Today, I wanted to share three books that have recently inspired me.
Of course, I read them on my iPad, as I don’t buy hard cover books anymore. (See why here.)
One is business book about client relationships, the second is relates lessons learned from starting a small business, and the third is about how our brain works.
Getting Naked – Patrick Lencioni
You may know Patrick Lencioni’s previous books, such as Death by Meeting and The Five Disfunctions of a Team.
His latest work, Getting Naked, is a book about company-client relationships. It is told in the format of a fictional company story. If you enjoy that style, you will enjoy this book.
The book’s full title is, Getting Naked – A Business Fable About Shedding the Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty.
It describes the three fears that keep most companies from having success relationships with their clients.
They are:
1 – The Fear of Losing the Business
2 – The Fear of Being Embarrassed
3 – The Fear of Feeling Inferior
If you are in a business that serves other companies, I guarantee that you will have at least one a-ha moment where you say, “Oh, we were in that same situation with a client!” I know I did.
Getting Naked is about transparency. It is about laying the truth out there even when it is uncomfortable. It is about admitting when you don’t know something.
If more businesses practiced these principles, then more business relationships would be successful.
Get Getting Naked via Amazon here. (affiliate link)
Anything You Want – Derek Sivers
If you are a small business owner or have dreamed of starting your own business, you should read Anything You Want by Derek Sivers.
In his book, Derek tells us the story of how he started a home business and the lessons he learned before he sold it for $22M.
He started with his passion for music and it became something bigger than himself. His story is full of great small business themes, as well as hard life lessons learned.
Some of the lessons he presents:
– Why starting and being “in the game” are more important than having a perfect vision
– Never promise customers anything that is beyond your control
– The mistake that cost him $3.3 million dollars
– When delegating… Trust, but verify
This book is a short and quick read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is starting their own business.
Get Anything You Want via Amazon here. (affiliate link)
Brain Rules – John Medina
Brain Rules is a book about how our brains work. It will make you question many of your assumptions about how our minds work and why our bodies react the way they do.
The author is John Medina who is a molecular biologist. He relates many theories on how our brain works and backs them up with science and medical studies.
The book’s full title is, Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School.
Some of the brain rules are:
– Rule #1 – Exercise boosts brain power.
– Rule #4 – People don’t pay attention to boring things.
– Rule #7 – Sleep well, think well. (One that most of us should remember!)
– Rule #10 – Vision trumps all other senses.
Some of the examples he presents are fascinating. If you like amazing stories of medical phenomenon, you will like this book.
I will warn you that this book is a much longer read than the first two on this list. However, it is full of great stories and studies on how our brains work.
Get Brain Rules via Amazon here. (affiliate link)
What Are You Reading?
These are just a few of the books that have influenced me lately.
I’d like to know what has inspired you.
What are you reading?
Please share below the books that have inspired you lately.
Thank you so much for the book share. I’ve added these to my wish list and I’m most excited about “Getting Naked”. Awesome shares!
@ShannonSteffen Thanks, Shannon.
Love to know what inspirational books you have read lately?
Thank you so much for the book share. I’ve added these to my wish list and I’m most excited about “Getting Naked”. Awesome shares!
@ShannonSteffen Thanks, Shannon.
Love to know what inspirational books you have read lately?
Craig,
Great list of books. They are new ones to me, so I have to put them to my wishlist.
Currently I’m reading “How to Write & Sell Simple Information for Fun and Profit”. And before that I finished “The 60 Second Procrastinator” and “You 2”.
Timo
@timokiander Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.
I will have to check those out.
Craig,
Great list of books. They are new ones to me, so I have to put them to my wishlist.
Currently I’m reading “How to Write & Sell Simple Information for Fun and Profit”. And before that I finished “The 60 Second Procrastinator” and “You 2”.
Timo
@timokiander Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.
I will have to check those out.
Check out ‘Talent is Overrated’ by Geoffrey Colvin. A worthwhile read if you want to know what it takes to get truly good at something.
@Zen_Ken Thanks, Kenny. 🙂 Will check it out.
Check out ‘Talent is Overrated’ by Geoffrey Colvin. A worthwhile read if you want to know what it takes to get truly good at something.
@Zen_Ken Thanks, Kenny. 🙂 Will check it out.
Not really a “motivational book”, but one that is a quick read and provides for some introspection. Try, “The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t” by Robert Sutton.
@spencerhamons Thanks, Spencer! That is a good one. I have read it and still have it on my Kindle App. 🙂
Not really a “motivational book”, but one that is a quick read and provides for some introspection. Try, “The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t” by Robert Sutton.
A great read for me last year was “Linchpin” by Seth Godin. For a programmer perspective, “The passionate programmer” by Chad Fowler and “Clean Coder” by Robert C. Martin are very good also.
@karlmet Linchpin is one of my favorites from Seth Godin. Very applicable in these uncertain times.
A great read for me last year was “Linchpin” by Seth Godin. For a programmer perspective, “The passionate programmer” by Chad Fowler and “Clean Coder” by Robert C. Martin are very good also.
I loved the Derek Sivers book as well. Other books that have inspired me lately . . .
Strategy & The Fat Smoker – excellent book on “real” strategy
What Every Body Is Saying – good intro to Body Language
Lifehacker – saved me all kinds of time already
The Men Who Stare At Goats – a blast to read, nothing like I expected
The Consuming Instinct – revealing look at human nature
@Brad@LucidBooks.net Thanks for sharing, Brad,
Good stuff! Will have to check a few of these out.
I loved the Derek Sivers book as well. Other books that have inspired me lately . . .
Strategy & The Fat Smoker – excellent book on “real” strategy
What Every Body Is Saying – good intro to Body Language
Lifehacker – saved me all kinds of time already
The Men Who Stare At Goats – a blast to read, nothing like I expected
The Consuming Instinct – revealing look at human nature
@Brad@LucidBooks.net Thanks for sharing, Brad,
Good stuff! Will have to check a few of these out.
@karlmet Linchpin is one of my favorites from Seth Godin. Very applicable in these uncertain times.
@spencerhamons Thanks, Spencer! That is a good one. I have read it and still have it on my Kindle App. 🙂
TMN-Thanks for the recommendations. I am purchasing “Brain Rules,” as it sounds perfect for where I am “at” in terms of trying to improve focus and energy for productivity. I found this book very effective for dealing with the information overwhelm many of us feel. http://www.amazon.com/CrazyBusy-Overstretched-Overbooked-Strategies-Fast-Paced/dp/0345482441/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311627397&sr=8-1
Chris, thanks for sharing! Good stuff.
TMN-Thanks for the recommendations. I am purchasing “Brain Rules,” as it sounds perfect for where I am “at” in terms of trying to improve focus and energy for productivity. I found this book very effective for dealing with the information overwhelm many of us feel. http://www.amazon.com/CrazyBusy-Overstretched-Overbooked-Strategies-Fast-Paced/dp/0345482441/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311627397&sr=8-1
Chris, thanks for sharing! Good stuff.
If you analyze the books I recently read, I can assure you that perhaps the brightest for me was the book “Crucible” – Arthur Miller. After all, it described “the Salem witch trials”, I first read about it at https://papersowl.com/examples/salem-witch-trials/. For me, this became clear because these make us think about ancient times and about ways to solve our problems. After all, people still believe in the afterlife and in higher powers, shouldn’t we reconsider our views?