You’ve heard you are what you eat, well we believe that you are what you read. Teach a CEO presents lessons from our bookshelf on how you can improve and grow your venture. We have taken gems or nuggets from our library and provide them for CEO’s, startups, entrepreneurs and business owners.
Strategy & Encouragement – 7 Nuggets
- Network science-Expand your network. Seek out the links, clusters, hubs, and influencers. Connect the dots. (Spanda Cards for the Entrepreneurial Spirit)
- People settle for small successes all the time. disheartening, because they leave so much opportunity, so much positive impact, and so much money on the table. (Smile When They Call You Sleazy)
- Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Entrepreneurs LIVE outside their comfort zone. Which sounds edgy and cool until you discover it means you always have a degree of “I don't know what the hell I'm doing” going on. (Smile When They Call You Sleazy)
- Understand from the beginning that building a business is a process, not a one-time event and it takes time. Here's a way to check this: experts consider 20% year-over-year increase a phenomenal rate of growth. (Smile When They Call You Sleazy)
- Stand Tall- Authentic confidence is not egotistical. It is a stance that emanates from within and radiates out. Envision how you want to stand on the world stage. (Spanda Cards for the Entrepreneurial Spirit)
- …criticism is a herald of good things to come. (Smile When They Call You Sleazy)
- so if you're feeling frustrated looking up at a seemingly and reachable peek at the top of the mountain, this is my suggestion: take stock at how far you've come. There are things you are doing today that in the past would have terrified you. Instead of kicking yourself for what is left to do, look at what you've overcome, what you've learned, and appreciate even the small steps you've made. (Smile When They Call You Sleazy)
Scaling – 9 Nuggets
- Scaling does not mean doing everything in a bigger version of what happened until now. Scaling is a function of what you've been bigger, what you've been doing adapted, and whole new activities, choices, and relationships. means a new trajectory. search, it requires shifts in mindset, approach, skills, and how resources are used. (The Change Maker's Playbook)
- I call it the SPEED formula: Start with your end game, Pick your Niche, Execute with speed, Energize your culture, and Dominate your top priorities. (Scale with Speed)
- Companies that learn to leverage speed gain an insurmountable competitive advantage. Those that can't, go bankrupt. (Scale with Speed)
- By niching your business you can zero in on making sure your business process is the best it can be that it delivers all that customers want and expect…because you have a single process to pay attention to, you can easily introduce needed changes and improvements as needed. (Scale with Speed)
- The Playbook is organized into three parts according to the seek, seed, and scale framework. Part 1, seeking, starts with what it means to discover insights into problems and Define purpose to drive value and growth…. Part 2, seeding, tackles the skills fools, leadership, and capabilities that get concepts take hold by testing for market interest and feedback… Part 3, scaling, focuses on the last three steps of the framework, and takes great ideas toward the ranks of sustainable businesses, assuring vitality through the future forces of change. (The Change Maker's Playbook)
- If you get nothing else from this book, I want you to learn how to start making decisions fast. Effective, world-class leaders understand the power of making a quick decision no matter what the stakes are. (Scale with Speed)
- Do all you can to simplify how you do business and how you serve your customers. I hate the necessary steps in business processes. expressing five different options in your phone system to get to the person they need that's about for too many. the same is true about everything else in your business.(Scale with Speed)
- So focusing at least 75% of your time on revenue generation is critical if you want to scale to become a massive business. You'll be more productive and your company make more money.
