We are individuals, unique in our passions and purposes. And although we often work together to achieve a common goal, that doesn’t mean we should all look, believe, or act the same. It’s our uniqueness that makes us powerful. Use that power and what you learn from the books on the bookshelf this month to stay focused on your personal success journey.
End Malaria: Bold Innovation, Limitless Generosity, and the Opportunity to Save a Life
Editor: Michael Bungay Stanier
Do You Zoom Inc., 2011
If you relied solely on its cover and title, it would be easy to misjudge—and miss the value of—End Malaria. The understated black cover, decorated only with the capital letter M and a single drop of what looks like blood, doesn’t scream, Buy me! Nor does it jump out as a business book packed with inspiration, motivation, sound strategies and practical advice—although that’s exactly what you’ll find in this collection of essays.
Best-selling author and innovation expert Michael Bungay Stanier came up with the idea to compile blog-length chapters from 62 of today’s best-known and respected business leaders. The list of experts reads like a Who’s Who directory: Gary Vaynerchuk, Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, Pam Slim, Dan Pink, Dave Ramsey, Sally Hogshead, and on and on.
From cover to nondescript cover, End Malaria is filled with advice that, if heeded, could help you improve your business, your career, your life. Perhaps the one downside to the book is that many of the chapters will leave you thirsty for more. You get only a tidbit from each author, and that little morsel doesn’t seem like enough. The key, these contributors would say, is to take the advice you get here and apply it to your life now. Don’t wait for more elaborate instructions. The information you acquire in End Malaria combined with your wealth of experience is enough to move you toward the life you want.
So, now to the question you’ve been dying to ask: Why is the book titled End Malaria? Of the retail price of $25, $20 will be used toward the goal of eradicating the disease in Africa (which Stanier says claims a child’s life every 45 seconds) by the year 2015.
Great material for a great cause. Read it. You’ll improve your business acumen… and just might save a life.
—Erin K. Casey
Noteworthy Quote:
“Most of us would like our eulogy to read, ‘She followed her bliss,’ but instead we live a life of, ‘She never missed a meeting, no matter how wasteful it was.’ ” —Bill Jensen, in End Malaria
A couple things you’ll learn:
► How to focus on things only you can do.
►The benefit of beta-thinking and pushing “go” before your product is perfect.
The Radical Leap Re-Energized
by Steve Farber
No Limits Publishing 2011
In The Radical Leap Re-Energized, author Steve Farber tells an engaging parable that offers encouragement to leaders who have experienced disappointing results after trying the “same old, same old” to take their teams to the top.
Farber is a leadership consultant who discovers that “extreme leadership” happens when a leader is willing to LEAP: express Love, demonstrate Energy, inspire Audacity and demonstrate Proof.
Noteworthy Quote:
“Love generates energy, inspires audacity and requires proof.”
A couple things you’ll learn:
►How to express love.
►How healthy businesses allow people to make a positive impact on the world.
Strategy For You: Building a Bridge to the Life You Want
by Rich Horwath
Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2012
Rich Horwath takes you through a five-step process of creating a “bridge” to help you get where you want to be in life. For Horwath, who has built his career on teaching strategic thinking, the bridge is a way to help people visualize and organize the information they’ll need to make big changes.
He points out that each person’s strategy will be different. “The people who have reached the pinnacles of success in their field, like visionary bridge builders, have been very different from those around them.”
Noteworthy Quote:
“Think about the bridge that led you to your current position. Was it planned and well thought-out, or was it more similar to Alaska’s infamous Gravina Island Bridge, often referred to as the $398 million ‘bridge to nowhere’?”
A couple things you’ll learn:
►How to allocate your resources.
►How to create a strategy to achieve your goals.
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