masinternationalreviews-blog

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

Harvard Business Review on CEO’s without degrees

How CEOs Without College Degrees Got to the Top

Employers are continually upping the ante on academic credentials. Nearly a third of jobs that once required only a high-school diploma now demand a four-year college degree, while one in four jobs that used to require a bachelor’s degree now require a master’s degree. Meanwhile, 75% of Americans believe that higher education is unaffordable and out of reach.

Employers often overvalue pedigree out of desire to play it safe — but hiring mistakes still abound. Meanwhile, a huge number of potential superstars are being overlooked.

For over 20 years, we have helped boards and CEOs avoid painful mistakes as they groom and select CEOs and C-suite leaders. In the process of that work, we assembled a data-set of more than 17,000 C-suite executive assessments and our CEO Genome Project studied 2,600 in-depth to analyze who gets to the top and how. We have seen firsthand that an Ivy-draped diploma doesn’t guarantee someone will be good at the job, but even so, we were surprised to uncover that 8% of CEOs in our sample did not complete college at all.

Getting to the top is never easy, but it is especially hard when you lack the hallmarks of prestige that can wow potential employers. So how did the 8% of our CEO sample make it to the top without a college degree? The CEOs who overcame the odds made themselves look like a safe bet by excelling in three ways.

Become a proven insider: In the absence of ready-made credibility that comes with academic credentials, you can establish bona fides by gaining deep industry-specific and firm-specific knowledge. 89% of CEOs without college degrees “grew up” in the same industry where they served as CEO, and spent 40% more time in the industry where they became CEO compared to their peers with college degrees. Employers often feel safer hiring industry and company insiders. These CEOs’ deep knowledge and relationships gave them a platform for success that more than compensated for lack of formal education.

CEOs without a degree also stayed on average 25% longer in roles and held 13% fewer roles than their college-graduating CEO peers. It typically took 15% longer for them to get to the CEO seat.

In 1970, Bob started his career as a code breaker during the Vietnam War. In his first job out of the military, he worked for an alarm company. By holding multiple positions in two companies and working alongside four different CEOs, Bob built up sufficient trust and credibility to extinguish any concerns over his credentials. His crowning achievement was turning around and selling a security company which had only a few thousand dollars left in the bank, and which had been written down as an investment by the owners when he took it over. The company was sold for nearly $50 million. His deep industry knowledge helped him take the company through a nine-year transformation where he consolidated operations, acquired 24 businesses, and reduced bad debt by 88%, all while doubling revenue.

If you don’t have a strong track record in a single company or industry, you will likely have better luck at smaller companies than large ones. We have found that small businesses are open to a much broader range of educational backgrounds and pedigrees, in part because the available talent pool is often thinner. Finally, there’s always the option of starting your own company. CEOs who don’t have a college degree are twice as likely to be company founders as CEOs who do.

Overindex on results. CEOs who get to the top without a college degree let their outsized results speak for themselves. As we shared in What Sets Successful CEOs Apart, reliability is one of four CEO Genome behaviors that differentiates successful CEOs — and the only one that also doubles your chances of getting hired into the role.

One of the CEOs we studied, “Mark,” had been accustomed to being underestimated and thrived on exceeding people’s expectations. When he started out his career as a truck driver, a competitor noticed that he was delivering three truck-loads a day rather than the expected one daily load. “That was unheard of,” Mark said. “So he asked me to come work for him.” In his first sales job, he again delivered the same outsized results. Although his colleagues were expected to grow their divisions’ sales by 5% to 10%, his boss challenged him to grow his division by 30% and promised that anything over 10% would be returned as a bonus. Undaunted, Mark grew his division by 60% and expanded the company’s footprint from a single city to 13 states. With a laser-like focus on driving results, Mark went from truck driver to CEO of a $50 million business in less than two decades.

Mark’s success derived from the fact that he got things done — and got noticed for them. The majority (56%) of CEOs without college degrees in our survey came up through sales and marketing. Numbers speak louder than credentials, and it’s easier to get noticed in roles that drive measurable topline results for the business.

Interestingly, the CEOs without college degrees had almost twice the rate of military experience than the overall pool of CEOs we analyzed. In the absence of a college degree, military experience can offer opportunities to learn important skills and demonstrate results in early leadership experiences.

Be a talent magnet. The CEOs without degrees that we analyzed were more likely than their peers to proactively surround themselves with strong talent and lean on the team to contribute expertise. They were humble, and more open to soliciting ideas from all types of people, regardless of status or rank.

We met Brian when he became CEO of a $350 million staffing company. His recipe for success? Banking on strong performers and seeking out big ideas — at every level of the organization. Soon after he hired a new administrative assistant, she suggested an idea that landed the biggest contract in the industry’s history. Earlier in his career at a different company, Brian started a practice of asking his customers to name the most talented people they knew in the industry. Although a customer named someone who was much more senior and made significantly more money than Brian, he convinced that person to join his team. “He runs one of their most profitable branches to this day.”

This kind of focus on building a strong team goes a long way. In contrast, we were intrigued to uncover that the CEOs who saw “independence” as their defining character trait were twice as likely to underperform compared to other CEOs.

