According to the author, our current habits can, in a way, predict our future. For instance, good financial habits could be instrumental in achieving a pleasant retirement. Likewise, good fitness and nutrition habits are essential for our future health. The author highlights the importance of small habits projected over time. The book provides tips to try to acquire good new habits and get rid of bad ones. #1 New York Times bestseller, 15 million copies sold around the world, and number one in Argentinean charts nowadays.
The book focuses not only on lifespan but also on health span. With the aim not only to increase your lifespan but also increase the longer health span during your lifespan. Peter started off as an engineer and then went into medicine and became cancer surgeon. He then went into business and return to medicine to focus exclusively on preventative medicine. The five fundamentals which form the Palace of longer and happier lifespan and health span are (a) exercise (by far the most important), (b) nutrition, (c) sleep, (d) mental wellbeing and (e) drugs and supplements. The book is very practical and modest and does not propose one type of diet or approach to health. But it provides guidelines on what to do that will work best for your particular body, lifestyle and make up. It has the potential to be life changing.
The author makes you realize how distracted our working environments have become. And it provides useful rules and guidelines how to operate in our distracted environments and to help doing more deep work.
This book builds on the fundamentals laid out in Leadership and Self-deception. It focuses more on how to handle and defuse conflicts. It is a must read for all managers and for people in any type of relationship which therefore includes all of us.
It has the potential to open a totally new way how you will view relationships on all fronts and well as other people. The book provides an excellent link between relationships in the workplace and relationships at home where the fundamental rules and principles are very similar. The book was first published some 20 years ago. It has been updated and improved during this period. It is a must read. And one of those books that you may read more than once to extract the full value from.
It is a practical and reality check book. It makes you realise that for an average lifetime you only have about 4000 weeks to live and leaves you with a physical feeling of how short that actually is. The book does not have the answers how to live whatever you have left of your potentially 4000 weeks. But provide guidelines how to think about the rest of your time. And that there will never be enough time. There is probably nothing revolutionary in the message. But it is very practical to make one think about the finite time we have left.
Compensation from Verne Harnish is a creative book on the goal of “Getting compensation right and out of sight”.
It considers five principles to incentivise the right employees’ behaviours that drive results, serve the firm´s strategy, and reinforce its culture.
I found it different in many ways from other HR books. It has good ideas and examples to understand human psychology and how to use it pragmatically to help it grow a business, removing pay as a distracter. The idea is to use pay, benefits, and incentives to align worker behaviours with the business values and culture.
The ability to sell, whether it is a device, a large scale project or professional services, fundamentally requires an understanding of a prospective client’s needs. The ability to control or influence the conversation allows a better understanding of these needs, and allows the professional to offer insights to the client, demonstrating more clearly how clients can save or make money. The approach is premised on the sellers ability to push back and challenge the client, leading to a deeper relationship, and an easier sale.
As professionals, we are expected to be experts in our respective fields, and as we gain experience, and maturity, we are also expected to become leaders. Leadership is something that doesn’t necessarily come easily to everyone, and sometimes professionals are placed in leadership roles just because they are a rainmaker, or a recognized expert.
Emotional intelligence is a concept that has gained traction in the past few years, and this book allows you to raise your awareness about emotional intelligence and offers practical advice to leverage this skill when in leadership positions.
Even if you’ve never sold anything in your life, you can become a top performer. This book is replete with tips, tricks and examples on how to approach cold calling, marketing through email, building and maintaining your network and approaching the, for some, dreadful sales meeting. Turn yourself into a professional that sells, not a professional salesperson.
Despite the catchy title, this publication is not about emails or doing without them – it is about any sort of instant messaging and – when used correctly – it recognises that instant messaging is an amazingly useful tool. The value of the publication is that it outlines the problems that are caused by unrestricted use of instant messaging and the damage created if ad hoc workflows are created using instant messaging without consideration to the impact on workers and overall efficiency.
Cal Newport introduces the concept of the "hyperactive hive mind" - a mode of constant communication and quick response. He highlights the drawbacks of this process such as increased stress, reduced productivity, and the loss of time for deep work. Newport proposes alternative solutions, including reducing the reliance on email for communication and implementing strategies like asynchronous communication and task boards allowing readers to implement their own solutions and regain control.
This publication provides a roadmap for law firms looking to modernize their operations and remain competitive in an increasingly crowded marketplace. By embracing agile principles, law firms can improve client satisfaction, increase profitability, and create a more sustainable future for themselves and their clients. Chris suggests that an agile law firm must prioritize collaboration, communication, and continuous improvement. This means breaking down silos within the organization, adopting a client-focused approach, and embracing new technologies and processes that allow for greater efficiency and productivity. Chris also emphasizes the importance of experimentation and adaptation, encouraging law firms to take calculated risks and learn from their failures.
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This book explores the critical role of trust in professional services. The book argues that building trust with clients is essential to success in the industry and offers practical advice for professionals looking to deepen their client relationships. Maister and his co-authors offer insights into the psychology of trust and provide a framework for developing trust with clients. They also discuss the importance of listening, communication, and integrity in building trust.
"Strategy and the Fat Smoker" is a valuable resource for anyone interested in strategic planning and execution. Maister uses the powerful personal metaphor of a "fat smoker" to illustrate the common problem of knowing what we should do but struggling to actually do it. The smoker knows that smoking is unhealthy and should quit, just as businesses know that they should focus on their core competencies, provide excellent customer service, and maintain strong relationships with their employees, yet many fail to do so. Maister argues that the key to overcoming this problem lies in developing a culture of discipline and accountability within an organization. He suggests that leaders must take responsibility for ensuring that their strategies are implemented effectively, and that they must be willing to hold themselves and their teams accountable for results. Maister also emphasizes the importance of simplicity in strategy.
17 Apr 2023
This book provides a framework for getting things done – it explains the reasons why goals are often not achieved and provides a structure for engaging your team and embedding a high performance culture. The four disciplines of focussing on the most important goal, acting on the lead measure, keeping a scorecard and accepting accountability are explained with real world case studies.
Even if you don’t read any other books on the list then you must read this one - David Maister provides a comprehensive guide for leaders in the professional service industry. Maister draws on his experience as a consultant and offers practical advice on topics such as leadership, strategy, client management, and employee development. He emphasizes the importance of creating a strong organizational culture that values excellence and focuses on the needs of clients. Maister also provides insights into the unique challenges of managing knowledge workers and offers strategies for motivating and retaining top talent including the challenging issue of partner remuneration.
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