This time of year, I try to catch up on all those books colleagues have recommended/given to me. This is an open post for anyone to recommend a good book with a business theme. Just leave your recommendation as a comment on this post.
There are some great books out there about investing, leadership, entrepreneurship, etc. However, there are some book themes that do make me chuckle.
1. The “revolutionary” marketer. There must be a big market for advice on how to market your product because I see no shortage of books revealing a “revolutionary” approach to marketing. These books seem to have a few things in common.
A. They tend to give marketing tips that everyone learns in their first marketing class in an MBA program
B. Somewhere, often on the cover, they state that the book will give you the marketing knowledge you won’t learn in an MBA class.
C. Each author seems to honestly believe, or at least they want the reader to honestly believe, they discovered these “revolutionary” marketing techniques.
2. Save yourself! Quit your job. These books present entrepreneurship as the salvation for people who hate their life. First, let me say that these books can be great motivators for people struggling to finally take the plunge. However, while switching jobs can be a great way to infuse some needed change in your life, setting out on your own as an entrepreneur is a highly stressful thing to do. I’ve done it, trust me on this. It seems to me, it is better to do it when the rest of your life in order, not when the rest of your life is a mess.
3. The leadership wisdom of the wizened CEO/coach/entertainer/person whose 15 minutes of fame are just about over. Apparently, there is some law that says that once you become CEO or famous for some other reason, you are required to write a book so that everyone else can bask in your reflected glory and you can explain why you are so smart. In this book, you need to state the obvious lessons you learned (such as be nice to your executive team but hold them accountable). You should report these lessons as if they are secrets passed to you by some ancient society and now you are releasing them to the masses. Make it clear, in humble terms, that your successes are the result of your brilliance and not at all about luck (knowing the right people, being at the right place at the right time, going to the right college, etc.)
I am just having some fun here. I DO know there are some great books out there (even some written by former CEO’s).
