tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191834022012-02-10T18:49:18.693-05:00A forum for discussing books and articles currently being read in the business community. The number of books being added to the ranks of business literature is growing every day and this is the place to find out what's worth reading.Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.comBlogger681100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-89829741809775926612009-03-19T06:24:00.003-05:002009-03-19T07:34:44.726-05:00

This book is really the philosophical foundation on which the current explosion in social media technologies is based. This is not to say that the four men who wrote the book created this philosophy, only that they recognized some fundamental truths well ahead of the rest of us.Published in 2000, written a full decade ago, the four authors speak in voices that are authentic, irreverent and as

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-59086095615438041112008-12-29T23:05:00.004-05:002009-01-06T06:47:17.782-05:00

Subtitled: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing. It was destiny that I ended up with this book. Or perhaps serendipity. Either way, the publisher did me a favor in sending it along.The content in this book is excellent. I would describe the style as a case study and Cohan's writing as analytical. While his writing style did not resonate with me, the information is first rate! I filled

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-22528172429606920572008-12-13T23:26:00.005-05:002008-12-14T23:19:33.565-05:00

This is quite a remarkable book that was recommended to me by someone I was working with recently in Charleston, SC. Lonnie Plaster and I have known each other for several years and I admire and respect him as a real estate manager, but have not really gotten to know him well. A chance conversation over dinner brought about this book recommendation.Initially, my interest was from a management

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-55628478962970457272008-11-30T09:49:00.009-05:002008-11-30T10:38:35.556-05:00

Subtitled: We Need You to Lead Us. What an awesome book! I confess I'm a big fan of Seth Godin's books and his blog, so it's not so surprising that I think his latest effort is right on target.Where to start? Well, I teach classes on social media technologies to real estate agents. Getting them to shift their paradigm when it comes to marketing is difficult for those who came to the industry when

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-215685722252850742008-11-23T22:17:00.002-05:002008-11-23T23:13:52.656-05:00

Subtitled: How To Turn Creativity Into A Powerful Business Advantage. This is an interesting and engaging book that opens with a very clear and simple premise in Chapter One: "Imagination is the last legal means of gaining an unfair advantage over the competition." The final chapter closes with the additional observation: "Increasingly, it's the only means." In the intervening chapters, we are

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-36173637208147606832008-11-21T13:23:00.003-05:002008-11-21T14:02:05.288-05:00

Subtitled: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. This is groundbreaking research in a new field called neuromarketing. Martin Lindstrom gave an interview to National Public Radio on the subject and how retailers are learning to tap into these findings in order to influence our buying habits.The premise of neuromarketing is that what goes on in our subconscious influences what we buy. Figuring out how

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-7762058066335305552008-11-15T16:39:00.008-05:002008-11-15T17:37:08.277-05:00

Subtitled: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. The book is well researched and presents compelling data for the case against the concept of innate talent. Toward the end of the book Colvin addresses the possibility that there are genes for things like intrinsic motivation; but at its most basic level, his theory suggests that high achievers reach astonishing heights

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-42185578849128936422008-11-14T21:54:00.002-05:002008-11-14T22:49:18.971-05:00

Subtitled: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions. This is a fable, much along the lines in form of "Who Moved My Cheese?" by authors Ken Blanchard and Spenser Johnson (Johnson is a contributing author here as well.)This book was referenced in Kotter's A Sense of Urgency (previously reviewed here) and I can see why. It took me one hour to read it on an airplane. It rolls out the same

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-11356021684289868272008-11-08T15:26:00.003-05:002008-11-08T15:52:43.811-05:00

This book is so timely and relevant given the current global financial meltdown that is affecting businesses in every industry. The world changes very quickly now and being complacent is not something any company can sustain and remain viable. Awareness has been heightened in the last several months as many long standing business icons have gone out of business or been acquired. This is

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-88390077956954926442008-10-12T16:22:00.002-05:002008-10-12T16:51:37.673-05:00

