Clients ask if there is something they should read to be a better leader or to learn more about business.  The answer is YES!  There is a lot to be gained from reading.  Check out HBR’s For those who want to lead, read for reasons to keep reading.

If you haven’t read them yet, 5 good business book suggestions and the reason to read them are:

1. Your job is to work ON your business:  The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

Written in the 80’s but still relevant today, Michael nails the challenge and frustration that most entrepreneurs and business owners have in the first few years of running their business.  Most business owners start their business because they are really good at what they do, but creating a scalable business out of that talent requires more than just the technical expertise.  It requires purposely building the business as if someone else were going to own it and run it.  As long as you are implicit in the day to day operations, you don’t have a business, you have a job.

Q: Do your own your business or does it own you?  Can you take a long vacation while your business continues without you?

2. People don’t buy what you do buy WHY you do it:  Start with Why by Simon Sinek

If someone is in the market for a great widget, they buy the best widget they can find that fits in their price range.  If you are going to make a great widget (or offer a great service), then the bigger picture of WHY becomes important.  It makes the difference between Southwest Airlines that was built to bring fun, cost effective flights to the masses and the short lived TED airlines from United that was built to compete with Southwest.  Very different goals.

Q:  What do you stand for and is it represented in what you sell and do?

3. You MUST have the RIGHT people on the bus:  Good to Great by Jim Collins

Through their research Jim and his team uncovered a clear pattern that having the right people on your team is a lot more important than having a clear destination.  The right team are people who share your values – the ones who get what the company is all about and will go the extra mile to make things work.

If you have the WRONG people on your team, they are killing your business and it’s going to be very difficult to succeed in the long run.

Q: Do you have the right people on your bus?

4. Planning should be simple and focused: Traction by Gino Wickman

Have a simple focused planning process and develop a business plan every 90 days.  This isn’t the big bodacious business plan that comes to most people’s minds, but a SIMPLE 2 page plan that allows the business owner to focus on what is most important, and use that focus to drive the business forward 90 days at a time.

Q: Can you and your team list the 5 most important things you need to accomplish this year?

5. Focus on Useful marketing: Youtility by Jay Baer

I often ask people when we are talking about marketing to tell me what caught their attention that day or the day before.  Our world is so full of noise that often they can’t think of a single thing.  Companies spend millions of dollars on marketing every day and they may not even be catching our attention.  Jay’s position is that your marketing must be useful to establish credibility and build trust which creates customers for life.

Q: Is your marketing Useful?

There are thousands of business books written each year – it’s impossible to keep up with all of them – that contain at least one good idea.  What are your favorites?

Interested in joining the CBI business book group?  Our next book is:

5+  Entrepreneurs need a Tool Kit:  Street Smarts by Norm Brodsky & Bo Burlingham

There’s a mentality that helps street-smart entrepreneurs solve problems and accept the right opportunities as they come up.

If you would like to apply to join the group, email me at cbi@roanestate.edu.

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