Each of us faces our own formidable hurdles on the way to the top. While the CEOs we studied surmounted the extra obstacle of not having gone to college, we think their career paths can provide lessons to other leaders regardless of their level of education. We will all do a better job if we learn our business deeply, focus on delivering results, and learn to lean on others.

https://hbr.org/2018/02/how-ceos-without-college-degrees-got-to-the-top

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

Top 10 Must Read Articles From 2017

As we settle into the new year and reflect upon 2017, we think about all of the things we learned, accomplished and even failed. There was some great advice, tips and tricks to help get us through the year. Trying to sort through them can be daunting. That’s why we complied this list of our top 10 from 2017.

5 Phases You Should Use Every day –  Many people believe that being able to interact with people in person is just as important as the things you do, or how you dress. While the things we read, how we dress, and our online presence are important, they only paint a portion of the picture. These phrases will certainly improve your standing with others.

7 Rules for Making a Great First Impression – No matter the setting, a first impression is important. After all you only 1 first impression. Business Insider has shown us tips that make that first impression go well.

Weekend Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs –  Entrepreneurs don’t stop working just because the clock struck 5:00 on Friday afternoon. They have to work even on the weekend, but this work may seem odd at first glance. In reality, the work is more of a habit. This list outlines the common habits of successful entrepreneurs.

Be A Leader Not a Boss – We have all worked for someone that was a really good leader, and we have all had a boss. Understanding the difference between the two can help you become a better boss and effectively a leader in your industry.

9 Habits That Will Help You Build Wealth on A Small Salary – We have all experienced that moment of wondering where all our money went and we just got paid. However, you don’t have to be rich to save and build wealth. Here are some tips to build your wealth with out having to live on rice and beans.

How to Boost Creativity in Your Team – Creative individuals are able to help solve problems and think of solutions better than someone who is not as creative. This article highlights the benefits of having creative thinkers on your team and how to find them in the interview process. It also highlights ways to increase your own creativity.

5 Communication Strategies for People Who Don’t Like Talking – Are you an introverted entrepreneur? You may have an advantage over your extroverted counterparts, as long as you learn how to. Here we learn how to turn being an introvert into and asset.

Great Questions to Ask During a Job Interview – At one time or another, we have all been sitting in an interview being asked all sorts of questions about ourselves and our experience. Usually, the interviewer will ask you if you have any questions for them. When given this opportunity be prepared. Here is a list of questions to ask and how to interpret the responses.

9 Books Bill Gates Thinks You Should Read – Bill Gates has become extremely successful. One thing that he admitted to was reading on a regular basis. Here are some of his favorite books that he thinks everyone should read.

Tips for Starting the Week Off Right – Monday’s come around every week and we can’t hide from them. But starting the week out with the right mindset will kick start your week into the right direction. Here are some tips to de-stress your Monday and streamline your routine.

MAS INTERNATIONAL offers a full spectrum of outsourced solutions and service offerings to help organizations empower their business.

​Servicing Phoenix, AZ and the surrounding area; MAS International increase​s output and communication while optimizing business performance by helping you overcome cost and other perceived complexities.

To keep up with everything ​MAS International, follow the brand on Instagram @masinternationalaz and Facebook @​masinternationalaz, or visit www.masinternationalaz.com

https://masinternational.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/top-10-must-read-articles-from-2017/

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

10 Steps To Achieve Any Goal

Success.com gives us simple steps to help us achieve our goals for 2018.

10 Steps to Achieve Any GoalAccountability powers you toward your goals, and these guidelines for unleashing its power will get you over the rainbow to what you want.

Roger Connors

Tom Smith

January 12, 201535.9k

Heart. Intelligence. Courage.

They’re all valuable traits, but they pale in comparison to what each of us needs most in the quest to total life success: Personal accountability is No. 1.

We first introduced our powerful accountability philosophy to the world over two decades ago in a New York Times best-seller, The Oz Principle. Since then, millions of people have come to know us as “the Oz guys.”

Why Oz? As it turns out, the perfect metaphoric backdrop for our timeless principles is a timeless story, one that we both loved as kids.

Surely you will recall meeting Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, based on L. Frank Baum’s classic children’s novel. All of the main characters are thrust into despairing circumstances beyond their control. A tornado rips Dorothy from her Kansas farm and hurls her against her will to a strange fantasy world. The Scarecrow lives a stagnant life amid corn and crows because his creator skimped on brains. The Tin Man is rusted in place, unable to act because he lacks the heart to move. And the lovable Cowardly Lion? He lacks courage and nerve, and therefore lives a life well below his potential.

Feeling victimized by shortcomings and circumstances, the characters believe they cannot possibly change things on their own, so they set off on the yellow brick road to the Land of Oz in hopes of finding an all-powerful wizard who will solve all of life’s problems for them.

At the heart of their message and ours lies this one simple principle: Don’t let your circumstances define who you are and what you do.

In other words, don’t place the hope of future success in the hands of some wizard’s wand. Relying on someone or something to save you only brings a sense of victimization that paralyzes your ability to think clearly, creatively and quickly. Instead, take charge of shaping your own circumstances, and good, positive, game-changing things will begin to happen.

