Browsing: Book Reviews

My Favorite Authors

by AjarnMark on April 2, 2019

Some of my favorite books...

Whether you’re new to the world of leadership development and personal growth, or a longtime learner, allow me to tell you about a couple of my favorite authors on the topic, John C. Maxwell and Patrick Lencioni.

Now there are a slew of other great authors and great books, and I try to read or listen to many of them, but I find myself consistently interested in whatever these two have written, and I regularly explore their catalog for something that I have not yet read.

Interestingly, these two have very different styles of writing.  Both are easy reads packed with great lessons, but very different in how their books are put together.

If you like your books to flow from start to finish as a cohesive story, you will really enjoy Patrick Lencioni’s books.  Lencioni writes in what I would call a parable-style.  They make the most sense if you start at the beginning and read straight through to the end.  Now, don’t let this story form fool you into thinking that they are not packed with good stuff.  These books are full of great lessons and key points, and I highlight them as much as any other book.  And sometimes, because the lessons are presented in the context of an overall story, that really helps the reader understand and apply the lessons or key points to their own situation more easily than other styles.

On the other hand, John Maxwell’s books are more organized into chapters and lessons on key topics, making them a phenomenal resource not just straight-through but also on-demand.  While John packs his books and speaking full of stories and anecdotes to make his point and help the reader more fully understand the lesson, it is also easy to jump around from chapter to chapter, lesson to lesson as each one is relatively self-contained.  Of course there is great value to reading the entire book, and some points build upon previous chapters, but if you want to jump straight to, say, the chapter on Servant Leadership, you can go straight there, study it, and then come back to others in any order.

So there you have it, two of my favorite authors.  Both have several books available and I would recommend all of them.  They are great resources, both for the novice and the cagey veteran. Go pick one up and dive in today.

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Binge Book Listening

by AjarnMark on November 17, 2017

Stack of books

I went on an Audible binge recently.  I signed up for Audible at the beginning of the year and powered through a couple of books, but then let my account sit for a while as I focused my time elsewhere (more on that in a future post).

So, as my account sat idle, I was wracking up new credits each month without a thought of what to do with them.  Then one day a friend starts talking about a book he read recently and recommended it to me.  As I went searching on Amazon, I discovered my credit balance and went on a little buying spree, grabbing audiobooks by the handful and throwing them in the shopping cart.  So here are some notes on what I have been listening to lately.

  1. No Limits: Blow the CAP off Your Capacity by John C. Maxwell.  This latest book by one of my all-time favorite authors on personal growth and leadership.  Each chapter explores a different capacity that each of us has (e.g. energy capacity, creativity capacity, leadership capacity, etc.) and in typical Maxwell style helps you to identify your own level and then how to expand and grow yourself in each area to be able to do, have and become more.  One of the drawbacks to getting this in audiobook form is that I know Maxwell’s voice, having seen him speak live and on recording several times, and he does not narrate the audiobook himself so it kept sounding just a little bit off hearing someone else’s voice reading his words.
  2. The Subtle Art of not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson.  I normally would not have picked up this book, except that it was strongly recommended to me, so I gave it a shot.  With F-bombs sprinkled liberally throughout the book, especially in the first couple of chapters, Manson tries to establish himself and his approach as the anti-Power of Positive Thinking and anti-self-help guru.  I’ll agree with him that some parents have gone off the deep end with positivity and flattery of children based on nothing of substance and he spends quite a bit of the book trying to get you to be honest about where you are right now.  But that’s not really new.  In order to plan how to get where you want to go, you have to know from where you are starting.  Be honest with yourself.  Manson’s points parallel those of many of the best personal growth authors, but he does so in a more confrontational, some would say more honest, way.
  3. Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.  For my techy friends, these are the guys behind 37Signals, Basecamp, and Ruby on Rails.  They write from their own experience in running a successful SMB (small-to-medium sized business).  The purpose of this book is to get you to challenge the many beliefs that we grow up with about what it takes to run a business, how to be productive, how to win at work; and instead to rethink (RE-WORK) everything.  For example, using modern tools (like Basecamp) to avoid excessive meetings; avoiding venture capital and exit strategies to instead focus on being profitable early and over the long-haul.  If you’re self-employed or run a small business, you need to read this book.  If you’re a manager in a large company, you really need to read this book.  One of my favorite lines from this book is “you can have the Fortune 500, I’m interested in selling to the Fortune 5,000,000.”  There is a REWORK podcast, too.
  4. All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin.  Another of my favorite authors, I read Seth’s blog regularly, which is filled with daily reminders to think different and pursue your dreams.  I don’t know if the 37Signals guys were inspired by Seth Godin, but there certainly is a common theme in their writing and that theme is that the old rules don’t apply anymore.  It’s a brave new world that is wide open to anyone who wishes to participate.  In this book, Seth talks about the power of stories to market anything and everything; and most importantly the need for authenticity.  Through all of his writing, Seth helps you understand the incredible value to be found in serving a niche market, and how that can grow to be a not-so-small niche after all.

I recommend all of these books, and while I really prefer the tactile experience of reading a book on paper and with a cover, if you find yourself pressed for time like I do, and especially if you have a significant commute, consider giving audiobooks a try.

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Book Review: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big

by AjarnMark on February 2, 2017

For my first book of 2017, and my test-run of using Audible to listen to books in the car while I commute to my office, I chose Scott Adams’ How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.  This turned out to be a great idea as the book is written in a simple narrative as Scott recounts stories from his past and weaves in leadership and self-help ideas.

Having read much of Scott Adams’ blog posts over the last year on the Master Persuader filter, and of course being a fan of Dilbert, I was a little skeptical that there would be much serious content in this book.  I was presently surprised to discover that several of the points that are made in this book overlap or run in close parallel to many of the leadership principles taught by my favorite authors on the subject.  In fact, i found that the way that they are presented in this book helped clarify and cement some of them in my mind with new ideas of how to apply the principles to my own life.

New to me in this book are Scott’s emphasis on Systems over Goals and his Moist Robot Hypothesis.  While I think the Moist Robot Hypothesis can be taken too far, I do agree with the basis, which is that we can program ourselves for success or other improvements.  It’s not too far of a stretch from the Power of Association, which any parent immediately recognizes and starts asking questions about the other kids that their kids hang around.

Overall a good read (or listen, in my case) with interesting stories mixed-in with immediately usable ideas.  For sensitive readers, be aware that the BS word pops up with some degree of regularity.

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