is not your typical Harvard grad - she's the author of 41 picture books that help children grow spiritually, inspiring each uniquely beautiful soul to shine. Her books make life's deepest concepts clear - in a delightfully simple way - as children find big ideas in little words. Credit: Goetz Book Shop.
Joshua Spodek PhD MBA hosts the award-winning This Sustainable Life podcast, is a four-time TEDx speaker, bestselling author of Initiative and Leadership Step by Step, professor at NYU, published in the New Yorker, and leadership coach. He holds a PhD in astrophysics and an MBA from Columbia, where he studied under a Nobel Laureate and helped launch a satellite (having emerged from some of Philadelphia’s most dangerous neighborhoods). He left academia to found a venture to market an invention that showed animated images to subway riders between stations. He teaches and coaches leadership and entrepreneurship at NYU and Columbia Business School. He has spoken at Harvard, Princeton, West Point, Google, IBM, The New York Academy of Science, Children’s Aid Society, and other renowned institutions. He has been published in The New Yorker, TIME, Inc., Quartz, and Psychology Today. Featured in pieces every major network, the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and more, he has been called “best and brightest” in Esquire’s Genius issue, “astrophysicist turned new media whiz” by NBC, and “rocket scientist” by Forbes. He visited North Korea twice, swam across the Hudson River twice, has done burpees daily since 2011 (195,000 and counting), takes 3 years to produce one load of garbage, hasn’t flown (by choice) since March 2016, is in his second year with his refrigerator unplugged and sixth month with his apartment unplugged from the electric grid, and his carbon footprint is about 1 ton per year. He blogs daily at joshuaspodek.com. Credit: Joshua Spodek.
Scott Galloway teaches brand strategy at NYU's Stern School of Business, but his most popular lectures deal with life strategy, not business. In the classroom, on his blog, and in YouTube videos garnering millions of views, he regularly offers hard-hitting answers to the big questions: What's the formula for a life well lived? How can you have a meaningful career, not just a lucrative one? Is work/life balance possible? What are the elements of a successful relationship? The Algebra of Happiness: Notes on the Pursuit of Success, Love, and Meaning draws on Professor Galloway's mix of anecdotes and no-BS insight to share hard-won wisdom about life's challenges, along with poignant personal stories. Credit: Excerpt, The Algebra of Happiness.
Gregory Shepard is a 20-year startup veteran, angel investor, author, and serial entrepreneur with 14 liquidity events under his belt in BioTech, TransTech, AdTech, and MarTech industries, two of which were sold as part of a $925M transaction that won 4 private equity awards for transactions between $250M and $1B. Greg has accomplished all of this while existing with 7 neurodivergent conditions including Autism and Dyslexia. As a Forbes Book Author and Contributor, and Forbes Podcast Host, his work has been featured or quoted in publications including Fortune, Entrepreneur, The New York Observer, The DEAL, and Thrive Global. Greg has appeared on TV, Radio, Podcasts, and has been featured as a TEDx and Keynote Speaker at multiple conferences and universities worldwide. Greg is the co-founder of BOSS Capital Partners, the creator of BOSS (Business Operating Support System), an open-source methodology developed to empower entrepreneurs while increasing startup success rate, and the founder of BOSS Startup Science Academy. Using fearless optimism and steadfast determination Greg is using Silicon Valley’s deal-making culture as a vehicle to spread his message of “Altruistic Capitalism” and inject capital into the hands of fearlessly ambitious, creative, and passionate under served entrepreneurs looking to spark positive change in the world. Credit: Gregory Shepard
Brief Overview: The counter-intuitive approach to achieving your true potential, heralded by the Harvard Business Review as a groundbreaking idea of the year.
The path to personal and professional fulfillment is rarely straight. Ask anyone who has achieved his or her biggest goals or whose relationships thrive and you’ll hear stories of many unexpected detours along the way. What separates those who master these challenges and those who get derailed? The answer is agility—emotional agility.
Emotional agility is a revolutionary, science-based approach that allows us to navigate life’s twists and turns with self-acceptance, clear-sightedness, and an open mind. Renowned psychologist Susan David developed this concept after studying emotions, happiness, and achievement for more than twenty years. She found that no matter how intelligent or creative people are, or what type of personality they have, it is how they navigate their inner world—their thoughts, feelings, and self-talk—that ultimately determines how successful they will become.
The way we respond to these internal experiences drives our actions, careers, relationships, happiness, health—everything that matters in our lives. As humans, we are all prone to common hooks—things like self-doubt, shame, sadness, fear, or anger—that can too easily steer us in the wrong direction. Emotionally agile people are not immune to stresses and setbacks. The key difference is that they know how to adapt, aligning their actions with their values and making small but powerful changes that lead to a lifetime of growth. Emotional agility is not about ignoring difficult emotions and thoughts; it’s about holding them loosely, facing them courageously and compassionately, and then moving past them to bring the best of yourself forward. Credit @ Emotional Agility Learn more about author Susan David here.
