For centuries, books have been written in an attempt to share knowledge, inspiration, and discoveries. Sometimes those books make such an impact that they change the way the world thinks about things. The following books have done just that by providing readers an education in politics and government, literature, society, academic subjects such as science and math, and religion.

1. The Republic by Plato.
2. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
3. The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.
4. Common Sense by Thomas Paine.
5. Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville.
6. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.
7. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe.
8. On Liberty by John Stewart Mill.
9. Das Kapital by Karl Marx.
10. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.
11. Guerilla Warfare by Che Guevara.
12. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
13. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by DH Lawrence.
14. Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.
15. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
16. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
17. Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
18. 1984 by George Orwell.
19. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
20. Iliad and Odyssey by Homer.
21. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
22. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
23. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.
24. The Arabian Nights Entertainment by Andrew Lang.
25. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
26. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupry.
27. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
28. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.
29. Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi.
30. The Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft.
31. The Second xxx by Simone de Beauvoir.
32. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf.
33. Walden by Henry David Thoreau.
34. A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson.
35. Philosophae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton.
36. The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud.
37. On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.
38. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.
39. Geographia by Ptolemy.
40. The Meaning of Relativity by Albert Einstein.
41. The Bible.
42. The Qur’an.
43. The Torah.
44. The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
45. The Analects of Confucius.
46. The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas.
47. The Bhagavad Gita.
48. I Ching.
49. Tao Te Ching.
BONUS:
50. Bartleby by Hermann Melville.

How many have you read?

Full Spectrum Leadership

Full Spectrum Leadership

Posted for Monday May 13th 2013 by Guest Contributor Kevin Daum

Everyone has insecurities when doing something new. Here are three ways to build strength and be self-confident.

New challenges and opportunities can be exciting, but they can also test your self-esteem. Whether you are launching a new business, stepping into a bigger management role or even representing a new product, you likely lack the day-in-day-out experience that makes you knowledgeable and relaxed for that first big meeting or presentation.

A little nervous energy can make your delivery dynamic and productive. Too much and you will come off insecure, unsure, and amateurish. That’s not a particularly good image to convey when trying to impress an audience or close a big deal. Some can fake it ’til they make it, but most people need to feel confident to convey confidence in a high-pressure situation.

You can find your confidence even in scenarios where you have little or no experience. Here are three techniques I combine to be confident in new situations.

1. Identify Three Points of Credibility

Confidence comes when you can comfortably be authoritative. If you lack credibility in your own mind, you’ll convey weakness to others. People are desperately looking for experts and leaders, but are naturally skeptical in today’s over-marketed world. It takes more than one or two references these days to assure a cynical buyer. Think of it this way: First time’s a fluke, second time’s a coincidence and third time’s a trend. Find three known people or entities to support your expertise or point of view before you present and you’ll feel like there is an entire army behind you. As an example, my three credibility points include being a For Dummies author, building an Inc. 500 company, and having authored four Amazon No. 1 best-selling books.

2.  Document Your Expertise

Chances are you didn’t get this opportunity by accident. Everything you have done to this point has led to this moment. Now you need to share what’s in your brain in a methodical and organized manner. So write it down. Make a list of the 10 insights you have about this situation. Just the act of organizing your thoughts into simple bullet points in a document will remind you of why you are the right person to make this happen. If you come up short on credible statements, take it as a signal to bone up and do a little more research. Your ability to quickly gain expertise in your new scenario will give you as much confidence as having all that information in your brain in the first place.

3. Rehearse the Role Required

Professionals make communication and presentation look easy. That’s because there is a lot of rigorous rehearsal behind that performance. If the documentation is solid and well constructed (See No. 2) you can trust the material, and focus on how you present yourself and the information. Don’t just leave your delivery to chance or improvisation. Take the time to think through your delivery and practice it several times out loud. Race car drivers mentally drive the track hundreds of times before actually racing live on the course. This allows them to deal with the unexpected without losing control or their confidence. If you are not well rehearsed, you’ll be grasping for ideas. Better that everything important is natural and automatic so you can concentrate on your body language, and most importantly, the people in the room listening to your communication.

A little preparation can go a long way to make you feel secure even in the unknown. Build on the strengths you have so people can see you address the unfamiliar with positive energy and inner confidence.

An Inc. 500 entrepreneur with a more than $1 billion sales and marketing track record, Kevin Daum is the best-selling author of Video Marketing for Dummies. @awesomeroar

Full Spectrum Leadership

Full Spectrum Leadership

Posted for Thursday 2nd May 2013 by Guest Contributor Ed Powers
 

We all dread the over-aggressive networker, but being a wallflower is no fun either. What style of networking will work for you.

