Business Book Reviews

Emotional intelligence is more than simply focusing on your own emotions. It is how you interpret the emotions of those around you, how you read the room and identify the type of audience that you’re talking with so that you can address them accordingly.

“The Non-Obvious Guide to Emotional Intelligence” by Kerry Goyette is a very interesting read in a format that’s easy to consume and digest.

The book’s short chapters are easy to skim so you can find relevant topics that are of interest to you and your business.

I particularly enjoyed the section about how the brain works and what it actually means to have emotional intelligence.

The book focuses on how to overcome the current business environment in which we find ourselves: surrounded by things that are volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. It’s important that with our customers we tailor our interactions with them so that we can best meet their needs.

This book has some very actionable examples presented via case studies that the author has done with clients. In each of these, you can find some principles of wisdom to apply in your business and with your employees or customers.

If you need help improving your decision-making ability, learning how to be more effective at emotional intelligence will really help.

This book also helps you uncover if you are stuck in a rut with your automatic decision making. You’ll learn how to trace problems back to their root causes so that you can solve them more easily.

There’s an interesting section in this book about how we motivate our employees and our customers. The old carrot versus stick analogy is broken down and you’ll see why motivation doesn’t quite work the way we think it does. See how to get to the inherent intrinsic motivation that your employees have to motivate them to do the job that you would like them to do.

At the end of the book, read about common motivation and personality types you’ll find in your customers and employees. With these insights, you can start to look at people and realize what’s actually motivating them. Thus you can customize your conversations with them and adjust how you serve them to get the best possible outcome.

Emotional intelligence is really about finding a way to better understand the situation that you find yourself in and make better decisions through that.

At the end of each chapter, there are self-reflective questions that help you apply the principles covered therein.

I recommend you check out “The Non-Obvious Guide to Emotional Intelligence” by Kerry Goyette

You’ll find some nuggets in there that will help you in your business ventures.

You can pick up a copy of this book on Amazon, here’s a link.

What does emotional intelligence mean to you? Have you had any success adapting how you respond to situations by seeking out emotional intelligence yourself?

How often do you feel like you’ve got too many things going on? Too many conflicting priorities and work to do?

Probably all the time.

What’s the solution?

“Do less but better.”

That simple yet powerful statement is the theme of Greg Mckeown’s book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

In doing less, you can do what you focus on even better than before!

Mckeown’s book walks through actionable steps you can take to successfully pursue less of everything in your life.

Why would you want to do less? You’ll have a richer and fuller life experience when you focus on the handful of things that truly matter the most. When you live in the moment instead of always worrying about the past or tomorrow, you can actually find joy in the journey of the present.

My first reaction to “do less but better” was doubt. How can I cut back on responsibilities or work when so much seems to depend on me?

The beauty of Essentialism is that Mckeown systematically guides you on how to identify what is important and how to reduce or eliminate less important things from your life.

Too often we are stuck with legacy baggage of projects or responsibilities that we continue to work on just because we’ve “always” had them.

The reality is that we can look at each task, project, work, or responsibility and ask “If I didn’t have this opportunity, what would I be willing to do to acquire it?”

Essentialism offers several thought provoking questions to help you evaluate the different aspects of your life.

Just because you’ve always done something (or have done it for a long time) doesn’t mean you have to continue down that road.

I really enjoyed the simplicity of the message in this book combined with specific tactics I can use to “do less but better.”

You’ll find actionable advice in this book to improve your personal and business life. Even at the business level, if you apply essentialist principles, you can be a more effective organization.

Get your copy of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less today

You may know Napoleon Hill from his book Think and Grow Rich. That timeless classic teaches how to use your mind to get the results you want.

Many people don’t know that Napoleon Hill wrote another book that wasn’t released until well after his death.

Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success is Hill’s work that came out of the vault just a few years ago. Building on the success of his best known work, Hill tackles essential skills, mindsets, and habits that you need to be successful in life.

The first part of this book is mostly autobiographical and tells the inspirational story of Hill’s rise to good fortunes after pulling himself out of very difficult times. Along this journey, he reveals the specific strategies he took that helped him be successful.

