Business Books That Have Helped Me: Part 1
When I left undergrad, I had some professional milestones that I wanted to hit before 30. As of the writing of this post, I’m <5 months away from that point in my life. I wanted:
- To have my own office;
- At minimum be a Director; and
- most importantly: be someone that makes others around me better.
Check. Check. Check? Last one really isn’t my call, but I hope I’m doing the best I can.
I’ve thankfully had the exposure to a wide variety of jobs. I’ve worked in automotive care, multiple restaurants, moved patients around hospitals, worked in an operating room, at a tech company, short time with Postmates (interesting), law firm, large well known entertainment company, and for the past two years at an aerospace company. I haven’t stopped working since I was 16, and I’m thankful for it. Even continued to work as much as humanly possible through my entire three years of law school, which was highly ill advised. My life, my rules, baby.
Numerous things got me to accomplish my professional goals. Those experiences have compiled into the person I am today, but I also highly value books. Not just any books, but the ones of those who have been there, done that. Whether you're starting out your career, or looking for that next leap here are my absolute favorites in order of importance.
Extreme Ownership — Jocko Willink and Lief Babin
I recommend that anyone with a pulse read this book. This one sits in my office with pride.
I love learning from those who have, “been there, done that.” Jocko Willink and Leif Babin are two gentleman that have done exactly that. They are Navy SEALs who led heroes during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and experienced the extremes of serving that role.
The United States Department of Defense is the largest employer in the world, and just like any organization that employs people, there are bosses. In steps these two gentleman: Mr. Willink and Mr. Babin. They adapted their war time experiences into an epic playbook of how leaders take ownership, evaluate their own decisions, and thereby make those around them great. Where a boss may make a decision that results in the loss of a customer as a worse case scenario, these two’s decisions may have resulted in the loss of life.
My Biggest Takeaway: Don’t expect others to always understand your communication. Be sure to take ownership of any sort of project you have and explain as much as possible. Assuming everyone is on the same page is very dangerous and can lead to big issues down the road.
Also, take ownership when the time calls for it. This is an essential skill for true leaders. If there are issues in your department, then they start at the top. Take a look in the mirror, pal.
The 4 Hour Work Week — Tim Ferris
Never in my life have I ever made so many annotations in a non-academic book — by that I mean one that was required reading in school. Because after all, this is academic in a sense that Mr. Ferris pursued writing this book in lieu of obtaining his MBA.
This book is basically a lot of common sense of how you should go about conducting your business. There’s a lot of “ah-hah” moments, yet Tim Ferris has reduced the jumbled thoughts in your head into a readable compendium of business intelligence.
My Biggest Takeaway: Of course I’d love to get to the point where I’m literally working 4 hours a week, but for now — batching. As my responsibilities have continued to increase, it’s been essential that I learn to batch my time and give 100% focus to whatever project is in front of me. Batching is the idea of blocking your time in increments based on the task at hand. This is especially great for e-mails. Checking your e-mail all of the time can be distracting and actually counter productive. You can in fact not check your e-mail and keep your job and business afloat.
ReWork — Jason Fried &David Heinemeier Hansson
“If given a choice between investing in someone who has read ‘Rework’ or has an MBA, I’m investing in ‘Rework’ every time.” — Mark Cuban
That was enough for me to hop on Amazon and buy it ASAP.
Rework is all about keeping everything you do to a minimum. Whether its creating the minimum product to market, keeping meetings short and with only those who need to be a part of them, and believing in everything that you’re doing — the why? (this and Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” were inspirations for my reflection of “Why I Exercise” post). Although it’s a focus on your own business, it’s easily adaptable to anyone.
My Biggest Takeaway: “Scratch your own itch.” This chapter is about focusing on creating something that you’re truly interested in. I believe this has had the biggest impact on the quick progression of my career. I’ve always put myself in a position to evaluate problems, and solve them. When I put a solution in place, I’m scratching my own itch. The process is exactly how I would go about doing it, which allows me to develop a passion for the project. Sure, there are instances of push back, but if you truly believe in what you’re doing, it’s easy to continue pushing forward your agenda.