- It's a full-on sprint if you want to scale with speed. You must work at a different pace than everyone else if you want to succeed. (Scale with Speed)
Creativity – 8 Nuggets
- Spanda meditation is a profound gateway to new ideas and Inspirations, connecting you to your inner Source…. the practice of meditation is a profound gateway to new ideas and inspiration connecting you to your inner Spanda. Like all worthy relationships, becomes richer and more expensive over time. (Spanda Cards for the Entrepreneurial Spirit)
- Today you are an entrepreneur – or you risk being irrelevant. (Creative Economy Entrepreneurs)
- Like all gifted entrepreneurs, creative entrepreneurs give consumers what they don't yet know they want. (Creative Economy Entrepreneurs)
- Celebrate creative process, risk-taking, and failure, regardless of the outcome: our final piece of advice might seem at first blush a little counterintuitive. After all this talk of success, we remind you not to forget about failure. In fact, we suggest you celebrate failure. Why? Because without calibrating all aspects of the process-and failure is one of the most important-you won't generate an environment that encourages all possible paths to create a success…. we have left in the failures because the creative process, like entrepreneurial process, like the process of evolution itself, relies on failure. It relies on failure for adjustment, calibration, and refinement of initial vision. Failure is part of adaptation. (Creative Economy Entrepreneurs)
- Communities thrive when a diversity of resources and actors are engaged, and they belong resilient responses to tough times. (Creative Economy Entrepreneurs)
- The jobs of tomorrow will result from the chemistry of human creativity mixing with the indomitable entrepreneurial spirit. The companies of Tomorrow will be creative companies. Creative entrepreneurship brings forth leaps and Innovation, moments of inexplicable beauty, and meaningful connections to people, places, ideas, and ourselves. (Creative Economy Entrepreneurs)
- Successful creative entrepreneurs and vision new Futures and Lead others towards them, possessing the Charisma to get others on board in the conviction to persist through challenges. (Creative Economy Entrepreneurs)
- The other critical value of startup culture is a desire to create rich, meaningful, diverse networks that invite new actors in and generate robust flows of Social and financial capital. creative entrepreneur share meals with strangers and team up with practitioners of wildly different disciplines. (Creative Economy Entrepreneurs)
Innovation – 5 Nuggets
- Become the Maverick – Move away from the norm, break the mold. Challenge yourself to see the world differently…. think of creative Visionaries and Pioneers… They weren't afraid to deviate from the expected behaviors. They challenge themselves and perturbed the system, radically shifting the normal course of events. these Mavericks did not hesitate to cross the line of conformity. They follow their internal compass, and we're not swayed by the tradition or convention. (Spanda Cards for the Entrepreneurial Spirit)
- Innovation can be polarizing. It conjures up coolness and threat, and inevitability and unpredictability, attraction and avoidance. Innovation is essential, yet fails more often than it succeeds. (The Change Maker's Playbook)
- Innovation is best Illustrated as a series of irregular, interconnected, moving, and messy loops. pursue your purpose, pick up the pieces supporting structure for your journey that makes sense to you. when we stand still, time is passing, and so there is less opportunity to make a difference in achieve purpose. so get moving, and while you are making your dent in the universe, other changemakers by sharing what has work for you and what you have learned. With the reach and ease of social media, not sharing is inexcusable. make change that matters. purpose and passion. Choose happiness. (The Change Maker's Playbook)
- Innovate your innovation— dive deeper into the crevices. the empty spaces with Wonder and curiosity. And keep digging. (Spanda Cards for the Entrepreneurial Spirit)
- Purpose comes from self-awareness, not brainstorming sessions or focus groups. It provides a basis for big and small choices. It triggers alignment across values, principles and execution when purpose is baked into the culture , things happen the right way and everyone knows what the right way is. And when there is a choice between the purpose in some other way, the team course correct. They work harder, work smarter, work better, have passion about what they are doing and are closer to the brand's constituents. (The Change Maker's Playbook)
Cybersecurity – 4 Nuggets