Subtitled: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. This book is challenging, but in a good way. It sets what we know and assumptions we hold dear on their ear, and Dr. Taleb shows us in an engaging and entertaining way how even the most revered "experts" can be dead wrong. The challenge is applying these theories of randomness to our perceptions and decision making processes once we return this

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-79999499610074713212008-09-13T21:54:00.003-05:002008-09-13T22:09:46.383-05:00

Subtitled: Reflections on a Life of Leadership, I pre-ordered this book based on a recommendation that appeared in one of Harvey Mackay's weekly columns. It did not disappointment. A beautiful little gem of a book, I read it in a single evening. It is inspiring in it's simplicity, warmth and authenticity.The format works well. On the left page is a quote or poem that has some special meaning

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-61320101929406491732008-08-06T19:32:00.003-05:002008-08-06T19:54:15.221-05:00

Subtitled: "winning in a world transformed by social technologies" it was published in April of 2008 by Harvard Business Press. It is a transformative book that truly enlightens those of us struggling to apply the "buzz" of blogging and social networking to existing business practices.Early in the book the authors make a very essential point about the nature of these hot new technologies: the

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-74446969386326545122008-08-01T20:37:00.003-05:002008-08-01T20:48:44.433-05:00

Subtitled: "The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty." I just loved this book! I had read several reviews about it that all raved about what a great book it is and I bought it for "airplane reading" on a cross country flight to Seattle. I was hooked from the beginning. It is absolutely the page turner the critics claim that it is.I don't know where to begin. It is engaging, well

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-83564485390058836792008-06-29T15:34:00.004-05:002008-06-29T16:22:22.381-05:00

Subtitled: The One Thing That Changes Everything. It's an incredible book. Well written, well researched, practical in its guidance and full of personal stories and anecdotes, it's an engaging read. And the ideas and concepts he outlines here I find myself recalling on almost a daily basis now.This is another book recommended to me by my redoubtable business coach. I am fortunate to have a mentor

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-11593476725480930732008-05-26T21:32:00.002-05:002008-05-26T21:57:42.411-05:00

Subtitled: The Astonishing Power of Feelings. I got a lot out of this book. It was recommended to me by my business coach - someone I seem to fight less and resist less these days. Now I ask him what book I should be reading and he tells me which one. I approach what he has to say with an open mind. Ah, yes, the mind! It would be easy to connect this book to the well know proverb: “As a man

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-43989215000400355512008-05-04T19:44:00.002-05:002008-05-04T20:39:58.068-05:00

Subtitled: Discover the Four Basic Business Personalities - And How They Can Lead You to Success. Only the book is so much more than that. But you don't know that until you read it. You don't even believe that until you read it. My highly tolerant and very patient mentor has told me about this book for years. But it took a dramatic turn in our working relationship to actually motivate me to

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-84289259585817590972008-05-01T14:09:00.005-05:002008-05-01T15:43:03.479-05:00

Subtitled: Why More is Less. How the Culture of Abundance Robs Us of Satisfaction. I heard Barry Schwartz speak at Brand ManageCamp '07 in Chicago this past September and was so impressed with his presentation I immediately ordered the book. It's taken me awhile to get to it, but it was worth it. There are so many wonderful concepts put forth here, backed up by excellent research and anecdotal

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-50713362874829464432008-04-26T08:40:00.003-05:002008-04-26T09:15:43.884-05:00

Subtitled A Book that Changes Lives, it was originally published in the late 80's and took a long time to build a following - mostly by word of mouth. Well, life changing or not, it certainly provides a different perspective which is essential to making life changes. This book is one of those wonders that appeared when I ordered a very different book through Amazon.com. One of my favorite

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-48925113791054864722008-03-23T16:21:00.002-05:002008-03-23T17:21:57.682-05:00

This is such a great book and so very timely! Originally published in 2004 and this edition in paperback having come out in 2005, the information is as timely in 2008 as it was when written. Of great interest to me is the amount of space at the very end of the book that is given to the stock market and the political process. The main thesis of the book is that the collective opinion of any

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-57739003007521977422007-12-31T23:18:00.000-05:002007-12-31T23:36:38.087-05:00

