The Foundation of Markets and Personal Wealth

Where did modern business originate? How does one protect against the polar opposite, yet very real, problems of avarice (greed) and wasted opportunity (sloth)? What can be done to improve the effectiveness of an economy? What hope can be held out to every citizen about their financial prospects? How can contentment be a part of every day work life?

The answers are contained in David Hall and Matthew Burton’s excellent book Calvin and Commerce.

Do you want to be liberated from the thinking that money and wealth are always bad?  Do you want to be master to your finances instead of your finances mastering you?

Read this book to understand the foundations and the personal, practical applications concerning work, wealth and money.

Success Made Simple

Notwithstanding limited use of technology, limited education, the limits imposed by large families, and religious requirements regarding marketing and wealth, 95% of Amish businesses succeed through 5 years. Contrast that with a failure rate on the order of 80% for non-Amish businesses in the first five years, and the reasons to read this volume become very clear!

Book stores and shelves are littered with titles on business, business ownership, business startups and so on. Many, if not most, are a complete waste of time – I know because I’ve read many of them.

This Book, Success Made Simple, is required reading for would-be or want-to-be business owner/entrepreneurs. Author Erik Wesner recounts the advice of Amish business owners as to their reasons for being in business, the struggles they over came to start and succeed, and the principles they adhere to in order to grow and sustain their companies despite obstacles common in and outside the Amish community.

360 Degree Benefits

Now Discover Your Strengths is a great book for individuals seeking to better understand their unique abilities and how to put them to work.  Each book comes with a code that allows the purchaser to go to the internet and take a brief strengthsfinder evaluation.  At the conclusion, a report detailing your top six stengths and explanation of how to move forward successfully using them is an invaluable tool.

For employers and team leaders it is an excellent resource to evaluating team members/employees, whether to hire, where they fit, how they will interact with your team, and how to get them in the right place to maximize their ability for themselves and their utility on your team.

Buy it now:

Why Leftist, Liberal, Progressive Economics Fail

Thomas Sowell has written dozens of books and thousands of acticles, but the foundation of it all is Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy.  This is an easily understood text on how economies work, what provides the greatest benefit, to the most poeple, and why this is the case.  It is a must read for every business owner, consumer, student, and present and/or aspiring political office holder.

If Sowell's guidance had been followed since January of 2009, this recession would already be history.

You also see a visual representation by Steven Crowder, of what happens when Dr. Sowell's advice is not followed by clicking here.






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Not Just the Recession

Lots of business owners and salespeople are grappling with a new world in marketing as a result of the internet. Marketing expert Seth Godin, shows an excellent way to deal with this change in his book "Unleashing the Idea Virus". 

The days of letting a publishing house, a television network, or radio station hold all audiences captive are gone. Marketers (you) have the opportunity to take advantage of this reality and the obligation to do so if your business is to survive, much less thrive, in this environment.

The internet (very inexpensively) allows all of us to develop our own channel for communications (see laurusjournal.com) to anyone who will listen (our target audience). Godin gives clear guidance about how to develop this audience, keep their attention, and generate business from it.

Visioneering

Whether the title is CEO, president, dad, or executive director, the main part of the job is the same:  To have and then execute a favorable and successful vision for where the company, organization, or family is going.

Andy Stanley takes the reader through a step by step process, based on timeless principles, of developing and successfully executing a plan for what can and should be accomplished.  Beginning with acquiring a view of the favorable outcome desired, refining that view, determining who/what can be trusted, assembling the needed resources, going public with the plan, getting alignment from stakeholders, dealing with criticism, and completing the project/plan.

This is an outstanding book for anyone starting a business, needing to implement organizational change, wanting to lay a firm foundation for success in any area, or simply refining leadership skills.

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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

On this site, we select a monthly “Best Business Book”. You should know that all books profiled here are ones that I 1) Have read, 2) Have applied the information contained in the book in my own businesses, and 3) Have experienced increased effectiveness as a result.

This month’s Best Book is Patrick Lencioni's “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”. Teams are an increasing emphasis of every enterprise, organization, and business. Simply assembling a team does not ensure that projects get done at all, get done better, quicker, or more effectively. In fact, putting a bunch of people together in shared responsibility can lead to worse results, if the team is not taught how to work together.

Left to their own devices, teams will degenerate into a collection of people with no results AND hurt feelings because they 1) Don’t trust one another, 2) Loose focus on what needs to be accomplished, 3) Are afraid of and don’t understand conflict, 4) Lack commitment to a meaningful course of action or set of objectives, and 5) Struggle with both sides of accountability.

Lencioni’s book teaches leaders/team members how to overcome these Five Dysfunctions in any team (business, sports, family, community, religious) and enable the members to work more effectively and enjoyably together. It should be required reading for business leaders, parents, boards of trustees/directors, committee members, and everyone else involved in team work.