- I will let you in on a huge insider tip. If your cyber safety is compromised, there is an easy way to find the culprit. Look in a mirror. (Online Danger)
- No doubt, digital Innovations create new opportunities to improve lives. It is easy to talk about all the positive effects of technology, but we must also consider the potential downside of new inventions. Just like in the physical world, we need an embedded level security in human intelligence to survive in the digital world. (Online Danger)
- Every time you use a connected device, you leave behind fingerprints and footprints. and, as we increasingly use technology for even the most mundane tasks in our lives. Leave behind a lot of clutter. Cyber adversaries are quick to sift through these breadcrumbs looking for potential exploits. (Online Danger)
- Embrace the excitement of cyberspace and accept its challenges, too. Arm yourself with the essential tools for making the safe choices. Make it a goal over the next 3 months to invest in your cybersecurity. New routines will morph into safe habits be proactive and take control of your destiny. (Online Danger)
CEO Bookshelf
Descriptions are from Amazon.com
- Smile When They Call You Sleazy: Strategy & Encouragement for the Impact-Driven Entrepreneur by Mary Cravets – Owning a business can sometimes make you want to work at Starbucks. Like when a big opportunity falls through. Or you’re working endless hours. Or a prospective client calls you sleazy when you simply ask to be paid for your work. The truth is that entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, and to succeed, being smart and strategic isn’t enough. You also need a cast-iron sense of humor to give you the fortitude to keep going, even when business goes sideways. This book is your companion for those crazy days. Packed with quick reads on highly-effective strategies and unconventional advice from nationally renowned entrepreneur Mary Cravets, this book encourages business owners to persevere, laugh at the absurdity of it all, and ultimately come out on top.
- Scale with Speed by Judge Graham – In a rapidly changing environment, the ability to move efficiently with speed not only determines survival but provides the opportunity to build massive success. Written by serial entrepreneur Judge Graham, who sold his last company for several hundred million dollars, Scale with Speed reveals the formula Judge used to build his businesses quickly from nothing to generating millions of dollars in revenue. It’s a practical guide to achieving transformational growth by working faster, smarter, and more strategically. Speed is the new currency and without it, businesses die. With Scale with Speed, business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs alike achieve the financial freedom and the life they’ve always dreamed of.
- Creative Economy Entrepreneurs: From Startup to Success by Alix Loy & Tom Aageson – A global tour de force, Creative Economy Entrepreneurs takes readers on a journey through the landscape of breakneck innovation and wild uncertainty that is today's creative industries. From entrepreneurs in Brazilian favelas to founders on Malaysian beaches, creative entrepreneurs are driving unprecedented value in economies. Creative industries entrepreneurs are repurposing bowling alleys in rural North America and 3D printing rechargeable hair dryers in Lagos. They're building new markets, inventing new technologies, and solving the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Creative Economy Entrepreneurs is the first accessible in-depth introduction to these creative industries entrepreneurs shaping the 21st century. Featuring the stories of disruptive startups across the globe, Creative Economy Entrepreneurs explores and explains why creative industries entrepreneurs are uniquely equipped to tackle a range of problems–including job creation, youth engagement, and economic resilience. You'll meet entrepreneurs working in fashion technology, education, entertainment, design, animation, music distribution, and more. Providing a lively exploration of approaches to nurturing startups, attracting private investment, and generating resilient, sustainable economies, Creative Economy Entrepreneurs makes the case for investing in creative ecosystems and entrepreneurs. With specific examples and advice from global creative economy leader Creative Startups, this book is useful for anyone working to build dynamic, adaptive economies. Come for the stories of a market space filled with technological disruption, cultural reinvention, and unexpected wealth creation. Stay for the practical, how-to tips for supporting your creative entrepreneurs to build tomorrow's economic ecosystems today.
