Books
Some of the books we've read and got value from
We read. A lot. Here are some of the books we've got value from - quotes, brief reviews, or porcast interviews with authors. If you buy through the links, we will put all commissions to microloans to female entrepreneurs in the developing world. And as it's through bookshop.org, you'll also be supporting local independent bookshops. What's not to like!

Not quite “Don’t Look Up” – but not unlike it either
I've often seen companies (and their teams) suffer unduly from something that was foreseen, planned for, but then not averted. So many "decisions" made but then not implemented. Captured eloquently in the readable and practical "Moments of Impact" by Chris Ertel and Lisa Kay Solomon. "Most of the time, not only do leaders of ...

Team over individual favours the team and the individual
"Teams win when their individual members trust each other enough to prioritize team success over individual glory; paradoxically, winning as a team is the best way for the team members to achieve individual success." Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha's excellent book, The Alliance, is full of gems on building great teams. This ...

Great companies don’t prioritise size over mojo – Bo Burlingham
Bo Burlingham's excellent book, "Small Giants", charts the stories of companies for whom being great is more important than being big. In each case, the founders or CEOs faced very real choices between following tried and tested growth paths or doing something different and keeping their mojo. Sometimes, that meant ...

Are you doing so much that you’re crowding out what matters?
I work too much. I suspect I may be a workaholic. I keep trying to cram more into the same finite time that I had when I had less to do. But it doesn't do me good. And it doesn't help my family. I also don't believe it helps my ...

How business fits into History, Anthropology, Climate, Society and what to do about it!
"We have everything we need to fix things and make it better for everyone in the world... Perhaps not the billionaires." Can business leaders make a serious dent in climate change? Mark Maslin, UCL professor of Sustainability, company founder of Rezatec and author of "How to Save Our Planet - the ...

Choose Greatness over Size
In Bo Burlingham's magnificent book, Small Giants, he talks about a special type of company. A company that evokes a human connection. A company which, as per the subtitle of the book, chooses greatness over size. At the heart of these companies leaders have "deep emotional attachments to the business, ...

If you don’t like choosing between horrible and cataclysmic, don’t become CEO.
Hard choices often end up in one of two ugly places:
- Analysis paralysis - no decision, but just an ongoing slow pain, or
- flip-flopping decisions - often depending on who you're speaking to.

Are your people resources or sources?
"Businesses must view people not as resources but as sources. A resource is like a lump of coal; you use it and it’s gone. A source is like the sun—virtually inexhaustible and continually generating energy, light, and warmth." From Conscious Capitalism by John E. Mackey , Rajendra S. Sisodia, Bill ...

Tactics come easy once principles are in the blood.
"Tactics come easy once principles are in the blood" I love that quote from Josh Waitzkin's 'The Art of Learning'. He was applying it to how we display mastery as we learn, and I alluded to this previously when discussing how leaders who are at ease with their leadership and ...

Let’s hope all businesses come to this
"The most valuable businesses of coming decades will be built by entrepreneurs who seek to empower people rather than try to make them obsolete." I'm not as sure as Thiel is. But I'm absolutely sure that this is a choice we can make as we build businesses. From his insightful ...

4 Books to create better businesses
Does your financial duty trump your moral one as a business leader? For sure, we want to align the two if we can, but what if there is a conflict? Here are 4 books I've really enjoyed, which complement each other really well, and should be read by everyone building ...

Is your team telling you what they think or what they think you want to hear?
I had a tough decision to make, and I sought the advice of a senior member of my team. He told me what he thought. As he was more knowledgeable in that space than I was (or ever will be TBH), I went with his advice. It didn't work out ...