Recommended Resources – The Pause Principle

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The Pause Principle: Step Back to Lead Forward

by Kevin Cashman

About this Book

The Pause Principle: Step Back to Lead Forward by Kevin Cashman reveals to readers the secret to dealing with their insatiable compulsion to do more and more within any given day. Kevin shows that instead of simply doing more, professionals must learn to stop, reflect, and move forward in a deliberately different manner in order to achieve more. He goes on to provide the insights and tools for pausing to accomplish more in several key areas including:

  • Personal leadership
  • Employee development
  • Innovative culture

Each section is concluded with a summary of the ‘Pause Practices’ needed to excel in that area as well as a ‘Pause Point’ containing provocative questions for visioning the future you are seeking to achieve.

Benefits of Reading and Using this Book

StrategyDriven Contributors agree that today’s fast paced world compels professionals to act with a speed that limits deliberate consideration. Such restrictions heighten the risk of error, poor decisions, and deteriorating health. With the never ending push to do more with less, this condition is not likely to change soon.

The Pause Principle fills a gap within today’s leadership training. Seldom are leaders taught the value of and methods to slow down. Kevin provides actionable methods for professionals to constructively pause; using this time for valuable contemplation, innovation, and planning so to truly achieve more with less rather than at the expense of ones personal life and health.

To some extent, all professionals are decision-makers and quality decisions require deliberate contemplation. The Pause Principle reminds us of the importance of pausing so to apply the knowledge and experiences necessary for good decision-making – decision-making that leads to innovation and growth.

For its sound, immediately implementable actions promoting excellence by slowing down, The Pause Principle is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Recommended Resources – The Complete Executive

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The Complete Executive: The 10-Step System for Great Leadership Performance

by Karen Wright

About the Book

The Complete Executive: The 10-Step System for Great Leadership Performance by Karen Wright provides actionable insights to developing the habits and practices necessary to succeed in high-level leadership positions. Karen organized her insights into ten topical collections covering:

  • Health and fitness
  • Life plan
  • Relationships
  • Being a leader
  • Business basics
  • Career plan
  • Network
  • Learning and growth
  • Fun and interests
  • Reflection

Taken together, these collections focus on helping senior leaders create for themselves a life that fully supports health, stamina, reputation, skills, and relationships.

The Complete Executive closes with a 100-point self-assessment that enables readers to discover the areas of development requiring the most attention.

Benefits of Reading and Using this Book

StrategyDriven Contributors like The Complete Executive because of its immediately actionable recommendations to building ‘the whole executive.’ Whereas most books focus on just one aspect of leadership or restrict themselves to ‘the office,’ Karen goes beyond the confines of corporate life to address the wellbeing of the whole person. She recognizes that success does not begin or end within the office but is rather a result of the whole of a person’s life.

We found The Complete Executive to be an easy read; each insight accompanied by real world observations that highlighted the importance of the practice without being overly prescriptive or drawn out. As such, we believe Karen’s book would make a great compliment to any leadership development program, particularly one in which a key leadership principle is focused on each week.

The Complete Executive echoes many of the principles espoused by StrategyDriven and the StrategyDriven Professional websites; making it a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Recommended Resources – The Oracle Speaks

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The Oracle Speaks: Warren Buffett In His Own Words

edited by David Andrews

About the Book

The Oracle Speaks: Warren Buffett In His Own Words edited by David Andrews reveals the life and business philosophies of one of the world’s most successful businessmen in a way no other book can… directly from the words of Warren Buffett himself. David’s book systematically covers a wide range of topics from ‘Investing’ to ‘Businesses’ and ‘Wealth and Taxes’ to ‘Life Lessons.’

Throughout The Oracle Speaks, several predominate themes are revealed:

  • Value people more than things
  • Stay with what you know and can understand
  • Focus on the big picture, the long-term rather than the immediate gratification of the here and now

Benefits of Reading the Book

StrategyDriven Contributors like The Oracle Speaks because it reveals the intimate thoughts and beliefs of a man who through his own intellect and hard work created one of the world’s most successful businesses. Readers will note that Warren Buffett’s assertions are commonly made from an investor’s frame of reference and do require some ‘translation’ to other situational applications. While we recognize that some may disagree with Warren Buffett’s approach to certain circumstances – and on occasion we do too – all can agree that he, more than many others, has had a profound impact on many of the largest, most revered companies.

StrategyDriven Contributors appreciated the layout of The Oracle Speaks, the organization of quotes around meaningful topic areas, the dating of each quote, and Warren Buffett’s life story timeline provided at the end of the book. We found that knowing the setting and circumstances of the Warren Buffet quotes provided insightful context from which to interpret them. As such, we recommend first-time readers review the ‘Milestones’ timeline presented at the end of the book first and refer to it often when reading individual quotes.

For it’s intimate portrayal of an American entrepreneurial icon, The Oracle Speaks is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

StrategyDriven Professional Podcast Episode 1 – Standing Out Among Professional Peers, part 1 of 3

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StrategyDriven Professional PodcastStrategyDriven Professional Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques business professionals can use to accelerate their careers and personal goals achievement. These podcasts elaborate on the principle, best practice, and warning flag articles found on the StrategyDriven Professional website.

