Great Book for Business "Traction" by Gino Wickman

Traction, a book that has been recommended by two of my mentors, is a great read. I don't give many books, 5 stars, but Traction definitely deserves this. What I thought would be dry, was actually quite informative and an easy read.

I was inspired and motivated by Traction so much that I will be reading it again and again. I plan to use this book as a handbook for my business. In fact, my leadership team is in the process of reading it right now.

Traction spells out the six key components of business, and goes through each one in detail. Beginning with Vision, Traction helps you understand how to successfully plan, operate, hire, solve issues, market. manage personalities and so much more. Everything you need to know and more about business. I only wish I would have read this years ago. It helps you understand how important systems are, and once the systems are in place how easy it is to replicate or get traction in your business. I think the key to the entire book is simplicity, and maybe that is why it resonated with me.

Finally, one more benefit of Traction is the diagrams and on-line resources that it provides to its readers. It's easy to understand by the clear definitions, the stories and the illustrations. If you are an entrepreneur, or business leader and you want to achieve success in your business, read Traction, and watch your business come alive!

The School of Greatness Book Review

I typically do not read books twice, however, The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes is one of those books that I will read again. It's an inspirational book, that will has helped me on a personal level, achieving greatness.

Howes was a talented athlete and professional football player who suffered a career ending injury early on in life. He felt his life was over at the time. Well, as a football player it was. Howes, however did achieve greatness. He did this through finding mentors, and learning and applying what he learned to his life, overcoming obstacles and building a successful life as an author, coach, speaker and even podcast host. (I love his podcasts too!)

In his book he shares what he learned throughout his life. He gives the reader exercises to do to achieve greatness, and real life stories accompany every chapter as well. My favorite is the story of his brother whom was sent to prison early on for selling drugs, after completing his six year sentence, became a world renowned professional violinist.

Truly a book worth reading, and then reading again. Have a notebook handy to take notes, and do the exercises that Howes gives you.  I love his podcasts as well. If you are looking for some inspiration and guidance, check out The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

In the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo really helps the readers to simplify their lives. Starting at home by decluttering, you learn simple steps that will help you become less stressed at home and at work. You realize what actually brings joy to you, and what doesn't. By getting rid of what doesn't bring joy, you make your life less complicated.

One really important thing I learned was that when most people clean, the clutter always seems to come back, right? The book points out that this is because we don't throw things out, basically, we are just moving items around. The first step in the process is actually discarding items that you have,that do not bring joy to you. You need to rid them from your home. This is really an important step. You want to surround yourself with possessions that bring joy to you.

The book also goes through the steps of what possessions in your home you need to start with to get the ball rolling. Clothing is the first item on the list. One of the major pitfalls is that people start with rooms in the home. Always think in terms of category, not place.You learn systems in all categories that will help you keep the clutter away forever.

The author, Kondo, is a cleaning consultant with years of experience in decluttering the lives of so many. If you want to learn how to simplify your life, relieve stress, clear your mind and even in some cases loose weight, this book is for you. The book is a New York Times Best Seller, well worth your time. An easy reading book, that will bring pleasure to your life.

Strength Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath

Strength Finder, by Tom Rath. An excellent book to help you understand your natural strengths, and how to use your strengths in your every day life.

Did you know that people who have the opportunity to focus on their strengths at work are six times more likely to engage in their work, and more than three times more likely to report having an excellent life? Being a business owner, this one statement really caught my attention, as I recently read the book, Strength Finder 2.0.

Here are some signs that you might not be in your “strength zone” at work.

You dread going to work each day.

You are a "Negative Nelly" with your co-workers.

You treat customers poorly.

You achieve less on a daily basis.

You are in poor health.

If any of these ring a bell with you, it might be time for a change. Most people are unaware of their strengths, or they can’t describe their strengths, so they obtain jobs or take on responsibilities that are not within their natural strengths or talents they do have.  The Strength Finder 2.0 helps you to figure out what your strengths are, and how to use them to benefit yourself.

A lot of us find ourselves not happy with our jobs or what we do for a living, only because it is not one of our main strengths that we are born with. A lot of times, we are forced to follow the path of most resistance? And in doing this, we are not always happy either.

From little on, we are forced or pushed to learn something, that we have the least amount of strength in. For example, math. It certainly was never my strong point, however throughout school I was pushed to attain good grades and work hard at something that was never a strong point, numbers. Being a parent I can attest to this next statistic, 77% of parents surveyed think that a students lowest grade deserves the most time and attention.

Here’s a story, right from the book, that will show you what can happen when people focus on their natural talents. The story takes place in Mexico. Hector had always been a great shoe maker, one of the best in the world. In fact, he had customers from all over the world. Yet, he was frustrated at his small shoe making business. Hector was capable of making 100’s of shoes a week, but he was just averaging 30 pairs. When his friend asked him why, he admitted it himself, he was a poor salesperson, and he was even worse when it came to collecting payments, and this is where he spent most of his time, on his weaknesses. So Hector’s friend introduced him to an individual, who was awesome at closing deals, Sergio. They actually complimented each other. Years later, after going into business with each other, they were producing 100 pairs of shoes a week successfully.

A lot of information in the book is based on studies, and interviews by a group of scientists called the Gallup group. Throughout  the entire process, 34 themes were developed to help with the classification of talents. The ultimate goal is to build true strength, and that is something in our business that I would like to be able to build. A formula was actually derived from the book too; Talent x Investment = Strength. Your talent is a natural way of thinking, feeling and behaving. If you take your talent and multiply it by the time spent developing your skills, your knowledge, you get your Strength, your ability to consistently provide near perfect performance.

One of my five themes that I was accessed was Activator. According to this theme, action is the best device for learning. I make a decision, take action, look at the result, and learn from what happened. I believe that I will not be judged by what I say, or what I think, but what I get done. This is so true. I was always a doer. And having this natural talent helps my in my business today. I believe that I effectively run meetings. I can take a great idea, turn it into a plan, and get the momentum moving. Being an Activtor, I do, then I learn from my mistakes. This is my process, and if I am not active, I can’t learn.

My question to you is what’s your strength? Ae you using your strengths in your job today? If you’re not sure and find yourself a little curious about your strengths, or your natural talents. I would highly advise you to read Strength Finder 2.0, and take the accessment online to see what your strengths are, and what actions you need to be taking in your job or career today.