Related:  Use This Mind Game to Achieve Your Goals

Whether you’re looking to make wholesale changes in your life or just want to fine-tune it a little, here are 10 guidelines—highlights from our newest book, The Wisdom of Oz—that will help you unleash the power of personal accountability to take ownership for your actions, decisions, successes and failures.

1) Redefine accountability.

Does the mere mention of the word accountability make you shudder? The negative (and uninspiring) view of accountability is reinforced in the common dictionary definition: “Subject to having to report, explain or justify; being answerable, responsible.”

Staying true to yourself and your goals should not be drudgery. You must view your accountability as a gift to yourself, a voluntary mindset to ensure success, not something you’re force-feeding yourself even though you hate it.

2) Think as if your life depended on it.

When you shift to a determined, creative mindset, you begin to discover solutions for challenges that you may have believed were out of your control. If your life depended on it, would you come up with a new idea or strategy to save yourself? Absolutely.

The goal you want to achieve or the problem you want to solve probably is not a life-or-death scenario, but many creative solutions come when you put everything on the line. While your life may not be at risk, your happiness and success are.

3) When you can’t control your circumstances, don’t let your circumstances control you.

On March 22, 2012, the state army of Mali stormed the presidential palace, overthrowing the western African country’s 20-year-old democracy. In the turmoil, Islamic militants took control of two-thirds of the country and crushed the upcoming democratic elections.

It was a tragic moment when the coup happened, says Yeah Samake, mayor of the small town of Ouélessébougou, located approximately 40 miles from the chaos. “I came into my living room and completely collapsed on the couch. My wife came and kicked me. I couldn’t believe it. I told her, ‘I am looking for sympathy here. Why are you kicking me?’ She only said, ‘Get out there and go do something.’ ”

Whether you get off the couch on your own or require a little nudge from somewhere else, the point is to get out there and do something.

4) You’ve got to want it more than you don’t want it.

Everything will exact a certain price from you—energy, effort, patience, resources. It’s natural to want the good things in life without paying the price: You want to lose weight but don’t want to exercise or sacrifice your favorite foods. You want a promotion but don’t want to put in the extra hours. Success comes when you hit a tipping point and begin to desire your goal morethan you dread the cost of reaching it.

5) Don’t let gravity pull you down.

Just as massive planets produce gravity—drawing everything toward them—it seems that tough problems and challenging obstacles have enough mass to pull you away from getting what you want. This force gets bigger and stronger as the challenges get larger and tougher. Don’t give in.

Related: 5 Qualities You Need to Reach Your Biggest Goals

6) Every breakthrough requires a bold stroke.

Actor Jim Carrey grew up so poor that his family lived in a van after his father lost his job; at one point the Carreys slept in a tent on a relative’s lawn. But Carrey believed in his own future and in the things that he wanted to accomplish in his life.

As the story goes, one night early in Carrey’s struggling comic career, he drove his beat-up Toyota to the Hollywood Hills and, while overlooking Los Angeles, pulled out his checkbook and wrote himself a check for $10 million. He scribbled in the notation line “For acting services rendered” and stuck it in his wallet. In that moment, Carrey cemented his personal resolve. Over the next five years, Carrey’s promise to himself led to worldwide fame. At the peak of his career, his per-film paycheck reached $20 million.

When you discover your own internal power, you see that you have the right, the ability, even the obligation, to create your own best reality.

7) Ask for feedback.

Soliciting advice and criticism from others creates accountability.

For this to work, you will need to convince the mentor, friend, colleague or significant other whom you’re appealing to that you want to know what he really thinks. The evaluator needs to know that he won’t suffer any blowback if he is totally honest. Feedback is key to overcoming blind spots and achieving better results.

8) Ask yourself, Am I a renter or an owner?

We care more for the things we own than for the things we rent because we don’t have as much invested in things that are temporary; there’s not as much at stake. Have you ever washed a rental car? Of course not.

When you own something—whether it’s a car, a work assignment or a relationship—you make an investment, usually involving some degree of sacrifice. When you rent, you can walk away without losing anything. If you’re really committed to achieving your goal, go all in.

9) Prepare to move a lot of dirt.

Finding solutions is just like digging for gold. Have you seen the Discovery Channel reality show Gold Rush? It follows the lives of modern-day miners as they compete against time, one another and nature in hopes of striking it rich. First the miners must remove a top layer of 6 to 12 feet of dirt and rocks before the real mining even starts. Below this seemingly worthless and painful 6 to 12 feet, they hit pay dirt. The more pay dirt the miners process, the more gold they potentially find. In the end, they must move several tons of dirt to find just 1 ounce of gold. It’s hard work, but it yields rich rewards.

Their bottom-line secret to success: Keep digging.

10) Make it happen!

How do you do that? How do you really make personal accountability work for you? Wouldn’t it be easy if there were just some switch you could flip? An Easy Button you could push? Maybe an app you could use? Well, there really is a flipping magical switch-app-button. It’s called making a choice and acting on it.

You have the choice to fulfill your aspirations or wallow in the blame game and victim cycle.