This is a great book! It's a fascinating read that is also laugh-out-loud funny. I had to read it when I could steal the time away to do it, which meant taking the book to the hair salon, the nail salon, the Dept. of Motor Vehicles and Jiffy Lube. You know - all the places you are forced to sit still. And I would sit there and find myself laughing out loud surrounded by other people. Now

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-13163617351370471012007-10-08T19:45:00.000-05:002007-10-30T23:16:58.743-05:00

I was just in Borders with my son buying him some books he had to have tonight, when I saw The Alchemist on a shelf near the front of the store. I read that book for the first time last month. I thought it was wonderful, but for some reason it never occurred to me to write about it here. I suppose it was because I was in a strange place, both literally and figuratively speaking, when I read it.I

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-9539122112745624482007-09-27T08:28:00.000-05:002007-09-27T10:14:18.483-05:00

Subtitled: Six Simple Steps to Find the Perfect Balance of Prosperity and Purpose. This is small but powerful book - 130 pages. I picked it up on impulse at the Olsson's bookstore at Reagan National Airport back in August when I was flying down to stay with my mother. As it turned out, my mother was moved to Hospice the day after I arrived and this book was one of two that I read while sitting in

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-29199386124852559182007-08-10T19:16:00.000-05:002007-08-10T20:24:21.500-05:00

Subtitled: How Every Great Company Listens to the Voice of the Consumer. It is co-authored by one of the principals of the legendary J.D. Power and Associates, who pioneered the customer satisfaction survey 35 years ago. It is a must read. Now you might think sometimes, as I do, that it is ridiculous that books are written about concepts that are so obvious. Like Duh! Who does not understand this

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-88698290541414805862007-06-16T15:35:00.000-05:002007-06-16T16:07:43.243-05:00

Subtitled: A Little Book That Teaches You When To Quit (and When to Stick) One of the many things I love about Amazon.com is how they recommend books to me based on what I've purchased, or perused, in the past. That's one good reason I buy my books there. So this book recommendation actually came to me as an email one evening. Sounds pretty unremarkable up to this point, except it was a few

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-58854612979612183902007-06-04T17:44:00.000-05:002007-06-04T18:26:18.363-05:00

Subtitled: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary. What a great read! I'm not even sure where to start. I was hooked from the first page to the last, and there are post-it flags in every chapter. Starbucks is a phenomenon. On that I think we can all agree. But they may well have created core business practices that could be a blueprint for companies in many other industries as

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-26852940769681987852007-06-01T09:00:00.000-05:002007-06-01T20:24:25.436-05:00

Subtitled The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business. I first knew about Danny Meyer from Bo Burlingham's book Small Giants (reviewed here in March 2006.) He was profiled as one of those entrepreneurs who had made the decision to control the growth of his business in order to maintain the true integrity, culture and value of the company he started. Shortly after that, Meyer was profiled in

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-47348956820241250422007-05-30T15:26:00.000-05:002007-05-30T15:59:59.200-05:00

This book proposes to help us "Discover the 20 Workplace Habits You Need to Break." And I discovered I have quite a few of the 20. I listened to this as an audiobook, and then wanted to quote something out of it for a newsletter I was writing, so I ended up buying the actual book as well. I discovered that listening to books can be an excellent way of absorbing new ideas and an enjoyable way

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-73847514245749487692007-05-29T17:47:00.000-05:002007-05-29T18:20:39.759-05:00

I didn't actually read this book, I listened to it. I found this neat little device at the bookstore, sort of like an iPod only smaller, that had the whole book on it. I believe this was a stroke of good fortune for me because the book is full of fairly weighty material. Listening to it as read by the authors - Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan and their collaborator Charles Burck - made it much

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-64510506736485937002007-05-28T14:58:00.000-05:002007-05-29T18:21:14.814-05:00

Subtitled: A Search for the Soul of Kindness. I don't know too many people who would automatically think that "compassion" and "business" go hand in hand. (Take a breath and visualize Starbucks.) It would be convenient to think we could truly compartmentalize our lives into neat boxes and sort out feelings and beliefs according which feelings are appropriate for which box. Like it's okay to be

