The World's Best Book Summaries
What are the five stages of business failure? How fast does it take for a business to fall apart? In How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins analyzes why well-performing companies end up failing. He states that there are five phases businesses go through during decline: overconfidence, overreaching, ignoring the signs, overcorrecting, and surrendering. Let’s look at these five stages of failure businesses experience if leaders don’t find solutions.
Do you want your employees to listen to you? How can you gain respect as a leader? Before you can lead anyone successfully, your team must respect you, and that starts with having certain universal qualities. Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie explains that if your team respects you, they’ll be willing to follow your lead. We’ll explore the four qualities to exhibit so you learn how to gain respect as a leader.
Why is customer-centric product development important for business? How can you implement a customer-centric strategy in your business plan? According to 12 Months to $1 Million by Ryan Moran, you must create a brand by having a coherent line of products that all serve the same customer. With this in mind, Moran suggests putting the customer first when creating your first product. Let’s dive into the details of customer-centric product development.
What’s Gallup’s leadership philosophy? What are the best Gallup strengths for leaders? Gallup is a business research and consulting company that Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie bases most of its research on. Their book lists four strengths that leaders should capitalize on based on their innate talents, with the help of a well-balanced team to fill in the gaps. Keep reading to learn more about the best Gallup strengths for leaders.
What’s the core work of your business? Have you let important matters get in the way of the single most critical matter? Paul Jarvis warns business leaders about the pitfalls of growth. While growth can be an important aspect of business success, the most important priority is too often sacrificed on its altar. Growth creates many complications that you can and should deal with, but you mustn’t let it chip away at the core. Read more to understand how growth can make it difficult for you to tend to your top business priority in the way you should.
Is your business growing too fast? Why are outside investments sometimes a bad idea? Should your expenditures be based on projections or actual revenue? Business growth is exciting and feels like success. But, there’s such a thing too much, too fast. In Company of One, Paul Jarvis identifies two negative consequences of fast growth that your company could experience: (1) damage to the relationships with your original customers and (2) outright failure. Keep reading to learn about the potential pitfalls of rapid business growth.
Is in-person shopping coming back full steam? Is e-commerce on the decline? E-commerce’s explosive pandemic growth appears to be moderating, with a growing number of shoppers returning to in-person shopping for items like clothes, food, and furniture. Some experts believe that e-commerce has peaked and is in decline, while others think it’s still going strong. Keep reading for two views on the future of e-commerce.
What are the different approaches to negotiation? Which negotiation tactic will help you get what you want? In our daily lives, we negotiate with others for things we want, whether the context is business or personal. Experts have different theories about the best approach to getting what you want out of a negotiation. Continue reading for the two main approaches to negotiation: emotional and rational.
Why are leadership execution skills important? What’s it like working for someone who’s an execution leader? People who lead by execution do anything possible to make their ideas a reality. This also involves making hard decisions for both themselves and the team. Continue reading to learn how to be a leader who focuses on execution, according to Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie.
When is business growth your enemy and not your friend? What priorities are more important than growth? Fast and endless growth isn’t always the best goal for a business. That’s the view of Paul Jarvis, who argues against this common ethos found in the business world. He describes three disadvantages of business growth, especially rapid growth, in his book Company of One. Continue reading to learn why growth-focused companies don’t always succeed.