- The Change Maker's Playbook by Amy J. Radin – How any leader can deliver business-changing innovation now. Any leader in any size company, no matter the size or sector, feels the pressure to innovate, find new ideas and business models, and create enduring customer value. There is no one formula or set process to find and execute the ideas that achieve these goals; customers set moving targets, shareholders are unforgiving and demanding, and society expects companies to care about much more than the bottom line. The fast and furious forces of change stimulated by technology, demographics, lifestyles, and economic, environmental, political and regulatory impacts — or any number of these in combination – are easy to see. They are easy to talk about. They are easy to intellectualize. The problem? The answers are hard to execute and require nuanced combinations of leadership, skills, strategy and tactics. On top of that, innovation has moved from an abstraction that will matter at some distant date to a front-and-center deliverable that must show evidence of impact in the space of the calendar quarter. In the stories, tools, techniques and advice inside The Change Maker’s Playbook, leaders will find tangible steps to find and safeguard the plans that will deliver the sustainable business-changing impacts – new customers, new relationships, new sources of value and growth— their businesses need. Separated from the pack of academic and consultant innovation theories, Radin’s approach stems from her own experience sitting in the innovation hot seat at some of the world’s most demanding companies and is bolstered by interviews with 50 corporate executives, founders and startup investors representing media, e-commerce, payments, healthcare, government, professional services, and not-for-profit sectors. The book walks readers through Radin’s adaptive, 9-part framework, engaging them in ready-to-apply techniques. Her work shows leaders how to find the big ideas that will meaningfully address customer needs, take the insight from idea through implementation in a way that delivers in the short and long-term for the organization, and lead effectively through the obstacles that tend to derail or diminish innovation. Three phases – Seeking, Seeding and Scaling – organize the framework within an intuitive, logical and useable format, with concrete actions outlined every step of the way. The answer to the dilemma every business faces today is that innovation is exhilarating, rewarding and even fun when it is approached as a unique challenge, but it can also be polarizing, unpredictable, and scary. Success requires that leaders rethink how they lead innovation. Leaders know they must set aside preconceived notions of what works, and look to those who have already walked in their shoes. This is why The Change Maker’s Playbook was written, and why it will become an ongoing resource for any innovation leader.
- Online Danger: How to Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones From the Evil Side of the Internet by Dr. Eric Cole – Cyberspace is an informative, fun, and educational place for the entire family, but danger lurks everywhere you turn online. From phishing to cyber bullying to identity theft, there are a myriad of ways that you and your loved ones could be harmed online, often with irreparable damage. Fortunately, there are precautions that everyone can take to protect themselves, their families, and their businesses that don’t require advanced (or even any) technical knowledge. In this book, cyber security expert, Dr. Eric Cole, provides a layman’s look at how to protect yourself online. Dr. Cole makes the case that everyone is a potential target, not just the rich and famous. And we all have the ability to make it more difficult for cyber criminals to make us their next victim. He explains in plain language how to make your computer safer, protect your email, and guard your online accounts. Online Danger: How to Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones from the Evil Side of the Internet applies to organizations as well as individuals, and across professions. Doctors, lawyers, and teachers – anyone responsible for safeguarding a client’s or student’s data – will learn something they can use right away. Whether you’re a parent wanting to know how to keep your children safe as they use the Internet, or a senior citizen who doesn’t want to fall prey to an online scammer, or a daily technology user who wants to learn more about how to protect themselves in cyberspace, this book is for you.
- Spanda Cards for the Entrepreneurial Spirit: Bridging Ancient Wisdom and Business Acumen by Spanda noun. 1. Sanskrit meaning “the pulsation before creation” 2. a jolt of inspiration or aha moment that stirs us to action. Spanda Cards for the Entrepreneurial Spirit is the first desktop oracle to combine spiritual wisdom and business know-how. Designed to help you connect to your inner Spanda, these cards move you beyond the habitual knee-jerk reaction and into a still and quiet mindset where creative leaps happen. If you need more clarity, inspiration, direction, and energy, pick up a Spanda card. The aphorism on the card each created using a synthesis of ancient, ageless practices, current thinking in psychology and business, and the authors own insights and experiences is the message you need in this moment to remove the veil from your business or life dilemmas. And the accompanying guidebook offers additional insights and takeaways with short, actionable steps. You may even find the answer to a question you didn t know you needed to ask. Like shaking a snow globe, Spanda Cards for the Entrepreneurial Spirit allows you to tumble around your thoughts and rearrange them into new ways of thinking. Discover how life sparkles with surprise and synchronicity when you tap into your Spanda.
