Be a Dog with a Bone: always go for your dreams by Peggy McColl, 2003.
For years we have celebrated man’s best friend and his zealous love for life. This business fable teaches us to take a second look at our pets and discover the lessons they can teach us. Do you have a “glass is half full” personality? If so, this book will take you farther, teach you to reach for more. If not, the anecdotes will encourage you to pick up that glass and look again. Your trustworthy pet can teach you to discover your dream, identify those actions that will move you toward your goals, and eliminate the thoughts and actions that will prevent you from reaching those goals.
In the past few months we have been reading business fables for the Business Book discussion group. Here are a couple of reviews to spark your interest. To get a copy of a business fable or to inquire about the book group call Terry Zarsky at 531-6333 extension 2308.
Juggling Elephants: An Easier Way to Get Your Most Important Things Done-Now! by Jones Loflin and Todd Musig, 2005.
In this fun business fable, Jones and Todd apply lessons from the circus to our everyday business and personal lives. The moral of this story is easy to discern. You are the ringmaster in your own circus, and your circus is made up of multiple rings. Those rings represent the essential pieces in your life: business, relationships, and personal growth, to name a few. This tale escorts you through discovering the rings in your life, the acts you currently have, those you may want to add, and how to manage those acts in a way that is satisfying to you as well as your colleagues and family. In other words, this story will help you become a better ringmaster in your own circus.
The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing It All” Gets Nothing Done by Dave Crenshaw, 2008.
Dave Crenshaw questions the existence of one of our most valued skills – multitasking. He illustrates his point through a business coach and a struggling CEO looking for some pointers in time management. With a few short exercises the coach is able to expose the cost of multitasking in our daily lives.
Dave’s scenario begs us to take a few minutes to look at our day. Where do you spend most of your time? How many times are you interrupted in a day? Who interrupts you most and for what reasons? Is there a more efficient approach?
To answer the last question our business coach provides his charge with several techniques to streamline her time along with worksheets to move her in the right direction.
All in all, this is a brief but informative read, providing a clear depiction of the time management problem as well as the means to overcome it.
Are you reading for the PPLD Adult Reading Program? Would you like to meet with others to discuss a business book that can have a lasting effect on you and your business?
Join us in a discussion of Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute on Tuesday, March 31 from 6 PM to 8 PM at the Penrose Library. There will be an interactive discussion followed by breakout sessions to discuss what you learned and how those lessons may be applied to your business.
To get your copy to read or listen to on CD call Terry Zarsky at 531-6333 extension 2308.
Whether you are new to computers and are interested in learning the basics, or just curious about what is new in computers or library resources, PPLD offers a variety of computer classes every month at many of the PPLD branches that are all free.
In January there are a number of classes that are being held at the Penrose Library downtown that may be of interest to the business community.
If you are interested in learning what library resources are available to help you in your financial investments, then check out the Investment Tools at Your Library class (Tuesday, January 6 at 8:30 AM or Saturday, January 17 at 8:30 AM).
Perhaps you have decided that 2009 is the year that you will go into business for yourself, and you are interested in how the library can help you learn about demographics in your target area, competition, writing a business plan and finding other funding sources. The Minding Your Business class will be held Saturday, January 10 at 8:30 AM and Thursday, January 22 at 8:30 AM.
Maybe you don’t want to start your own business, but you are interested in making some extra money by cleaning out your attic. The Selling on eBay class Saturday, January 24 at 8:30 AM can help you learn the basics to start making some extra cash.
Again, all of these computer classes are free, and being held at the Penrose Library at 20 N. Cascade. To sign up, or for questions about other computer class offerings of PPLD call the Reference Desk at 389-8968.
Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner, Recorded Books, 2008. (CD book)
It is critical in today’s ever-changing world to develop the skills and “minds” necessary to get the most out of the information around you. Gardner covers the five mental abilities (i.e. minds) necessary to succeed to your fullest potential. These multiple intelligences allow you to understand what is happening and the potential consequences of the actions. This book will show how to train your brain to grasp these five minds. These minds are disciplining, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical. These minds allow you to see every opportunity from multiple viewpoints and help you discern the best way to proceed to get the most from the circumstances.
Using these values developed by training your brain to see different viewpoints will allow you to “think out of the box” when dealing with situations. You will use the disciplined mind to view things from a mathematical or historical viewpoint, the synthesizing mind to try different combinations or potential answers and to see the best one for this situation and the creative mind to foresee new possibilities as the answer.
The last two other minds are more character based and cover the attitudes and ethics of the approaches. The respectful mind takes advantage of the diversity of the cultures and knowledge around you and the ethical mind takes into consideration the effects of the outcome on others as well as on you. Are you operating from a place that values all equally or sets others up for failure so that you can succeed?
When you develop these minds and utilize these newfound skills you will be better able to create the path you want to follow.
by Carmine Gallo, John Wiley and Sons, 2007.