The last two thirds of the book contains the manuscript of an interview Hill conducts with the Devil. Yes, that Devil. Due to Hill’s ability to think for himself and be master of his own domain, the Devil grants him an unlimited “ask me anything” style discussion.

As the reader, you get to listen and learn what makes the Devil tick. Why is this important? Because he wants you to fail. He wants you to be miserable. By knowing his tactics and subtle tricks, you can strengthen yourself and reach your own potential.

Hill is ahead of his time as he calls out societal patterns and social norms that, at the time, seemed benign and commonplace but are actually hugely detrimental to an individual’s ability to succeed in life.

He does make potentially controversial stands on several topics (I’ll let you read to see what those are) but all wrapped in the framework of how can we best control our own thoughts and actions to get the results we want and deserve in life.

Hill sums it up best:

“Fear is the tool of the man-made devil. Self-confident faith in one’s self is both the man-made weapon which defeats the devil and the man-made tool which builds a triumphant life. And it is more than that. It is the link to the irresistible forces of the universe which stands behind a man who does not believe in failure and defeat as being anything but temporary experiences.”

If you are having doubts about how to reach your goals in business and life, this book is for you.

If you want a great example of how your thoughts and decisions can pull you out of failure and give you the success you deserve, this book is for you.

I found Outwitting the Devil a truly inspirational read. But instead of just inspiring you, it includes golden nuggets of mindsets and patterns you can follow to reach the success you want.

You can get a copy of the book here.

Steven Pressfield is a successful writer who shares his deep insights into being a successful creative in The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.

If you create anything at all, this book is for you. If you are a writer, artist, entrepreneur, business owner, or hobbyist, this book is for you.

Pressfield’s book reads more like a serious of short essays that are easy to digest.

The premise of the book is outlining and defining “the Resistance” which is force against which every person who tries to created something will and does struggle.

The book chronicles the numerous forms and methods which the Resistance uses to prevent us from creating and doing what needs to be done.

You’ve likely seen the Resistance as you’ve tried to make progress on your projects and work.

Pressfield details the various facets of the Resistance so you can clearly see how it works and how it manifests itself in your daily life.

With a clear understanding of the Resistance and how it is slowing you down and holding you back, you’ll be able to see it for what it is.

This clarity will strengthen you to power through the Resistance to create amazing works, art, books – anything.

This book is more motivational and empowering than step by step tutorial. As I read this book, I was able to see how I was falling victim to the Resistance and what I could do to reverse that trend.

My Recommendation

I enjoyed this book and found it very insightful to the inner struggles I’ve faced on my projects.

After finishing the book, I had a very productive work day and found myself cheering victory over the Resistance. When I find myself caught in the Resistance’s grasp in the future, I will likely revisit this book to recharge me in my creative efforts.

You should read Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.

You’ve probably heard about Pareto’s famous 80/20 principle.

The truth is that those magic numbers can help predict great opportunity and success for your business. You just need to apply them to your customers, products, and company.

The question for me was always around how to do that. Fortunately, Perry Marshall’s book 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More helps bridge the gap between theories and how you can take action with it in your business.

Why Perry Marshall?

I’ve followed the work of Perry Marshall for many years since I discovered his Ultimate Guide to Adwords book that helped launch me into that world of online advertising.

Perry knows his stuff and has honed his message through many years of experience and helping his clients in their respective businesses.

Why this Book?

This book will give you the tools to transform you business for the better. Period.

That is, of course, if you take action on the principles that it outlines.

Read this book to learn:

• how to identify your most profitable customers
• how much your top customers will spend with you
• where in your business you should focus
• how to identify which customers you should spend your most time with

Key Concepts

My favorite concept from the book was how to predict how many customers will spend more money with you.

For example, if you sell a product to 100 people, 20 of those people will spend 4 times as much on another product. The top 4% of customers will spend 16 times that original amount with you.

Wow!

Think of the potential for your business when you start to offer multiple products at increasing price points.

Of course, you need to add a matching amount of value for these higher paying customers. But the secret is that they are there. You just need to find a solution to their problems.

My Recommendation: Buy this Book

Perry Marshall’s 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More is worth your time to read and then implement what you learn.

Identify the opportunities before you. Focus your efforts. Reap the rewards.

Get the 80/20 book by clicking here