As we move into the future, the face of leadership is going to change. As the Millennial Generation explodes onto the business scene, they will be bringing with them an entrepreneurial spirit unlike anything we have seen before in history. In order to lead in the future, not only are we all going to be called to understand what it means to be an entrepreneur, we are going to be challenged to shift our thinking and to start challenging our assumptions about the human dynamics which are at play for all business leaders…and those dynamics are going to be moving heaven and earth (just look at what is going on in our world today economically, politically and socially).

To help you along your journey, I am recommending two must reads (and I don’t recommend books that often). These two books are critical additions to your library, because both of these authors have worn many hats in life, have experienced a huge variety of business opportunities and will be the first to admit that they have made mistakes along the way. In spite of any demons they have met in the past, everything they have touched has turned to gold (so of course, why would you not read their books).

So…here we go…the two top reads for this month are:

Beyond Booked Solid: Your Business, Your Life, Your Way Its All Inside by Michael Port

I have come to the conclusion that anyone and their grandmother can write a marketing book. But…writing a marketing book with passion and from the human emotions we all experience as business owners requires a master craftsman. Michael Port is truly such a master, and this book is at the top of my list of biz books for 2008. Port goes deep…challenging business owners to look at the internal shifts required to go from being a great business owner to one making a significant impact on the world.  As we all know, each growth phase of a business requires a new attitude and a new way of seeing your business and the world, and I can promise you this…if you read this book, your life and business are going to change for the better, and there’s no turning back…you will never see your business or your life as you see it today (and that is a great thing…as I always say, you can’t do what you’ve always done to get where you’re going today and tomorrow!). Fabulous!

Awakening the Entrepreneur Within: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Companies by Michael Gerber

Michael Gerber’s mission is “to create a turnkey system for awakening the entrepreneur within every person who wishes to go into business for themselves, while providing them with the support for doing it”. Well, he has certainly achieved this mission with this passionate book…calling even the most frustrated entrepreneurs to start dreaming big about what they want for their businesses and their lives. As with The E-Myth Books, Gerber makes this simple and just a great read. You can read the entire book on a Saturday afternoon (while sipping hot tea or coffee in your snuggly robe, but after you read it, you are going to want a hot night out on the town dressed to the nines, because the book will set your soul on fire!) Truly inspiring!

Which company do you think was recently voted as the most trustworthy company by Forbes.com? One clue: The company was voted as having solid accounting practices, being transparent, following the book in the domain of corporate governance, an absence of negative events and operating with an all-around clean slate.

Find out who the winner is from this video from March 27, 2008

Watch video here

One of my favorite clients told me a rather brilliant story yesterday that is impacting me greatly this morning as I reorganize my thoughts to prepare for a company vision call. Last weekend, she was at Michael Gerber’s “In The Dreaming Room” event in San Diego, a place where she and I met in June of last year. This time she brought her son, an amazing gift unto itself. When they were at dinner one night with another participant in the group, this participant challenged my client to stop making excuses and start living her dream. Her son’s comment was that she had yet to “put the baby down”. The next morning she had an epiphany as to what that meant. As a mother, you hold that baby tight to protect it, but eventually you are forced to put it down, and when you do, only then can it learn to crawl, soon after stand, begin to walk and eventually run on its own. NONE of that can happen until you put the baby down.

What a brilliant analogy for business. Any business. I, of course, think of it in terms of my business. Writers of the Round Table is almost three years old and I am still, in many respects, holding the baby. Waking up to that realization feels immense to me. We have five dedicated employees and more than half a dozen freelancers working together every day with brilliant synergy and creativity exploding left and right. We have built a solid foundation; and yet, I’m still holding the baby. Amazing. It’s time for me to let go. Today, at noon, on our company vision call, I will be putting the baby down. Annette, my client, my visionary, my friend, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Person Michael Gerber’s

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