When it’s time to raise money for your business, you want to meet enough investors so that you have a choice and some negotiating power.  That means networking.

Networking styles tend to run along a spectrum with two extremes, neither of which works. At one end stands the networker. We all know this person. They’re always reaching out and feel too slick. At the other end are those who count themselves above networking, and who disdain the idea of asking someone to buy their product or invest in their company.

Obviously, you need to be somewhere in the middle. But where? Here are seven ways to find your natural–and effective–place on the networking style continuum.

Authenticity The best networkers start by just being themselves. Most of humanity has a built-in meter that detects when someone is putting on an act. We’re hardwired to be skeptical of others when they sell or push too hard, or when they try to be something they aren’t. Start with who you are, and don’t try to mimic anyone else.

Mechanics I once had a boss who asked me if I sought money, recognition or power. I told him I liked mechanics. I liked to figure things out and get good at them. When you talk about your business, you will convince some investors with your passion, but you will convince more of them with your expertise in your business. When you network, know what you are good at, and don’t be shy about moving conversations to your business expertise.

Practice Most things go better with practice. Telling your story is no different. Talk it out. See if you can break it down into conversational bits. Think about what you would tell someone first about your business. Imagine the questions that might trigger. Then, think about the next attribute of your business and how you’d explain it. The more you describe your business, the better you’ll get at it.

Schedule Networking is like exercise–you might get to it every once in a while by chance, but you will be healthier if you schedule it.  Once you define your expertise and have a little internal practice, target time and events where you can network with people you would like to meet. Yes, you are busy and other things seem more immediate. But putting events on your calendar that force you to get out pays off in the long run.

Communicate You’ve got to tell people what you are doing before they can help you. And networking doesn’t have to be in a formal setting or at a networking event. Don’t be afraid to tell people–just regular people you happen to know–about your business and what you do, so they can find a match or natural hook in your story. Without being overbearing, talk to folks who aren’t your perfect targets, but who might know an investor who would be. These individuals often know someone who might be a better match than those you have identified.

Find Your Comfort Zone A natural conversation with someone you’ve just met doesn’t usually doesn’t start with you spewing out all the details about your business. Without being artificial, find your comfort zone for small-talk topics that you enjoy. The weather works remarkably well, but there are many other topics that are more interesting and help sustain a conversation before you move onto business.

Meet New People The easiest thing to do when you come to a big event is to find people you already know and talk to them. It’s just easier and feels less socially awkward. But you aren’t there to talk to people you’ve already met. Force yourself to talk to those you don’t know. An easy starting point is look for someone else who’s alone and introduce yourself. They usually do know someone else there, and when their connections walk up to talk with them (and now you) your network grows.

Most of these points are about assiduously ensuring you connect with people you don’t know well to see if they could be of value to you and your business.  We all squirm when that first type of networker hits us up too quickly or too hard in the hopes of getting something from us. On the other hand, individuals who use their networks and resources to help others feel very different. Whether we admit it or not, we feel a debt to them for their help.

Based in New York, Ed Powers is a managing director and head of the Capital Access Funds team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Capital Access Funds is an experienced, returns-driven private equity fund-of-funds.

Full Spectrum Leadership

Be Great Anyway!

Full Spectrum Leadership

Posted for Monday 29th April 2013 by Guest Contributor  Jeff Haden

It’s for your own good. Cut these things out of your day and you’ll see gains in productivity–not to mention happiness.

If you get decent value from making to-do lists, you’ll get huge returns–in productivity, in improved relationships, and in your personal well-being–from adding these items to your not to-do list:

Every day, make the commitment not to:

1. Check my phone while I’m talking to someone.

You’ve done it. You’ve played the, “Is that your phone? Oh, it must be mine,” game. You’ve tried the you-think-sly-but-actually-really-obvious downwards glance. You’ve done the, “Wait, let me answer this text…” thing.

Maybe you didn’t even say, “Wait.” You just stopped talking, stopped paying attention, and did it.

Want to stand out? Want to be that person everyone loves because they make you feel, when they’re talking to you, like you’re the most important person in the world?

Stop checking your phone. It doesn’t notice when you aren’t paying attention.

Other people? They notice.

And they care.

2. Multitask during a meeting.

The easiest way to be the smartest person in the room is to be the person who pays the most attention to the room.

