2015 Top Business Leaders and Books

The New Year 2016 is just around the corner! Planning season is in full swing. Successful companies are creating their roadmap for 2016. I have observed over and over again that the difference in our success or failure is not chance, but choice. Whatever the challenge or adversity, it’s not what happens that will determine our destiny; it’s how we react to what happens.

Take 2 1/2  minutes to hear Fortune’s Nicholas Varchaver talk about the leaders on the Business Person of the Year list and how they have reacted to their challenge or adversity. And check out these five recommended must-read books to help you break out of ruts and get inspired for 2016.

Fortune’s Nicholas Varchaver talks about the leaders on the Business Person of the Year list.



Fortune Top Entrepreneurial Business Books for 2015 (by Verne Harnish)

Uncontainable, by Kip Tindell
The Container Store has a staff turnover of less than 10% and turns away 96% of applicants. Co-founder and chairman Kip Tindell shares the blueprint of how the Container Store has accomplished this amazing result.

Team of Teams, by Gen. Stanley McChrystal
The military is abandoning the command-and-control structure due to new, quick-moving enemies. Based on the model used by Navy SEALs, retired four-star general McChrystal discusses how to organize your company into teams of autonomous leaders who make split-second decisions necessary to win.

Buyer Personas, by Adele Revella
Today’s marketers must understand how to gather accurate customer profiles that give greater insight into the why and the how behind their buying decisions. Revella’s goes beyond the usual demographic descriptions and probes the minds of seemingly similar clients who are actually very different.

Exponential Organizations, by Salim Ismail
This hard-hitting manifesto will show you how to fight back upstart competitors who do things better, faster, and cheaper. Ismail has worked closely with some of the world’s most innovative companies and shares the strategies of these ExOs or exponential organizations.

The Automatic Customer, by John Warrillow
Warrillow focuses on how to turn repeat customers to subscribers. He lays out nine different subscription models. Companies with subscription models are valued at three to five times revenue—a significant premium over what most companies get.

“The will to win…the will to achieve…goes dry without continuous reinforcement” (Vince Lombardi). I hope the video and these books will help you reinforce, encourage, and motivate yourself and your leadership team.

Whatever lies ahead, what matters most is how you will choose to respond. The choice is yours.

Contact me for help in setting your roadmap.