Leading with Soul

Leading with Soul is a short book that combines the story of a successful businessman, Steve Camden, and his spiritual coach, Maria, with ideas about meaning and leadership. The combination makes the book entertaining while leaving a clear message.

I got this book as a Christmas present and the day I started reading it I learned about a good friend, a mentor, almost a father, who passed away while I was on Holiday vacations. It made me think about the meaning of life and the purpose of our endless rush.

We have discussed about living a life of meaning but this book made me realized that it is not the same to talk about it, as an spectator in the audience, than taking the time to explore ones soul and find what really gives meaning to life.

Building on Joseph Cambell's hero journey Bolman and Deal present a similar journey to find ones meaning of life. They suggest that we all have four gifts to give: Authorship that comes from the pride of having done something;  Love, compassion and concern for others; Power as the capacity to make a difference, if power corrupts lack of power crushes the soul; and Significance, as the meaning but also the importance. By using this four gifts leaders can drive their organizations to higher levels of performance but more than results to another dimension of social interaction.

Leading with Soul was a timely read, a good book for the beginning of the year, a good book to accept the lost of a good friend, a good book to step down from the sideline and jump in the arena.

The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure

In his book "The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market Cure" John A Allison shares his story in BB&T as well as his recent experience leading CATO Institute. What is different about Allison book and other business biographies is the philosophical foundation.

Allison shares a coherent and clearly defines philosophical framework that ruled his journey in BB&T, in CATO and in his own life. Comprised of twelve values the system is sound enough to guide people's actions and solve conflicts. Allison suggests that the current crisis is the result of a weak value system that has allowed the system to divert from the Founders vision. If America wants to recover its dynamism, and leadership people have to demand from their government officials to be principle centered and less pragmatic.

Allison presents a broad range of business areas, from finance to people management. From growth by M&A or organic to process management. In each the narrative is similar, an explanation of what they did, what challenges they faced and how sticking to its principles paid off in the long run.

His undeniable success leading BB&T from a $4.5Billion in assets bank to $135Billion gives Allison the moral background to suggest that following a similar philosophical framework could result in the return to the founding principles of the USA; Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

The book doesn't have a  narrative that flows, at times it is easy to loose focus because the pace is monotonous, yet the message is strong enough to get back on track.

More on Allison and his career in an interview with Stephen Hicks in Kaizen.

Fahrenheit 451

A dystopian novel about a world without books leaves an open ended question. It is amazing how Ray Bradbury's view of the future resembles our reality 60 years later. People walk like zombies attached to mobile devices reading quick summaries of news, books, and tabloids. Entertainment as an escape from reality and a hectic life at 100 mph. No time to stop and be amazed, contemplation is a brain condition. In Bradbury's dystropia control of people's lives didn't start with the government but with indifference of people. Authorities just take advantage of the way people choose to live.

Farenheit 451 is as current as in its post-war era. Due to different reasons. In our era we need to stop to take a break to enjoy the little things of life, to share with one another and live a meaningful life.

While in the process of working this blog, we got the sad news of the departure of the Galaxy Traveler, Ray Bradbury. The Galaxy will not be the same without you.

Zero to One

Peter Thiel's book has many valuable ideas for entrepreneurs, however two stood out to me. The concept of Zero to One in itself, and the defense of efficient monopolies. Zero to One is a challenge to the me too culture of entrepreneurship and society. While Entrepreneurship is becoming more and more a buzzword and more people want to be entrepreneurs, schools turn their programs to entrepreneurship, colleges and universities claim that they teach entrepreneurship, most of the initiatives are dull me too projects. In order to keep up growing the world needs more dare initiatives, the ones that are truly disruptive, the Zero to One's.

Tied to this is Thiel's defense of efficient monopolies. In order to be a Zero to One company entrepreneurs have to make outstanding differential products. Once they achieve these they can gain a monopoly because none can compete with them (not as a result of government protection). Thiel claims that in history great innovations were followed by monopolistic dominance in their markets. He doesn't mention the "Robber Barons" who earn bad press from government and inefficient competitors or the Sherman Act enacted to destroy them, but it is a time in history where the efficient monopoly got a bad reputation. Capitalism is about creation of wealth not redistribution, efficient monopolies create wealth, perfect competition is a zero sum game.

Thiel presents an invitation to entrepreneurs to dare to create truly different product, avoid the red blood competition game.

Some chapters of the book are a little hard to follow, probably because the book itself is an edited written version of lecture notes. Yet the book is worth reading and discussing to put the feet on the ground of entrepreneurs.

Make It Stick

Peter Brown brings extensive research in neuroscience and education from the academia to the user. Make it Stick is a comprehensive work on how the brain works and how one can use this new knowledge to excel learning. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for being better learner.

I felt that Brown play safe not criticizing the current school system. Although the purpose of the book is to summarize all these new ideas about learning/brain-building along suggestions on how to make them work, many of the obstacles he identifies come from the school system. If the ideas of learning as a responsibility of the learner not the teacher, and the teacher's new role as a facilitator don't permeate the system those who choose to be life long learners will have a lot to unlearn to learn.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

This is one of the best Business books ever written. Most books speak of how to run businesses in a near perfect world (peace time). Some autobiographies are honest enough to recognize the struggle of the entrepreneur and not only the glory that made them famous. In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz does both things. His nerve wrecking story make you question yourself if you really want to be an entrepreneur or may be enchanted by the legends of the Mark Zuckerberg, the Steve Jobs, the Bill Gates, etc. Reading Ben story is like reading 100 Harvard Business Cases in 1 and making decisions without the information provided.

In the second part Ben presents a detail debrief of his experience. Unlike a classical business book à la Jim Collins, Ben's is not a prescription of how to run a business but a summary of what worked for him. However the underlying principles are applicable to many different settings.

The last part of the book is a short summary of a16z, their VC firm. More than the VC itself this part and the book exposes the need of Ben to share his experience and help founders succeed. 

If you are considering starting an entrepreneurship career The Hard Thing About Hard Things is a must read. 

The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users

I had high expectations regarding this book. I have followed Guy in Google+ and know how active and effective he is. The book is a wide collection of tips and tricks needed to build a coherent and extensive social media. “The Art of Social Media” covers most of the main social media platforms and Guy’s advice is valuable. The list of tools is extensive yet it is a pending assignment to learn how to use them and make a budget about. 

I liked a quote that says that people are in social media to get attention or are liars. The thirst for attention may vary depending on expectations but in the end people like to be seen. 

For some people Social Media exposure is key (Authors like Guy) but even for the amateur blogger the ideas are valuable if we agree that we have to think big from day one instead of reacting until we become famous. The visualization of variety of tasks and work needed to have an effective SM presence is important, especially for those who think it is just a matter of snapping one’s fingers.

The book lacks depth that needs to be expanded in the specific case. Although Guy explains that there is a lot of trial and error, hence it is an art not a science, one needs to dig deeper before jumping in and fail.