Success Advice
5 Books You Need to Read if You Want to Become a Better Leader
When you run your own business, you’re more than a business owner, you’re a leader. And if you want your business to be successful, you need to be the kind of leader that inspires the best in your team. Being a great leader isn’t necessarily something you’re born with, it’s something you learn.
One of the best places to look for tips on how to improve your leadership skills might surprise you: your local bookstore. Books are a great way to learn more about the skills necessary to lead your team to success.
Here are five books you need to read if you want to be an exemplary leader:
1. Daring Greatly: How The Courage To Be Vulnerable Transforms The Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brené Brown
Many people believe that the key to great leadership is perfection. They think that if you want to lead, you need to appear to have all the answers all the time. But according to author and researcher Brene Brown, nothing can be further from the truth. According to her research of a decade, the key to great leadership is actually admitting that you don’t have all the answers. It’s all about being vulnerable and human with your team.
In “Daring Greatly: How The Courage To Be Vulnerable Transforms The Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead”, Brown talks about the benefits of vulnerability in the workplace and how allowing your team to see the real you – flaws and all – is (despite popular belief) a leadership asset and leads to more engaged and successful businesses.
If you’ve ever struggled with feeling like you need to be everything for everyone in your business, this book is a must-read.
“If you’re not in the arena also getting your ass kicked, I’m not interested in your feedback.” – Brené Brown
2. How To Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
One of the most important parts of being a great leader is getting people to do what you want them to do – and to like you while they’re doing it. “How To Win Friends and Influence People” is timeless in the business world; it was written by Dale Carnegie in 1936. But this classic is just as much a relevant and important read for business owners and leaders today as it was when it was written over 80 years ago.
In this book, Carnegie shows you how to make people you interact with in your business feel valued, heard, and appreciated – whether it’s team members, colleagues or clients. He also talks about how to win their influence and get them on your side on important business decisions without inspiring resentment, which is an absolute must for an effective leader.
If you want to improve your relationships with the people in your organization and get them on your side on the important stuff (and what leader doesn’t?), make sure you pick up this book.
3. Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers – Tim Ferriss
Wouldn’t it be great if you had a panel of the richest, most powerful, and most successful people in the world to offer you leadership advice whenever you needed it? It certainly would. And while you might not be able to have the most successful leaders in the world at your beck and call, “Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers” is definitely a close second.
In this engrossing read, “The 4-hour Workweek” author Tim Ferriss, has gathered some of the best business and leadership advice he’s heard in his years of hosting “The Tim Ferriss Show,” a podcast where he interviews billionaires, icons, and world-class performers (as the title suggests). “Tools of Titans” features actionable advice from his 200+ guests on how to be a better leader, how to increase your performance, and how to build a better business (and life in the process).
4. The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumphs – Ryan Holiday
When faced with obstacles, you have two decisions: you can let them sink you or you can use them as opportunities for growth. And if you want to be a great leader, you need to show your team that the latter decision is the only option.
In “The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumphs” author and entrepreneur Ryan Holiday, explores how the Greek philosophy of stoicism (which is the philosophy of facing challenges adversity and challenges with resilience), has helped some of the most successful leaders in history overcome obstacles and adversity and transform them into triumphs – triumphs that lead to unparalleled levels of success.
If you want to foster a culture in your business that embraces obstacles and uses them as launching pads for bigger successes, you need to lead the charge – and “The Obstacle Is The Way” will show you how to do that.
“The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.” – Ryan Holiday
5. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ – Daniel Goleman
If you want to be a great leader, it’s important that you’re book smart. But it’s even more important that you’re emotionally intelligent. In “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ” psychologist Daniel Goleman, talks about the importance of emotional intelligence – the ability to bridge the rational and emotional minds to better relate to ourselves and our teams.
In this book, Goleman breaks down the five core characteristics of emotional intelligence, why they’re important, and how to cultivate them in order to be a more effective and empathetic leader. If you want to create a better connection with your team – and inspire better work in the process – you need to add this book to your list.
Great leadership is an evolution; if you want to be a successful leader, you need to constantly work on becoming better. With these five books, you’ll be well on your way.
Image courtesy of Twenty20.com
Success Advice
How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements
Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.
Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.
There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.
Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.
Embed the strength of AI and ML.
AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.
Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.
ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses.
In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.
Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities
Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased.
Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information.
Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place.
In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.
Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development
You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.
You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.
Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.
Developing key skills to achieve goals
Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.
Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.
Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.
Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.
Development/Coding Knowledge
Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.
Hacking proof framework
There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.
Communication Abilities/Soft Skills
Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:
Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.
Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.
Agile Implementations
It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.
- Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds.
- Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
- Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
- Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them.
- Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.
- Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
- Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
- Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.
Conclusion
There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.
Success Advice
Understanding the Power of Yes and No: How to Create Boundaries For Success
These words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds
The two smallest yet most powerful words in life, “Yes” and “No,” have a big impact on our growth on both personal and professional levels. In addition to affecting the choices we make every day, these words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds. (more…)
Motivation
From Couch Potato to Go-Getter: A Step-by-Step Motivation Plan for Everyone
By understanding what motivates you, you can turn your dreams into reality
Are you tired of feeling like a couch potato? Do you want to transform your life and become a go-getter? You’re not alone! Many people struggle with motivation, but the good news is that change is possible. (more…)
Success Advice
10 Micro Financial Habits for More Wealth and Peace of Mind
The World Economic Forum still reports that half of U.S. adults lack financial literacy
You’ve heard about developing financial habits, but what about micro-financial habits? Micro habits are the tiny things you can do every day with minimal effort that, together, transform your future. (more…)
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