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-53096481558368795562007-05-25T20:04:00.000-05:002007-05-25T20:23:31.304-05:00

Subtitled 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness: How to make sales FOREVER, it delivers what the title promises. For many people, this book is certainly not new at all having been published in 2004, but it was a gift to me the last week I worked for my previous employer, and so I sat down and read it again. Jeffrey Gitomer knows how to communicate. His book is the closest thing to an interactive

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-61662829804642276772007-05-22T15:50:00.000-05:002007-05-22T16:03:13.500-05:00

Not to be overly dramatic with this, but I think Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die is the new age Bible of effective communication. I'm not sure I need to say anything more than that (but of course I will.) This book came out in January of 2007 and immediately became a bestseller. In the February 2007 issue of FastCompany Magazine, the Heath brothers debuted their monthly

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1154313025629933302006-07-30T20:44:00.000-05:002006-08-28T16:42:44.890-05:00

It's rather odd to think that a book of this title could be considered a business read. That was my own thought when I found it on Amazon while searching for Orbiting the Giant Hairball. What caught my eye was the high percentage of people who had purchased this book while looking at other business books. Very odd. And I love very odd things.As the title suggests, the book takes a close look

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1151801451984496192006-07-01T19:08:00.000-05:002007-05-29T18:30:05.144-05:00

This is a terrific book that has the added benefit of being visually appealing in addition to providing valuable and engaging content. The author is Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of the agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The book was mentioned in an article that appeared in the May 1, 2006, issue of BusinessWeek entitled "Detergent Can Be So Much More." I was convinced after reading the article that

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1146451685188127352006-04-30T21:09:00.000-05:002006-05-01T14:43:08.940-05:00

Well I haven't made a worthy post the entire month of April. This is because I went on vacation the first part of April for the first time in several years, packing up the kids and departing for a week at a quiet condo by the water in North Carolina, and in doing so gave myself permission to read books simply for pleasure. This is sort of like walking into a penny candy store with a dollar to

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1142699551628654752006-03-18T11:10:00.000-05:002006-03-18T11:32:31.680-05:00

Subtitled: "Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big." I loved this book. It is so passionate and it resonates so deeply to the core of what drives the successful small business. The writing is excellent, which is no surprise since Burlingham is editor-at-large for Inc. magazine and has been associated with that publication from the beginning. In fact the idea for the book came from

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1141010922935943482006-02-26T21:46:00.000-05:002006-05-01T14:46:42.213-05:00

Subtitled ". . . and how it's transforming work, leisure, community, & everyday life." The book was published in 2002 and is probably even more relevant today than it was when it came out. The author is currently a professor at George Mason University's School of Public Policy, in addition to consulting, writing, speaking and being quoted in several recent issues of BusinessWeek on topics from

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1138568274072503282006-01-29T15:29:00.000-05:002006-01-29T15:57:54.086-05:00

Subtitled: The Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World, I have not actually read this book. I read a review of the book in the February issue of Smithsonian Magazine. Sometimes they tuck these little gems at the very back amid the advertising, which is where I found this one. Kathleen Burke, a senior editor at Smithsonian, reviewed the book and made it sound interesting enough that it's

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1137931947410599032006-01-22T06:52:00.000-05:002006-01-22T07:12:27.446-05:00

Under "Stock Talk" in the Up Front section of the January 30, 2006 edition of BusinessWeek , there appears an item entitled "Tough Times for Leaders of the Pack." Consultants at Marakon Associates did some research on shareholder return among market leaders and came to what is obviously a newsworthy conclusion."In analyzing 3,260 public companies, Marakon's Brian Burwell and Jeremy Sicklick

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1137729101074147702006-01-19T22:16:00.000-05:002006-02-02T09:21:34.960-05:00