True success doesn’t come from the outside but from within. There is no wizard. Taking greater personal accountability is the key to succeeding in everything you do.

https://www.success.com/article/10-steps-to-achieve-any-goal

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

Life Lessons from Buddy the Elf

Life Lessons From Buddy The Elf

We are all entitled to our own opinions, but if you don’t  think Elf is the best Christmas movie of all time, then you are just plain stupid. Not only is this movie stupidly funny, but it is one of the most quotable movies I have ever had the pleasure of viewing, right behind Mean Girls. The quotes from this movie serve two purposes: they make us laugh, and teach us valuable life lessons that can only be taught by Will Ferrell whilst wearing tights.           1.  “The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.” Or any cheer, for that matter. Have you ever been sad and then blasted, “Don’t Stop Believing,” while singing along to it in the shower, and felt sad again? No. Everyone loves a good sing-a-long. It is a proven way to make everyone’s day better.  

2. “I like to smile! Smiling’s my favorite.” And, smile, we should. Everyone should take the time to smile more. The saying goes, “a smile is a girl’s best curve,” and it's true -- no matter how uncomfortable that saying makes you feel.    

3. “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup.” Does this one even need an explanation?

4. “Buddy, the elf, what’s your favorite color?” Everyone should answer the phone like this. Buddy’s curiosity to know more about every person he meets seems juvenile, but it is also really inspiring. I am getting deep here, but we need to be less selfish. Buddy never thinks about himself, he is only worried about those around him. He’s cool.    

5. “I’m sorry I ruined your lives, and crammed 11 cookies into the VCR.” This movie came out when people were still using VCRs, and it is still teaching us lessons. This quote does not really have a lesson; I just think it's funny.    

6. “I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane Forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.” Go on adventures. Have a good story to tell.    

7. “Good news! I saw a dog today!” Be positive. Everything you experience in life is amazing. You want to know what I found amazing today? That I can type these words and someone, somewhere, will read them and, hopefully, find them entertaining. Also, that pizza is delivered. That is tangible proof that God loves us.

8. “It’s just nice to meet another human that shares my affinity for elf culture.” This one does not really have a lesson, either; it is just funny. Find good friends who share ideas with you and forget the haters, but that is a little bit of a stretch.  

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/life-lessons-buddy-elf?altdesign=socialux

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

13 Tips From The World’s Most Successful People

How To Be Successful In Life: 13 Tips From The World’s Most Successful People

No matter how old you are, where you’re from or what you do for a living, we all share something in common—a desire to be successful. Each person’s definition of success is different, however, as some may define success as being a loving and faithful spouse or a caring and responsible parent, while most people would equate success with wealth, fame, and power.

We all want to achieve success so we could live a comfortable life—have financial freedom, drive a nice car, and live in a beautiful house. However, although success can be achieved, it does not come easy.

There are a lot of tips and strategies out there on how to be successful in life, but I am still a firm believer that there is no better way to succeed than to follow that footsteps of those who have already done so. Here are 13 success tips from some of the world’s most successful and renowned people:

1.Think big.

From Michelangelo Buonarroti, Great Renaissance Artist: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

2.Find what you love to do and do it.

From Oprah Winfrey, Media Mogul: “You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job and not be paid for it.”

3. Learn how to balance life.

From Phil Knight, CEO of Nike Inc.: “There is an immutable conflict at work in life and in business, a constant battle between peace and chaos. Neither can be mastered, but both can be influenced. How you go about that is the key to success.”

4. Do not be afraid of failure.

From Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motors: “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”

5. Have an unwavering resolution to succeed.

From Colonel Sanders, Founder of KFC: “I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to something if I could. And no hours, nor amount of labor, nor amount of money would deter me from giving the best that there was in me. And I have done that ever since, and I win by it. I know.”

6. Be a man of action.

From Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance Genius :“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”

7. Avoid conflicts.

From Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of America: “The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”

8. Don’t be afraid of introducing new ideas.

From Mark Twain, Famed Author: “A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”  

9. Believe in your capacity to succeed.

From Walter Disney, Founder of Walt Disney Company: “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

10. Always maintain a positive mental attitude.

From Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of America: “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”

11. Don’t let discouragement stop you from pressing on.

From Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of America: “Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed.”

12. Be willing to work hard.

From JC Penny, Founder of JC Penney Inc.: “Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top.”

13. Be brave enough to follow your intuition.

From Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple Inc.: “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Featured photo credit:  Portrait of smart young business executive via Shutterstock

Love this article? Share it with your friends on Facebook

https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/how-to-be-successful-in-life.html?ref=facebook

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

Harvard Business Review on Training Employees

To Better Train Workers, Figure Out Where They Struggle

JUNE 30, 2017

What company would spend thousands — or even millions — of dollars, year in and year out, without knowing the return? When it comes to training and workforce development, lots of them.

In a 2014 survey, 55% of executives said a major constraint to investing in training was that they did not know how to measure success. Almost half (49%) said that it was difficult to ensure a return on investment (ROI). And in another survey, 87% said they cannot calculate quantifiable returns on their learning investments. In short, companies have little idea whether they are spending too much or not enough. This is a particularly acute issue at the entry level, where employers have come to accept that high levels of attrition and low levels of productivity and quality are normal.