You’ll be amazed by what you can learn, both about the topic of the meeting and about the people in the meeting if you stop multitasking and start paying close attention. You’ll flush out and understand hidden agendas, you’ll spot opportunities to build bridges, and you’ll find ways to make yourself indispensable to the people who matter.

It’s easy, because you’ll be the only one trying.

And you’ll be the only one succeeding on multiple levels.

3. Think about people who don’t make any difference in my life.

Trust me: The inhabitants of planet Kardashian are okay without you.

But your family, your friends, your employees–all the people that really matter to you–are not. Give them your time and attention.

They’re the ones who deserve it.

4. Use multiple notifications.

You don’t need to know the instant you get an email. Or a text. Or a tweet. Or anything else that pops up on your phone or computer.

If something is important enough for you to do, it’s important enough for you to do without interruptions. Focus totally on what you’re doing. Then, on a schedule you set–instead of a schedule you let everyone else set–play prairie dog and pop your head up to see what’s happening.

And then get right back to work. Focusing on what you are doing is a lot more important than focusing on other people might be doing.

They can wait. You, and what is truly important to you, cannot.

5. Let the past dictate the future.

Mistakes are valuable. Learn from them.

Then let them go.

Easier said than done? It all depends on your perspective. When something goes wrong, turn it into an opportunity to learn something you didn’t know–especially about yourself.

When something goes wrong for someone else, turn it into an opportunity to be gracious, forgiving, and understanding.

The past is just training. The past should definitely inform but in no way define you–unless you let it.

6. Wait until I’m sure I will succeed.

You can never feel sure you will succeed at something new, but you can always feel sure you are committed to giving something your best.

And you can always feel sure you will try again if you fail.

Stop waiting. You have a lot less to lose than you think, and everything to gain.

7. Talk behind someone’s back.

If only because being the focus of gossip sucks. (And so do the people who gossip.)

If you’ve talked to more than one person about something Joe is doing, wouldn’t everyone be better off if you stepped up and actually talked to Joe about it? And if it’s “not your place” to talk to Joe, it’s probably not your place to talk about Joe.

Spend your time on productive conversations. You’ll get a lot more done–and you’ll gain a lot more respect.

8. Say “yes” when I really mean “no.”

Refusing a request from colleagues, customers, or even friends is really hard. But rarely does saying no go as badly as you expect. Most people will understand, and if they don’t, should you care too much about what they think?

When you say no, at least you’ll only feel bad for a few moments. When you say yes to something you really don’t want to do you might feel bad for a long time–or at least as long as it takes you to do what you didn’t want to do in the first place.

Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about business and technology as he worked his way up in the manufacturing industry. Everything else he picks up from ghostwriting books for some of the smartest leaders he knows in business. @jeff_haden

Full Spectrum Leadership

Posted for Saturday 27th April 2013 by Peter Comrie.

Happy weekend everyone.

I just wanted to follow-up with you regarding last week’s CashMob for Ellen Melcosky, aka, “Little Miss Chief”.

The local press has been abuzz since the event, with oodles of accolades for everyone involved in making the Okanagan Valley’s very first CashMob the success it was.

I’ve been interviewed a number of times, and had tons of calls asking for more details about how we did it. In response, our good friends at Cash Mob Cville have let us borrow their Guiding Principles to help us with future events. Here they are:

Maybe you’re thinking: “Rules, schmules… let’s just do this thing.”

Well, we’ve adopted some guiding principles that we feel will help guide us in the right direction.  Because we plan to keep the mob target a secret until the very last minute, we thought you’d like to know how we select a business to mob, and how we’ll run the events.  We’re open to hearing suggestions, and because we know the password to edit this blog, it’s not very hard to change and adapt.  Here, for your reviewing pleasure, are our GP’s:

Any business nominated will be considered for any mob event — we don’t wipe the slate clean and start all over with each event.

We won’t hold votes to determine a target business – we’ll be looking for compelling stories, and businesses that:

• Are locally owned
• Give permission for the mob to happen at their business.  (we contact them at least a week in advance to explain what will happen, ask how we can help manage, and swear them to secrecy!)
• Have products for men & women, and a good selection of items under $20
• Public transportation and/or decent parking is nearby
• Are located within a block or two of a locally-owned ‘watering hole’ for the afterparty  (we did mention this is going to be fun, right?)

The mob date will be announced at least a week in advance via linkedin, facebook, twitter, and this site.

The meet-up location will be announced, but NOT the specific business.  We’ll gather at the meeting site, have a few welcoming words, and proceed toward the targeted business.  When we arrive TOGETHER at the business – we’ll give the signal, and the mob is ON!