This is a very enjoyable and engaging read that left me highly motivated to do a better job at being a more attentive friend. It was a Christmas gift from a friend who is also an agent with the same company that I work for. He is great about doing all of the thoughtful things that keep friendships alive, and not coincidentally, he is one of the company's top agents as well. Although this book is

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1137176026788474352006-01-13T12:40:00.000-05:002006-01-22T07:13:57.340-05:00

Subtitled "Why Market Share is the Fool's Gold of Business" it is full of sound research and some interesting case studies. Published in 2002, it obviously didn't make it to any bestseller lists, but it's a very worthwhile read. At 172 pages the investment of time is worth the return.Miniter gives some background on the genesis of the theory that market share and profit are closely tied together

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1136765128379238262006-01-08T18:22:00.000-05:002006-01-08T19:05:28.450-05:00

Subtitled "Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and WOW Your Customers" the three authors have also set up a website by the same name at lighttheirfire.net.The book is excellent and a very informative and engaging read. It took me awhile to get through it because I would find with each section my mind would wander over what we are doing (or not doing) in our own company. I

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1136147228342010712006-01-01T14:46:00.000-05:002006-01-01T15:27:08.373-05:00

Subtitled 100 Truths to Jumpstart Your Job, Your Career, and Your Life the book delivers on the promise of the title. What a way to start the first day of a new year! This is my recommended "must read" for this year. The book is tiny - not much bigger than an actual drink coaster - but not one word or thought is fluff or filler. It's beautifully crafted - the thoughts, titles, layouts,

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1135704376378561492005-12-27T11:32:00.000-05:002005-12-27T12:26:16.466-05:00

In a very timely article in the Jan/Feb issue of FastCompany Magazine, Danielle Sacks brings us stories from the frontlines about our newest generation of employees. It makes me glad I left the field of Human Resources in 1994. The very fact that Human Resources is now asked to deal not only with employees and their issues, but also with their parents, is not something I could have conceived of

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1135611289385933622005-12-26T09:40:00.000-05:002005-12-26T10:34:49.430-05:00

Subtitled "How to Get Your Font Line to Care About Your Bottom Line." The book deals with managing and motivating the newest generation of employees known as Generation Y (or Generation Why, the Millennials, NetGen or Echo Boomers.) These are the youngest of employees from ages 16 to 24 that the author has dubbed "kidployees." They are essential to the workforce because increasingly there are

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1134830858550577202005-12-17T09:40:00.000-05:002005-12-17T19:13:58.866-05:00

This article in the December '05 issue of FastCompany Magazine captures a concept that I have tried to explain numerous times to people about our own company: the concept of yin-yang. In this instance, the concept has become the touchstone for the transformation of Korea's Samsung into the world's most profitable tech company. The yin-yang symbol which is found on the Korean flag, "represents the

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1134451151397351942005-12-12T23:27:00.000-05:002005-12-13T06:31:41.176-05:00

Subtitled "Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable" the book is set up as short vignettes written by 33 well known writers, leaders and all around gurus. Folks like Malcolm Gladwell, Tom Peters, Daniel H. Pink, Mark Cuban, Alan Webber and Tom Kelly - The Group of 33.Several remarkable things about this book: all the contributors gave their work free of charge; 100% of author proceeds

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1134273342707619392005-12-10T21:28:00.000-05:002005-12-10T22:55:42.756-05:00

This is not really what I would put in the category of Business literature, but I have recommended it to so many people lately, I decided to talk about it here anyway. Barack Obama wrote this book shortly after leaving Harvard Law School. His thoughts on the genesis of the book in the Preface and Introduction of the 2004 edition add a great deal to the experience of reading it, as does the

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1133926260486405192005-12-06T21:50:00.000-05:002005-12-07T20:42:11.576-05:00

The Dec. 12th issue of BusinessWeek has a really interesting cover story on the MySpace Generation. MySpace.com is a networking site geared toward young people aged 12 to 24. It's an absolute phenomenon. It's ironic that I was having a conversation with a co-worker last week at our monthly Happy Hour about MySpace, which is a site he had never heard of despite having kids in this age range. Most

