5 Must Reads for Entrepreneurial Newbies
/In your newfound business adventure you will find there is a growing need for knowledge. The growth of your business is dependent upon the growth of the one(s) driving it. While time is a limited asset among new entrepreneurs, it is crucial that intentional hours are set aside for personal and professional development. The wisdom you can gather from the experiences of others is one of the most beneficial ways to fire up your growth potential. Here are five books I recommend most to my business and career clients. They are written by expert entrepreneurs and chock full of proven methods to get you started.
1. Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters
by Jon Acuff
For a swift kick to the bum to get you moving along, Start is the perfect resource. It caters to individuals who want to do more with their lives, get the most out of their work and build the confidence to dream big and act boldly. If you are looking for a motivational powerhouse of a book, you will find it in Start. Wall Street Journal best-selling author Jon Acuff, lays out 5 stages illustrating the road to success. The book will engage you and stir in you the courage you need to stop thinking and start doing. To hear more from Jon about how work can be awesome, click here.
“People are mistaken when they think chasing your dream is a selfish thing to do. As if perhaps being average is an act of humility. As if perhaps wasting the talents you were given is proof that you're a considerate individual," Jon Acuff
2. How to Win Friends and Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
If there was ever a guide on how to interact with others, this is it. Carnegie, a life-long student in human behavior, speaks to the masses on using creative and proven ways to cultivate relationships, win people to your ways of thinking, increase your influence and arouse enthusiasm in others. As an entrepreneur, understanding the human condition and how to appeal to it will boost your networking and marketing capabilities. Carnegie has gifted the world with this work of relatable anecdotes and golden nuggets of knowledge. Along with his helpful books, Carnegie offers a variety of phenomenal courses and seminars. Check them out here.
“If some people are so hungry for a feeling of importance that they actually go insane to get it, imagine what miracle you and I can achieve by giving people honest appreciation this side of insanity,” Dale Carnegie
3. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
by John C. Maxwell
While leadership might not have been the role in which you saw yourself, leadership becomes part of the DNA of any entrepreneur. Who better to learn leadership from than a true leadership expert, public speaker, pastor and coach? John Maxwell mixes decades of personal leadership experience with historical studies to present 21 principals that are sure to provide personal growth as you prepare to lead others. John offers numerous other books, and a great blog which you can check out here.
“People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care,” John C. Maxwell
4. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World
by Gary Vaynerchuk
This book, and good ol’ Gary V. make my heart wings flutter. Do yourself a massive favor and follow him on Twitter: click here to connect with Gary V. With Jab Jab, Gary provides an excellent resource on the different ways each social media platform functions. With digital marketing becoming a primary promotion tool, entrepreneurs have struck gold with this book. Gary, a branding pioneer and multi media expert, gives his readers the tools they need to balance authentic relationship building and marketing. With this easy to read guide, entrepreneurs will find a clear and comprehensive road map to the social media world.
"Great marketing is all about telling your story in such a way that it compels people to buy what you are selling," Gary Vaynerchuk
5. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
by Seth Godin
The inception of the Internet has opened up a world of connection not possible a few short years ago. Your target market, those you have brainstormed about, studied, and created plans for are a few clicks away. Seth Godin (another Twitter feed you must follow: click here for that), a successful entrepreneur, author and business blogger gives his readers 3 steps to creating a tribe: the desire to change things, the ability to connect a tribe, and the willingness to lead. Godin makes the impossible seems possible. He illustrates the need we all have to follow someone, or something and spurs you on to become that someone worth following.
“In unstable times, growth comes from leaders who create change and engage their organizations, instead of from managers who push their employees to do more for less,”
Seth Godin
Want to learn more about personal and professional development?