Category Archives: Kits Book Review Archive

The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success, by Scott Eblin, 2006.This is a wonderful, highly readable book that I picked up at the ICF International Coaching Conference in St. Louis recently. Author Scott Eblin starts with the astonishing statistic that 40 percent of new executives fail within 18 months of their promotion.

As a former Fortune 500 Human Resources executive, Eblin is now an executive coach bringing the best of coaching to his work with high-level managers. Eblin starts by encouraging us all to know when we are at our best and then to – with clear intent – choose to perform at our best.

He identifies 9 key sets of behaviors and beliefs that executives must pick up and let go of to succeed at the next level. I found it very interesting that this process of strategic choice applies equally to navigating our businesses through today’s waters of turbulent change.

I’ve already started making my check list of what I’m letting go and picking up to succeed in 2009 and beyond. What about you?

The New Rules of Marketing & PR, by David Meerman Scott, John Wiley & Sons publishers, 2007.

Judith Harlan recommended this book and it has opened my eyes to the power of using technology to connect with others and to provide on-going value to them.

Read the first chapter for an excellent introduction to what is new and how these new rules can take you to that next level. David Meerman Scott wrote this book in 2007, and despite the turbo-fast speed of change on the Web, his marketing insights hold true today.

Browse the book’s chapters on Internet-based PR, pod-casting, blogging, and social networking. Then, pick out what you think will enhance your company’s position, and either do it yourself or bring in someone with the knowledge and expertise – like Judith – to make it happen for you.

I loved the chapter on Thought Leadership. Don’t miss this one. It is fundamental to almost everything else you might do in today’s marketing arena. This concept is one that Judith has skillfully wound into my e-newsletter each month. The result? I always get a flurry of response emails after folks read my e-newsletter, most commenting on what I’ve offered in Kit’s Tip for the month.

As you revamp and take your business into 2009, go with confidence, and use technology not to distance yourself from the world, but to Connect!

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, by Thomas Friedman, Farrar, Strous & Giroux, 2005.

This book, written by an award-winning New York Times columnist, is one of my all-time favorites. It’s filled with great stories and examples of what’s going on in our world. It’s also an enjoyable read, with a captivating, story-telling style.

He explains the complex economic, political and foreign policy issues that have worked since about the year 2000 to “flatten” our world. He tells us what he means by this and then helps us tackle the questions that affect us as business owners and managers: how do we adapt to this new, flatter world?

Chapter 10 delves into how companies cope in the new world. Friedman gives us seven rules for changing and adapting, so we can flourish. Although all seven rules are intriguing, I picked out these two to incorporate into my business strategy and growth for 2009. I like them!

• Following the Starbucks model, allow your customers to customize the services they purchase from you.
• Collaboration is essential. You can’t be an expert in everything; partner with other professionals to offer maximum value to your customers.

And finally, Friedman talks about the emerging “social entrepreneur”. These people burn with a desire to make a positive social impact on the world. The flattening of our world has been their perfect platform to launch very innovative projects. Could you be one of them?