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1133526995350757172005-12-02T07:02:00.000-05:002005-12-02T07:36:35.366-05:00

In the December issue of FastCompany Magazine there is an interesting article about the artists retreat in New Hampshire, McDowell Colony. It's been there for nearly a century and it still attracts many contemporary writers, composers, and artists of all varieties. In this day and age, it's interesting to read that creative people still find the experience of being in a secluded and quiet

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1133291312554973922005-11-29T13:11:00.000-05:002005-11-29T14:08:32.620-05:00

Subtitled "Employee Recognition that Works" the books offers "simple ways to boost morale, productivity and profits." I would put it in the category of a quick and easy read full of very practical ideas that have proven effective for me in working with my own staff. There are so many things that can be done on a regular basis, many at no cost, to make employees feel recognized and valued.

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1133137828329604672005-11-27T19:02:00.000-05:002005-11-27T19:40:35.510-05:00

This book is awesome! I mean a must read even if you only read one business book a year. Recommended to me by Val August, it was a quick and easy read that was engaging and entertaining from the front cover to the acknowledgments. The three authors are all from Deloitte Consulting and they have designed "bullshit" detecting software to eliminate corporate double-speak from business communications

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1133038235192247752005-11-26T15:03:00.000-05:002005-11-27T19:38:02.920-05:00

Subtitled "Getting Out of the Box" this is another parable type story that works well. Amazon pairs it with another book entitled Bonds That Make Us Free: Healing Our Relationships, Coming to Ourselves by C. Terry Warner, also of the Arbinger Institute. I thought both were excellent and would recommend both. The Leadership book explores the precepts put forth in Bonds within a business

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132977949773586672005-11-25T22:29:00.000-05:002005-11-27T19:02:19.670-05:00

I was very excited to see the Amazon.com box on my porch today. Every year one of my New Year's Resolutions is "Buy fewer books." Every year I think I do a little better, but not significantly better. So I have ordered three books - one recommended by FastCompany and two recommended by one of our branch managers. Here is what I noticed immediately: books are getting smaller. I'm currently in the

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132950149018897552005-11-25T15:03:00.000-05:002005-11-25T15:22:29.026-05:00

What is there left to say about this book? Amazon is showing 406 reviews since it was published in 2001, and I'm sure the rest of the world has said it all. I was given this book to read by our VP of Relocation probably two years ago. She said that a number of people in our company had read the book and she thought it would be helpful to me. It was.I am regularly asked, "Have you read Good

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132863053973960892005-11-24T14:30:00.000-05:002005-11-25T23:09:53.786-05:00

The cover story in the current issue of BusinesWeek is about Peter Drucker and is written by John A. Byrne. Until recently, Byrne was the editor-in-chief of FastCompany Magazine, where I thought he did a great job. When the magazine changed hands earlier this year, he went back to BusinessWeek, which is where he had been for many years previously. This article is an excellent example of his

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132719700641354772005-11-22T22:54:00.000-05:002005-11-22T23:21:40.680-05:00

Subtitled "Strategies for Earning Standing Ovations from Your Customers" this book was published in 2002. I actually bought it at a second hand book store and still think it's a great book despite it's lack of chart topping popularity. I think it speaks to me most particularly because I come from the world of theater and I understand his frame of reference. His very first chapter addresses how

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132687284171995822005-11-22T13:57:00.000-05:002005-11-22T14:21:24.233-05:00

This book was actually a gift from one of my staff members. Jack Canfield is co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soup series of books. The other half of the team, Mark Victor Hansen, was the featured speaker at our agent Top Producer Retreat in Victoria, BC, last month. The term that springs to mind for this book is "formulaic." That's not so much a criticism as an observation. Both these

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132626953538057582005-11-21T21:25:00.000-05:002005-11-21T21:35:53.546-05:00

This is a really great book that is probably not destined for the best seller list. It is definitly designed to educate and inform more than entertain. It's based on a monumental amount of global research across many industries, which is in and of itself quite fascinating. But what the author has done is to take all that research and try to distill what separates high performing work groups