We ask mobbers to spend $20 at the business, although spending more is certainly alright.  (No brainer, right?)

At the mob, there are three rules:

1. Spend $20;
2. Meet three people you didn’t know before;
3. HAVE FUN!!!

There you have it.

Oh, and you are more than welcome to borrow these Guiding Principles if you are considering a CashMob in your own area. Copy cats are a good thing here.

I appreciate you.

~peter~

Full Spectrum Leadership

Posted for Friday 26th April 2013 by Peter Comrie

Good day there, and welcome to the end of the typical week. As is our practice, we aim to conclude the week with a short video offering, and today’s is especially inspiring.

Love is a funny thing. As the saying goes, we often find love when we least expect, but it might be equally true that when we do find love it’s different than we expected.

This beautiful short film was created to raise awareness and money for a good cause, which it did. But it has gone so much further in showing us what love looks like, and how we can connect with each other when we have the courage to break down our own walls and become vulnerable.

My invite to you this weekend is this: Who needs to get a note from you? Now, what are you going to do about it.

Enjoy: Love Language

Have a wonder-full weekend.

See you on Monday.

I appreciate you.

~peter~

Full Spectrum Leadership

Posted for Thursday 25th April by Guest Contributor Minda Zetlin

Every successful business is built on relationships. That old cliché, ”It’s not what you know, it’s whom you know”–is perfectly true.

Just ask Josh Hartwell, who started Mobile Deluxe in 2003 and built it into a force in the mobile gaming world. The company’s flagship game, Solitaire Deluxe, has been downloaded more than six million times, and counting.

How did Hartwell launch a successful mobile gaming company–with no outside funding–five years before Apple opened the App Store? Before he launched, he used his connections to get a commitment from the then-largest game publisher.

He made those connections by becoming a master relationship builder. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Never miss a chance to widen your circles.

“When you’re starting out, the best approach is to do a great job, but don’t limit your interests to what you’re doing,” Hartwell advises. “Every relationship should help form concentric circles around you and further help you expand beyond your comfort zone.”

If you’re working in a company, that means going beyond your particular department or expertise to meet people in other areas and with other types of jobs, and find out what they do and what’s important to them. Make sure to attend industry events, workshops, and luncheons whenever you can, and introduce yourself to strangers. “Push yourself beyond the people on your immediate left and right,” Hartwell says.

2. Treat every relationship like it matters–because it does.

That means not only customers and bosses but also the people who work for you and the people who are trying to sell you something or are asking for your help. “People who are your peers or may be reporting to you today will rise through the ranks and may become decision makers at other companies,” Hartwell notes.

Besides, to be a master relationship builder, it’s important to give as well as get. “You can’t look for reciprocity in every relationship,” he says. “Sometimes when you reach out, you’re not going to get a reply.” It’s important not to take that personally and just as important to make relationships more reciprocal when someone reaches out to you.

3. Build relationships with as many different types of people as you can.

Learn this skill as fast and as early in your career as possible, Hartwell says. “In games, system developers are different from programmers, who are different from artists, who are different from marketing people, and within those groups people are very different. Make it a practice early on not to just focus on the people with whom you’re comfortable. Find out about other types of people and how to have relationships with them.”

This skill will enable you to deal effectively with companies that have many different types of people in them, he says. It will also help you create a stronger, more diverse company of your own.

4. Be persistent–but not too persistent.

“Relationship gauging” is Hartwell’s term for finding that delicate balance between being effectively persistent and obnoxiously pushy. The best way to tell if you’ve gone too far is by watching someone’s body language when you meet in person. Early on, he says, some people he had contacted too often made it clear from their reactions on first meeting him that they were already displeased. “That helps you figure out where the line is,” he says now.

On the other hand, it’s important to follow up a first contact attempt. “You’re not being persistent enough if you get no reply and don’t follow up,” he says. “Don’t ever assume one message to a person is enough, and there are not many cases where two is too many.” Past that, it depends on the person and on how long you wait between follow-ups, he says.

Another approach he recommends is to use social media, for instance by sending a connection request on LinkedIn or liking something on Facebook, or following the person on Twitter. “You can also comment on people’s posts and get some attention that way,” he says. “You don’t want to overdo that, either. But you do have many alternatives besides sending email after email.”

Minda Zetlin is a business technology writer and speaker, co-author of “The Geek Gap,” and president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. @MindaZetlin

Full Spectrum Leadership