Episode 1 – Standing Out Among Professional Peers, part 1 of 3 focuses on the need to stand out among professional peers and challengers both within your organization and when applying for external positions. During our discussion, Wendy Powell, author of Management Experience Acquired: Necessary Skills for Successfully Managing Any Employee, shares with us her insights and illustrative examples regarding:

  • the differentiation promoting and hiring executives and managers are looking for in potential candidates
  • how to communicate a desire to be considered for an open position to the hiring manager
  • when to communicate to one’s superior that you are seeking another position outside of the superior’s workgroup and within the organization
  • methods of effectively engaging with other professionals, including recruiters, through social media

Additional Information

In addition to the incredible insights Wendy shares in Management Experience Acquired and this podcast are the resources accessible from her website, www.ManagementExperienceAcquired.com.   Wendy’s book, Management Experience Acquired, can be purchased by clicking here.

About the Author

Wendy Powell is the author of Management Experience Acquired. With more than twenty-five years of human resource and management consulting experience, Wendy has spent most of her career at the University of Michigan. She is currently on the business faculty at both Palm Beach State College and the University of Phoenix. A member of the Society of Human Resource Management, she received a leadership award in 2002 from the Midwest College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. She is routinely featured on The Huffington Post and has appeared on Fox Business’s The Strategy Room. Wendy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business management and a Master of Arts degree in organizational management.

Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal, and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

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A dozen books to own and read – at least once.

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When Jim Rohn said, “All the information you need to succeed already exists, the problem is you haven’t exposed yourself to it,” it was one of the most challenging and eye-opening statements I had ever heard. I immediately made a lifelong goal to read a thousand books.

I have not reached that goal yet, but I’m eating away at it. I love the hardbound vintage book, but I’m finding that reading on my iPad’s Kindle app provides the perfect strategy to increase my desire to read in spare moments.

Here’s my list of must read books:

1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is at the top of everyone’s list. Written 70 years ago, it’s still the benchmark book for attitude, goal setting, and achievement. Get an original copy (pre 1960), not one of the altered, newly minted, “after the copyright expired” versions. NOTE: Not on this list, but equally important, is the best sales book of all time: How to Sell Your Way Through Life. Written just two years later, this book is an unknown gem. It’s hard to find and a little pricey, but look for it on abebooks.com, bookfinder.com, or ebay.

2. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. The all-time, gem of gems for engaging with self-confidence and connecting with sincerity that contains timeless rules of success. Your Carnegie library is only one third completeuntil you own and read How to Stop Worrying and Start Living and Effective Public Speaking, two books with timeless information on stress relief, positive attitude, speaking skills, and success strategies.

3. He Can Who Thinks He Can by Orison Swett Marden. One of the original ‘self-thought’ and self-help books containing thought gems such as, “Every child should be taught to expect success” and “The world makes way for the man with an idea.” If you want a list of great Marden quotes from this book, underlined by John Patterson, the founder of NCR and the father of American salesmanship, go to www.gitomer.com and enter MARDEN in the GitBit box.

4. Swim with the Sharks by Harvey Mackay. A benchmark and game-changing book for me and millions ofother people in business. It’s full of applicable ideas to make you think and strategies to implement immediately.

5. Small is the New BIG by Seth Godin. One of many Godin books that should be in your library. Not just for the information – he’s much more than that. I don’t just marvel at what Seth writes, I marvel at how he thinks.

6. Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko. Short lessons, tools, and exercises you can easily understand and apply immediately. It recharged my brain, and opened my eyes to a new way to see creativity – by example.

7. What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis. A compelling work that centers around Google as it relates to other businesses. Jarvis compares what Google would do to diverse industries such as hotels, restaurants, schools, and the media. Amazingly insightful and thought provoking – especially if you relate it to your business (as I did).

8. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers tells stories of how, why, and when people became successful entrepreneurs, and how standards were set in the 19th century that are still in place today. But it’s his concept of ‘10,000 hours’ that makes this book an absolute insightful treasure.

9. Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson. Jobs had vision, foresight, character, uncompromising ideals, and shrewdness. He was inspirational to all who came within his domain. This is a great story and important to read in order to understand where we are today. I have written about Steve Jobs’ impact on my life. If you’d like to read it, go to www.gitomer.com and enter JOBS in the GitBit box.

10. The Pursuit of Prime by Ichak Adizes, Ph.D. This book addresses the stages every growing business goes through, and what to expect and do in each stage. Compelling because it’s both a game plan for what to do, and a pie in the face for what you haven’t done.

11. Social Boom by Jeffrey Gitomer (hey, that’s me!) and several other social media experts. Business Social Media is not an option, and this book is the ultimate “how to” and “why.” Yes, I have ten other books I hope you buy, read, and implement the lessons from, but Social Boom is my best book for this moment.

12. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. A book that has been canonized by every cross section of the political and business landscape EXCEPT the politician trying to grow government and give handouts. It’s an amazing, compelling read, and has a happy ending for entrepreneurs. May be my favorite of all time. When you’re finished reading this epic novel, I dare you not to starts on Rand’s The Fountainhead.

12.5 There are other imperative non-books. CDs, essays, quote books, and kids books that I also highly recommend. They are, in no particular order, The Art of Exceptional Living (CDs) by Jim Rohn, Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell, A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard, Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, and The Strangest Secret (CD) by Earl Nightingale. You can find all of these gems at www.executivebooks.com.

NOTE WELL: This is not THE definitive book list – it’s MY definitive book list. These are books I have read, been inspired by, implemented, and banked. I have a longer list on my website – click on ‘Recommended Reading’ under ‘Sales Help.’

Invest your time reading. It will pay lifelong dividends.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].