Carmine Gallo divides this book into two parts; first he defines and illustrates with stories the 7 Simple Secrets and then he tells you how to live them. Many of the companies that have successfully implemented these secrets will be very familiar to you. Some people/companies use multiple secrets all of the time and some pick and choose the ones that work best for them and are known for adhering to these principles. People you will recognize include Winston Churchill and Steve Jobs and companies showcased include: Intel, Gymboree, Cold Stone Creamery and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
The 7 secrets are:
1. Ignite Your Enthusiasm
2. Navigate the Way
3. Sell the Benefit
4. Paint a Picture
5. Invite Participation
6. Reinforce an Optimistic Outlook
7. Encourage Their Potential.
Many stories are given that show exactly how these aforementioned individuals and companies inspire us to learn and use these secrets. Your passion and commitment can help others around you provide the same level of service and commitment that you do to all of your customers.
If you want to light a fire under your company and get everyone’s buy in to grow the company and succeed you only need to emulate the guidelines shown here to succeed. The energy and passion shown by these individuals and companies will give you the inspiration you need to develop your own game plan and to put it to use.
by Brian Tracy, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2007.
Many of us are extremely good at delaying or procrastinating in getting those tasks done that we find the most trying to do. Eat that Frog will help you find ways to tackle the frogs in your life. Tasks or projects that are seen as potential obstacles in our days are the frogs in our life. If you have more than one frog you need to tackle, the best advice is to tackle the hardest or ugliest one first and then the others won’t seem as overwhelming.
Breaking down the frogs into small bites or pieces can be the best way to approach the task. Breaking them down allows you to finish each section in short amounts of time although many find that once they successfully complete one small section they have the momentum to continue on with the task and they end up completing a much larger portion than they had planned on or they complete the task in its entirety.
Brian Tracy uses quotes and summary sections in each chapter to make sure the reader gets his point. One of the 21 ways is to “apply the law of three” and he starts with the quote by Theodore Roosevelt “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” The point of this chapter is to discover the three tasks that you perform that contribute the most to your business and then figure out a way to spend most of your time doing only these three things. You will probably need to delegate some of your other tasks to others, but this will allow you to be the most productive you can be. If you can build relationships with others, you can build teams who will each handle sections of different tasks that they excel in and you will only have to do the tasks you enjoy and excel in.
Some of the other ways addressed include: plan every day in advance, focus on the key result areas, upgrade your key skills, identify your key constraints and slice and dice the task. By applying these 21 ways to stop procrastinating you will get more of the important things done in a timelier manner.
by Richard Bolles and John Nelson, Ten Speed Press, 2007.
Richard Bolles has one of the most recognized titles for career development with his book: What Color is Your Parachute? With this book he takes us one step further in helping us to design the retirement we want and helping us work toward that goal. Whether you are just starting out in the business world or part way or ready for retirement, this book will help you to void potential pitfalls in obtaining the lifestyle you want when you are retired.
He describes the seven elements of retirement and shows us how to define what we want from all of them to form our ideal retirement. These seven elements are:
Relationships
Strengths
Practices
Medicine
Pillars
Place
Ways to Live
Using these elements we will define our retirement well-being, which will include aspect of prosperity, health and happiness. The book includes definitions of each element and gives interactive questions and worksheets for us to find out what is important to us. Each chapter ends with a list of additional resources, which includes books and websites for further research, and understanding of the topic.
As we work our way through the book we come up with the main focus of each element and then combine these all together in the last chapter to have a roadmap or visual record of what we are trying to obtain for our future. The questions are often pointed and make us really think about whether we want to continue to work or volunteer in our currents arenas or if we want to start out on a totally new journey of education and discovery to gain the fulfillment we want in our final years. By performing the exercises at different stages of our lives, we may find that what is really important to us changes over our lives, but this book will help us stay focused on what we need to do today to make what we want in our retirement years a reality.
If you are looking for a blueprint to help you increase your negotiation skills and achieve more of what you want then this book is for you. Many examples of negotiation situations are given with the outcomes and strategies used by both parties. The book has a natural flow into the next skill level to improve your capabilities and is easily understandable with the examples given to highlight each new skill. One of the main skills given is listening. You should follow the 30/70 rule in all negotiations to get the best outcome for yourself every time. This rule says you should talk 30 percent of the time and listen 70 percent of the time. The person who speaks first or offers concessions is often not the person in the best seat to negotiate.
Ed Brodow shows us how to stop avoiding conflict and how to obtain the goals we have and in doing so make sure those around us get what they need at the same time. This basic primer covers preparing to negotiate, traditional strategies, concessions to use to get what you need, how to strengthen your negotiation position, three rules of win-win negotiating, and workplace negotiations.
Many checklists are included including twenty tactics to die for and ten things people don’t realize they can negotiate for. Negotiation Boot Camp will help you to become a better negotiator in all aspects of your life.