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132624894030076792005-11-21T20:52:00.000-05:002005-11-21T21:01:34.033-05:00

It's interesting to me how many people I have run into that have read both Blink and The Tipping Point. Malcolm Gladwell is definitely a new age guru, and an articulate one who writes engaging books that speak to a great many people. The most common reaction to Blink is that he forgot to tell us what to do now. He does a great job of explaining how we think without thinking, and the art of

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132623810930708702005-11-21T20:28:00.000-05:002005-11-21T21:19:21.400-05:00

This book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was originally published in 1990. I bought it because of an article about the book in FastCompany Magazine several months ago. I took the book with me to read at our company's manager's retreat in September. I was reading it poolside and ran into one of my colleagues who was reading Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind. Later that evening when we ran into each other

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132622788309391222005-11-21T20:10:00.000-05:002005-11-21T20:26:28.320-05:00

There's a reason this book has been on the NY Times Bestseller list for such a long time. It's interesting. It takes things that are completely familiar to us and makes us look at them in an entirely different way - from the framwork of economic theory. If this was music, it would definitely be on the Billboard Pop Chart. This book was developed for mass consumption and it hits the bullseye

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132621839995385722005-11-21T20:04:00.000-05:002005-11-21T20:45:32.596-05:00

I've read some reader reviews on Amazon that talk about the repetition and reduncancy that some people found in this book. While there is some repetition, I didn't feel that it in any way took away from the overall value of the book. Subtitled "How Winning Streaks & Losing Streaks Begin and End" this book really looks closely at teamwork and leadership. I thought it was a real page turner. The

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132620564925715522005-11-21T19:35:00.000-05:002005-11-21T19:49:24.933-05:00

An offering from the Havard Business School Press subtitled "How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant." An exceptional book about truly assessing where the market is going and figuring out how to create a new space before your competition does. It's a matter of looking at your own company's unique strengths, seeing what can be dropped or eliminated that the

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132619731510747632005-11-21T19:17:00.000-05:002005-11-21T19:35:31.516-05:00

I loved this book. The subtitle is "How America's Best Performing Companies Keep the Start-up Spirit Alive." I found it through a book review in FastCompany magazine, which often profiles excellent new books. The beginning of the book speaks immediately to those who have experience with a "start-up." Although our company was a start-up over thirty years ago, there is still a very strong

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132618607776293662005-11-21T19:03:00.000-05:002005-11-21T20:51:26.913-05:00

One of those business fables made so popular by writers like Ken Blanchard, who wrote the forward for this third edition. This book was recommended by our VP of Insurance (recently made President of Personal Lines) who announced at a department heads meeting that he considered me a peacock. It is one of the highest compliments paid to me in my professional life. The author, BJ Gallagher Hateley,

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132617786539976832005-11-21T18:51:00.000-05:002005-11-21T19:03:09.276-05:00

I definitely want to be Jack Welch when I grow up. If I had any plans to grow up. I'm still considering my careers options - dancing pirate or possibly talk show host. Still, Jack has a way of cutting to the essential truths about running a business. Especially a large, complex, multi-national business. But large or small, there are some very basic truths about what it takes to successfully

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132600242320886932005-11-21T14:03:00.000-05:002005-11-21T14:22:57.956-05:00

This book was recommended by one of our regional vice presidents in SW Virginia. The book is excellent for giving a background and overview to the articles that are appearing every day from the Wall Street Journal to BusinessWeek. Globalization seems to have come out of nowhere with the rise of India and China seemingly an overnight phenomenon. Friedman gives a great deal of background on what

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19183402.post-1132599812942188492005-11-21T13:54:00.000-05:002005-11-21T20:50:56.283-05:00

Just finished Daniel H. Pink's A Whole New Mind. It was loaned to me by one of my colleagues in the Training Division whose son was assigned the book as part of a college course. The concepts are very interesting and the author makes an excellent case for an overall shift in business from an age of information to "the conceptual age." For those of us who inhabit the business world but see

Catherine S. Readhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14798830231494255263noreply@blogger.com0