The reasons for this lack of understanding are not difficult to identify. For a start, employers don’t often collect or analyze individual performance data. Nor do they quantify the cost of high employee turnover. But it is possible to do better.

The business model of Generation, a youth employment nonprofit founded by McKinsey & Company, where we both work, is based on that assertion. Launched in 2015, Generation works in five countries (India, Kenya, Mexico, Spain, and the United States). It has trained and placed 11,000 graduates into entry-level jobs in four sectors: health care, tech, retail/sales, and skilled trades.

Once these graduates are on the job, Generation measures their performance relative to peers. The metrics we track include: productivity, cost savings in recruitment and training, quality, retention, and speed to promotion. These metrics can be converted into an estimate of ROI for the employer. Employers pay Generation based on the ROI of the graduates they hire. Ultimately, our aim is that by proving the economic value of our training, Generation can charge employers enough to be entirely self-sustaining.

One key to our training is to identify ahead of time the challenges that lead employees to leave positions, which is costly for employers. By tailoring our training to those challenges, we can reduce turnover, therefore saving employers money.

For example, in the U.S. and India, we train nurse assistants for hospitals and nursing homes. These are stressful jobs, with high expectations and high turnover. Employers pay for this; we estimated the costs of high turnover at three to four months of salary per year per position.

In designing our training program, we began by identifying “breakdown” activities — tasks that differentiate high and low performers — and mapping them to ROI levers. For example, out of 30 activities that a nurse assistant may do in their day, only seven are truly breakdown activities. One such activity was the observation and reporting of changes in patients’ conditions. To do this work well, we found that nurse assistants needed to be able to combine both technical skills, such as understanding what to monitor and how to report the results, and behavioral ones, such as judgment and empathy. Generation therefore provided intensive training that integrated technical, behavioral, and mindset capabilities in the performance of each activity. Three-quarters of our training is practicum, providing hands-on practice through role playing, case studies, and simulations. Finally, we exposed participants to the job environment from the outset through sessions at our employer partners.

By concentrating on the activities that mattered the most, we were able to compress the training period to eight weeks, while preparing graduates to succeed. Our goal was to demonstrate to employers the value of this training in terms of productivity, quality, and retention — factors that can be translated into an estimate of ROI.

Analysis done by independent evaluator Gallup and our own research team found that each of Generation’s Indian nurse assistants — 97% them get job offers after the training — saved nearly 10% of a nurse supervisor’s shift time, compared with a non-Generation assistant. Employers in the U.S. and India also saw a 70% reduction in hiring and training costs, and retention at 90 days was up to 80%; the industry standard is less than 60%. Nearly 90% of supervisors say that Generation’s graduates perform on par or better than non-Generation peers.

No wonder, then, that employers are beginning to pay for Generation’s nurse assistants, moving Generation toward sustainable funding and away from reliance on philanthropic funders. In addition, employers have explored the creation of a new accelerated career path just for Generation’s nurse assistants. The model also benefits students: Graduates of the nurse assistant program see their previous incomes increase fourfold in the U.S. and sixfold in India.

Our success shows that companies should see entry-level staff as a source of value rather than cost, and should evaluate the possible ROI of a new hire and take action on that basis. The argument is not just that doing so would help young people find jobs (though it will); it can also improve performance in measurable ways. “Win-win” is an overused term in business, but in this case, the cliché fits neatly. Better, data-driven training for entry-level positions really can benefit both employees and their employers.

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

Harvard Business Review gives must reads for young leaders

11 Books Every Young Leader Must Read

John Coleman

Recently, I wrote that leaders should be readers. Reading has a host of benefits for those who wish to occupy positions of leadership and develop into more relaxed, empathetic, and well-rounded people. One of the most common follow-up questions was, “Ok, so what should I read?”

That’s a tough question. There are a number of wonderful reading lists out there. For those interested in engaging classic literature, Wikipedia has a list of “The 100 Best Books of All Time,” and Modern Library has picks for novels and nonfiction. Those interested in leadership might consult the syllabus for David Gergen’s leadership course (PDF) at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government or the syllabus his colleague Ron Heifetz uses for his course on adaptive leadership (PDF).

But if I had to focus on a short list for young business leaders, I’d choose the 11 below. I’ve only included books I’ve actually read, and I tried to compile a list that includes history, literature, psychology, and how-to. Variety is important — novels can enhance empathy; social science and history can illuminate lessons from other times and fields that might be relevant to your own; and at the very least, reading broadly can make you a more interesting conversationalist. But I have tried to make all the choices directly relevant to young businesspeople interested in leadership.

Invariably, many people will think some of the choices are poor or that the list is incomplete, but I hope it can serve as a start for young business leaders looking for literature to help them chart their careers.

Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor’s Handbook. Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 A.D., Marcus Aurelius is considered one of history’s “philosopher kings,” and his Meditations were perhaps his most lasting legacy. Never meant to be published, Marcus’ writings on Stoicism, life, and leadership were the personal notes he used to make sense of the world. They remain a wonderful insight into the mind of a man who ruled history’s most revered empire at the age of 40 and provide remarkably practical advice for everyday life. This is the translation I’ve found most accessible.

Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning. Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist who survived life in the Nazi concentration camps. Man’s Search for Meaning is really two books — one dedicated to recounting his frightening ordeal in the camps (interpreted through his eyes as a psychiatrist) and the other a treatise on his theory, logotherapy. His story alone is worth the read — a reminder of the depths and heights of human nature — and the central contention of logotherapy — that life is primarily about the search for meaning — has inspired leaders for generations.

Tom Wolfe, A Man in Full. Tom Wolfe founded the New Journalism school and was one of America’s most brilliant writers of nonfiction (books and essays like The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test) before he became one of her most notable novelists. Often better known for his portrait of 1980s New York, The Bonfire of the Vanities, A Man in Full is his novel about race, status, business, and a number of other topics in modern Atlanta. It was Wolfe’s attempt, as Michael Lewis noted, at “stuffing of the whole of contemporary America into a single, great, sprawling comic work of art.” It’s sure to inspire reflection in burgeoning leaders.

Michael Lewis, Liar’s Poker. One of the first books I read upon graduating college, Liar’s Poker is acclaimed author Michael Lewis’ first book — a captivating story about his short-lived postcollegiate career as a bond salesman in the 1980s. Lewis has become perhaps the most notable chronicler of modern business, and Liar’s Poker is both a fascinating history of Wall Street (and the broader financial world) in the 1980s and a cautionary tale to ambitious young business leaders about the temptations, challenges, and disappointments (not to mention colorful characters) they may face in their careers.

Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. What does it take to make a great company, and what traits will young businesspeople need to lead them? Jim Collins introduced new rigor to the evaluation of business leadership in his instant classic Good to Great, with a research team reviewing “6,000 articles and generating 2,000 pages of interview transcripts.” The result is a systematic treatise on making a company great, with particularly interesting findings around what Collins calls “Level 5 Leadership” that have changed the face of modern business.

Robert Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Persuasion is at the heart of business, where leaders must reach clients, customers, suppliers, and employees. Cialdini’s classic on the core principals of persuasion is a sterling example of the cross application of psychological principles to business life. Based on his personal experiences and interviews — with everyone from expert car salesmen to real estate salespeople — Cialdini’s book is riveting and, yes, persuasive. It serves as a great introduction to other works by modern writers like Malcolm Gladwell and Steven Levitt, who translate theories from the social and physical sciences into everyday life.

Richard Tedlow, Giants of Enterprise: Seven Business Innovators and the Empires They Built. Richard Tedlow taught one of my favorite business school classes, The Coming of Managerial Capitalism, and this book is something like a distillation of a few of the high points of that class. Giants of Enterprise chronicles the lives of some of the businesspeople — Carnegie, Ford, Eastman, Walton — who shaped the world we live in today. It’s a brief introduction to the figures and companies who built modern business for the young business leader seeking to shape the future.

Niall Ferguson, The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World. Financial capital is at the heart of capitalism. Any young person aspiring to business leadership should understand the financial world we live in. Ferguson is one of our era’s preeminent popular historians, and The Ascent of Money traces the evolution of money and financial markets from the ancient world to the modern era. It’s an essential primer on the history and current state of finance.

Clayton M. Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Clay Christensen was recently ranked the world’s greatest business thinker by Thinkers50, and his breakout book was a thoughtful tome on innovation and “disruption” called The Innovator’s Dilemma. All of Christensen’s books are essential reads, but this is perhaps the most foundational for any young leader wondering how to drive business innovation and fight competitors constantly threatening to disrupt his or her business model with new technology.

Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey’s book represents the best in self-help. His advice — about prioritization, empathy, self-renewal, and other topics — is both insightful and practical. Seven Habits can be useful to the personal and professional development of anyone charting a career in business.

Bill George, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership. A hallmark of next-generation business leaders is a focus on authenticity. Bill George has pioneered an approach to authentic leadership development articulated well in his second book, True North. George (who, full disclosure, I’ve coauthored with before) conducted more than 100 interviews with senior leaders in crafting the book, and offers advice for young leaders on knowing themselves and translating that knowledge into a personal set of principles for leadership.

So what are your picks? Aside from a list for “young business leaders,” are there others you’d propose?

John Coleman is a coauthor of the book, Passion & Purpose: Stories from the Best and Brightest Young Business Leaders. Follow him on Twitter at @johnwcoleman.

https://hbr.org/2012/10/11-books-every-young-leader-mu

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

Check out this article in honor of World Book Day

World Book Day: The best business books you need to read this yearShare

It’s World Book Day - and while the little ones dress up as their favourite book character, why not take it as an opportunity to indulge in some reading yourself?

To help you get ahead, we’ve sourced some of the best business titles - to inspire you to get moving, help you solve problems, or just take inspiration from others’ successes.

1. Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers - By Tim Ferriss

Have you been putting off launching that new business - or you don’t know how make the most of what you have now? This New York Times bestseller is full of life hacks, perfect for those who want to boost their productivity.

The book is divided into three sections - Healthy, Wealthy and Wise. Each features some nuggets from successful public figures the author has interviewed of the years. Ferriss is also author of The Four-Hour Work Week and The Four-Hour body - both of which were best-sellers.

2. Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days - By Braden Kowitz, Jake Knapp, and John Zeratsky

Three partners at

Google

Ventures provide a unique five-day process for solving tough problems. They reckon more than a hundred companies have already given this a go and have seen results. Whether your company is a big brand or a small firm, this book helps you find the most important place to focus your efforts.

3. Hit Makers: How Things Become Popular - By Derek Thompson

Want to know what makes the world’s biggest brands so popular? Derek Thompson reveals what every every person looking to promote themselves or their business wants to know - what makes a hit. The books explores the economics and psychology of why certain things become popular - it might just give you an idea for you next project.

4. The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World - By Brad Stone

This book explains how a new generation of entrepreneurs are are rewriting the rules of business and changing the way we live our lives - for better of course. We find out how Silicon Valley tech giants came to be, and how they've changed the world from the day they started.

5. Unshakeable: Your Guide to Financial Freedom - By Tony Robbins

Following his New York Times bestseller Money: Master the Game, many people have come to rely on advice from Tony Robbins, who has been described as “the high priest of human potential”. He returns with action plans not only to survive, but thrive through each change in the stock market. The book is billed as a detailed guide designed for investors, which offers steps that to protect investments while maximising wealth.

http://www.cityam.com/260151/world-book-day-best-business-books-you-need-read-year

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

Forbes Reviews some Excellent Reading Material

12 Books Every Business Person Must Read

Mike Templeman ,  

CONTRIBUTOR

I write about startups, scaling service based businesses and marketing  

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Times have changed.

In 1865, Horace Greeley wrote that in order to have success, enterprising individuals should "Go West, and grow up with the country." Now, with the country fully grown, that advice doesn't mean that much.

Still, there is a lot of unexplored territory out there. You just have to look in the right places: inside a book. I might be old-school, but I still believe in the power of great books. And so I offer a new directive: Go to the bookstore, ambitious business woman! To the library, businessman in training! Get the information you need to be successful.

Not sure where to get started? Here is a short list of 12 great books that I believe every business person must read. I decided not to list How to Win Friends and Influence People because, well, that’s a given.

But beyond the obvious classic, here are a few that you might not have thought of. There are also a few that you wouldn't expect in a list of books for business, but they are great nonetheless.

The Effective Executive. Peter F. Drucker, 1967.

Execution is key for Drucker, and that means getting "the right things done." An oldie but a goodie, this classic still occupies the shelves of many leaders. In it, he explains how although some are natural-born leaders, there are skills that can be developed to make a better executive.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. Jim Collins, 2001

Are you ready to take your company to the next level? Citing five years of research into 6,000 articles and 2,000 pages worth of interviews, Collins tells you how to do it. You'll love his deep store of refreshing ideas for evaluating business leadership, including "Level 5 Leadership."

Giants of Enterprise: Seven Business Innovators and the Empires They Built. Richard Tedlow, 2003

Andrew Carnegie. Henry Ford. Sam Walton. Their shadows still tower over national commerce, and Tedlow describes the lives of these true business giants that have undoubtedly changed the world as we know it. The studious business person can learn much from this review of the struggles and successes of these world-renowned leaders.

True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership. Bill George, 2007

One major change to business leadership in recent times is the emphasis on authenticity. Rather than adopting time-worn models of stuffy leadership, George inspires readers to know themselves and create their own, tailor-made style.

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity. Hugh MacLeod, 2009

From idea doodles on the backs of cards to his own popular blog, MacLeod has ideas about everything, including standing out from your competitors and the meaning of life. His main subjects here are creativity and how to foster new ideas. A lively, illustrated guide to unleashing your ingenuity.

Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box. Arbinger Institute, 2010

Using relatable storytelling to drive the theme, the authors reveal how we refuse to see our true motives, limiting our potential success and happiness. Readers will learn how to remove this impulse and unlock greater self-awareness.

Thinking, Fast and Slow. Daniel Kahneman, 2011.

ADVERTISING

Nobel Prize winner and psychologist Daniel Kahneman breaks down our thought patterns into two sectors: the impulsive, emotional System 1 and the logical, deliberate System 2. Knowing when you are using one—when you should be using the other—could be the key to better, more effective business decisions.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Charles Duhigg, 2012

Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." In his exploration of habit, Duhigg expands on this idea, detailing how our habits are precursors for the events that make up our life—or business—success story.

The Wisdom of Failure: How to Learn the Tough Leadership Lessons Without Paying the Price. Laurence G. Weinzimmer and Jim McConoughey, 2012

Are you looking forward to making mistakes for the sake of learning valuable lessons? You won't have to with The Wisdom of Failure. In this collaborative piece, the authors prefer instead to learn by not making the mistakes of individuals and businesses they researched during a seven-year study.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. Laura Hillenbrand, 2014

The strength and resiliency of the human spirit provides lessons in all walks of life, including the world of business. Hillenbrand's recounting of the story of Louie Zamperini is inspirational and instructive, reminding us all that we have courage far beyond our understanding.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things. Ben Horowitz 2014

Running your own business is hard, and Horowitz doesn't shy away from that fact. To help other entrepreneurs through their journey, he shares the story of when his business nearly failed, how he staved off defeat, and how you can do hard things too.

