Peak Careers

Professional Development for Career Practitioners

Book Reviews

The Wright Brothers. By David McCullough

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Obviously I knew about the Wright brothers. Growing up outside of Detroit we went to Greenfield Village every year and their house was moved to the Village from Ohio. But this book really gave me insight as to how independent and industrious they were. Two brothers just figuring out how to fly! Wow.

David McCullough is a great historian and does a wonderful job capturing the personalities involved in the beginning of flying from Wilbur and Orville to the many others in France and elsewhere who were trying to figure it out. I was surprised to learn that Europe, particularly France, was much more interested in what the Wright brothers were doing than our own government. Hmmm….. but the US government finally came around.

I needed a good historical novel and this one was a true pleasure to read as I found myself reading twice as much as I normally do each day just so I could go back in time with the Wright Brothers.

Changing Course: Navigating Life After 50. By Sadler & Krefft

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changing-course

After listening to a webinar recently (July 2016) on Dorian Mintzer’s monthly webcast on Adult Development IN Aging with Dr. William Sadler, I found that I was very interested in hearing more from him. So I started reading his book, Changing Course: Navigating Life After 50 that he co-authored with James Krefft. I found this to be a very practical and informative book on how people in their “3rd Age” think and act.

I agree with so much of this book and appreciate the research behind my own thinking being supported with facts and stories. I particularly like how he has laid out 6 Principles of 3rd Age growth which agrees with much of my work and the Life Planning Network Associations.

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Kick Ass Social Commerce for E-preneurs: It’s Not About Likes – It’s About Sales. By Lawson and Schepp

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KickAssSocialCommerce

As I move toward year 5 of full time with Peak-Careers Consulting, I find that I am exploring e-marketing and social commerce much more than ever. This book really does a great job of helping me focus my efforts online to ‘reach out’ and find more customers. It is NOT about just building a database of emails but of engaging people, adding content & value to their work first. One key is to LISTEN to people first to understand their needs and I have been taking this advice to heart recently by hosting a focus group (Wow, did I learn a lot from them!) and by sending out a survey to find out where people hangout online.

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The Future of Work: Attract New Talent, Build Better Leaders, and Create a Competitive Organization. By Jacob Morgan

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FutureOfWork

This is a book about the future of work written by a millennial. After listening to our keynote speaker, Gio Twigge at the Maine Career Development Association conference (June 2016) talk about how IDEXX is embracing the future employee and workspace, I picked up this book. (Gio referred to it in his talk).

I wanted to read this book in one setting as I was captivated from the start. I get tired of hearing how businesses have to adapt to millennial’s. That’s crap. Businesses need to adapt to the modern world of work! I want what they want. The future of work requires offering flexibility in the work schedule, location, and devices. The future of work wants recognition and ability to work as a team, collaborating on exciting creative projects using problem solving skills. I want that too.

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Enchantment. The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. By Guy Kawasaki

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enchantment

I highlighted so many passages in this book to help me think about my business. Many things, I am doing right, but Guy confirmed my direction. He also gave me so much ‘food for thought’ about what else I can do to continually improve.

“The outcome of enchantment is voluntary and long-lasting support that is mutually beneficial.”

“…your goal is not to make money from them or to get them to do what you want, but to fill them with great delight.”

These quotes area great reminders that what I do helps others and helps me. I love that philosophy and have always tried hard to live by this. It confirms my belief that everyone should walk away from a transaction and feel good about it.

His advice on how to manage a company and deal with people is positive and upbeat with equal parts of simplicity mixed in. This is not difficult but you do have to believe in people and realize that getting people to change their hearts, minds, and actions is a process that you never complete. You must believe in it and stay the course.

If you are looking for good sound advice to start or business or to “tweak” one that is already started, read this book.

Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.

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