The very good news is that we are now only 50% into the summa' approaching "The Dog Days of August". You know the flip side of this good news/bad news equation regarding the remaining 50%, so I will save you that depressing note.
Although later today, I'm driving away from the NH beach where I live even with today's forecast of a perfect beach weekend, my "Summa' love of reading books will simply be transferred to the outside deck in Vermont.
I love to read, and I consume at least a book a week using the process of reading as a means of winding down the day realizing since high school that I don't need much sleep. Most importantly, with every book and every article I read, I realize how little I know, which pushes me to read more, to be in front of our customers more to ask better questions and to teach better and mentor more. I've found that reading, no matter what the content is, keeps one younger and more healthy, which is critically important to me.
With that as background, I frequently ask my friends and colleagues ...especially in the summa'..."What are you reading?" Which is the general question I'm posing to you this Friday morning as you work to the weekend. One of the very best resources that I've found to answer that question is to simply ask people that you personally find interesting. Going to the NYTimes and similar mass public lists of "Best Books" never seems to do it for me.
My own reading habits tend to be a mix of...
- Business and leadership books from classic experts like Warren Buffet along with new-age AI leaders like Jeff Bussgang's Experimentation Machine. which recently led me to more and more AI books and articles. I also just finished A CEO for All Seasons by Carolyn Dewar and other authors from McKenzie, which brings me to the subject of McKenzie's library of blogs, podcasts and books.
- I love my work and especially learning more every opportunity I can about the rapidly changing world of Sales and Marketing. I was mentioning at a client meeting yesterday that "The business of Sales today is nothing like the old days of 2022-2023". The reason I make that statement is that the needs, the demands and the availability of information for B2B customers today has significantly changed from that of 24 months. Add to that comment an underlying fact that those management decision makers have 20%-25% less time availability today than just two and three years ago.
- As a result, I read 5-8 McKenzie "how-to" articles every week on leadership, on Sales and on Marketing. Given the very rapid major changes in both of these disciplines, it's very difficult to find anything that's relevant that's written prior to 2023. I also find that the quality of writing and the depth of research is extraordinary...plus their articles, blogs and podcasts are free: just go to their site and check off the subjects that would interest you.
Having said that, my dog-eared copy of David Meerman Scott's iconic The New Rules of Marketing, is now in its 8th edition and is still highly relevant given that it went through a recent major update. That...plus David himself always lives on the edge of change and exploration.
- I also read a broad mix of fiction ranging from everything James Patterson to a recent reread of The Alchemist.
On Wednesday, I listened to an hour interview with Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase...and a Tufts graduate. At a point in the interview he was asked the same question that I'm asking you about your own reading, and he responded with comments on books leadership about Eisenhower, and interestingly, he mentioned the writings of Sun Tzu in The Art of War....my personal #1 book on leadership which I constantly adapt to everything about being a successful sales manager.
Enjoy the rest of your day and just maybe this short note will lead you to pick up a book this weekend!
Take out in August & September to update your own Sales playbook!
Think about taking a day out of August or September to work with us to tune up...or maybe actually write your first sales playbook.
Our free how-to ebooks for general ideas:
"Writing the Winning Sales Plan"
"Writing the Winning Business Plan"
"Writing the Winning Marketing Plan"
We facilitate ideas on structure, models, process funnels, productivity tools and how to recruit, hire and onboard the best people. We're real salesguys who continue to play and coach the game every day.
Connect with me any time at jack@derbymanagement.com and let's discuss.