This is one of my personal favorites. I read it often because it reminds me that what I’m going through, as a founder, is not unique and others have succeeded in the face of similar challenges.

Zero to One. Peter Thiel and Blake Masters, 2014

When the founder of PayPal and Palantir and a lead investor of Facebook teaches a class on start-ups, you'd better take good notes. That's what Masters did while taking a class from Thiel at Stanford, and it led to a groundbreaking book about the importance of unique business ideas.

12 Books Every Business Person Must Read

[masinternationalreviews-blog]

Check out this review from Harvard Business Review

How often have you looked at the clock stunned because even though you’ve been scrambling all morning, it’s now noon and you have no idea where the time went or what you’ve actually accomplished? There are sound reasons why it’s so hard for us to stay focused — and fortunately there’s research that shows what we can do about it.

One of the most effective tactics for staying on task is to bring purpose to each moment of your work. That might sound daunting — and it does take work — but mindlessly performing tasks (think about slogging through emails or conducting meetings on autopilot) is a recipe for inefficiency, disengagement, and even poor health. On the other hand, the benefits to our productivity, well-being, and health of having a clear sense of purpose — even in our most trivial tasks — are well established. In one study of 106 male employees at a large Japanese IT firm, a higher sense of purpose as well as a sense of interdependence with coworkers was correlated with lower inflammation as well as a higher viral resistance in the bodies of the workers. Research has also shown a connection between a sense of purpose in our personal lives, and benefits including lower hypertension; reduced risk of stroke and Alzheimer’s disease; and even increased longevity.

If we are clear about what we are meant to be tackling from moment to moment, and understand what our work amounts to, our sense of purpose increases and our stress decreases. To accomplish this, we need to constantly track where we are putting our attention. This tracking is known as meta-cognition, which is a practice that allows us to tap into a sense of purpose within what might seem like the most menial of tasks. Think of this as turning on your own internal project manager.

Make Time for the Work That Matters

This isn’t always easy to do — our mind is easily pulled away from the task, conversation, or challenge at hand, especially if we find it uncomfortable — but you can improve your ability to do it with practice. For those who already take time to meditate at work, tracking your attention allows you to take what you practice in meditation and apply it to your most basic tasks.

The goal is to bring a clarity of purpose to every moment and every task, or at least a higher percentage of them (let’s not try to make ourselves crazy). Here’s how.

Act on purpose. The first step is to understand how your daily work connects to both your personal goals and the goals of the organization. Ideally you already have a sense of this and have even talked about it with your manager. But if you haven’t, it’s not too late.

Let’s start with personal goals. What do you love? What are you good at? And, of course, what were you hired to do? Get clear on why you are in this particular job, what your trajectory looks like, and how you can apply your talents to support your career aspiration. You can employ the principles of job crafting to do this: take stock of your role and reflect on which aspects of it play to your strengths.

Now for the organization’s goals. How does your job map to the overall goals of the company? You can assess this by articulating for yourself how your job contributes to the end game. For example, you may not be responsible for managing the bottom line, but you could make a list of ways that your daily decisions and contributions impact the company’s profitability. Making this tangible connection can be both clarifying and empowering.

Once you’ve done this for yourself, sit down with your boss to discuss the connections you’ve made and get their input. They may have insight into your strengths, role, and the organization’s goals that will strengthen those connections.

Map your plan. Like most people, you likely have dozens of tasks that you can be doing, so you need to understand which tasks, in what sequence, will amount to the greatest output. Create a roadmap where you identify which tasks are critical and which are less immediate. Then estimate how long it might take you to accomplish each task. With this information you can plot out your work so you know what you should be focusing on and when.

Fridays are a good time to check in with your internal project manager. How well were you able to bring your attention to each task? Did you execute the plan that you laid out for the week, bringing a sense of purpose to each activity? Remember, though, that your roadmap isn’t meant to be written in stone. In fact, planning and honing your attention should equip you with the confidence to jettison a plan, say no, cancel, or delegate if necessary so that you can consistently focus your time where it will best serve your end-goals.

Uproot your distractions. When you don’t know exactly where you should be focusing your attention, it’s easy to seek out tasks that bring an immediate sense of accomplishment but don’t actually amount to progress against your goals. For example, you may be in the habit of checking and responding to email before tackling other projects or you might focus on your inbox simply because you’re not sure what to do next. Or maybe you’re letting yourself get pulled into other people’s meetings and projects because you’re falling prey to what David Grady, TED speaker and creator of the viral video on ineffective conference meetings, calls “mindless accept syndrome.” Of course being generous to and collaborating with your coworkers is good, but not when it takes you away from what you should be working on.

By naming your distractions —  and the root cause of them — you can catch yourself and return your attention to those tasks on your priority list that will produce a greater sense of meaning.

It’s too easy to allow entire days to pass in a blur without being able to articulate what you’ve actually done. Instead, realize that your days are made up of thousands of discrete moments passing before you and you can consciously choose to make the most of them. Knowing what you are doing and why allows you to not only feel accomplishment in doing your work well, but also gives you a more fulfilling sense that your days actually matter.

https://hbr.org/2017/03/stop-mindlessly-going-through-your-work-day