Five Business Books that Changed My Framework

These are the Five Books that Changed My Framework and showed me how to bring authentic creativity to my clients and myself!

(1) The Way of the Accidental Entrepreneur: The Practical Path for Growing a Business that Fits "Just Right" by Molly Gordon (BizJam08 speaker and fellow Biznkiker)

(2) The Art of War: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield reviewed on my helpful books blog [http://helpfulbooks.wordpress.com] and here on Biznik.

(3) Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work that You Love by Barbara Winter (fellow Bizniker)

(4) Nichecraft: Using Your Specialness to Focus Your Business, Corner Your Market, and Make Customers Seek You Out by Lynda Falkenstein

(5) The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund Stone Zander (I've actually used this very simple book when teaching "Intro to Logic" at the University level)

All of these books speak to people who want to bring who they are to what they do. The deal is, when we know who we are we know what we have to offer. This is what I have learned by reading these books:

A. Know yourself well and continue to understand who you are and how you work best. Guess what? You get to keep working on this the rest of your life and it will be fun and profitable.

B. With self-knowledge and understanding, convey what you have to offer in a way that's natural to articulate (ONLY when asked).

C. Do not try to be all things to all people. People who are liked by everyone never take a stand. Always being eager-to-please can be a real turn-off to clients and people in general.

D. Relax into who you are and your "just right" clients will come to you.

E. Create space for clients to share what they need and how they want to be treated . . . think of it as making room on a chalkboard for them to let you know what they need.

F. Trust that your talents will match the needs of those who need it and, as you meet people, your style will attract those who want to work with it (even without your making a big pitch).

G. Know that you can be of service in a natural way. No need to grasp, hunt, trick, tackle or hook people into hiring you. Creating relational safety is key. Think of drawing out a little kitty who is hiding underneath an idling car; you can't bully them or hit them with all you've got and expect to be friends in the future.

H. Believe there is a source/force-for-good that works in mysterious ways and that it "pays" to go with the flow of this fact. We do not, and never did, have control over people, places and things and life will teach us this in good time.

I. If you're finding yourself stuck a lot, please get a mentor or someone who has worked through the ups and downs and predictably stuck places in the life of a new soloprenuer.

J. Know why you are in your particular business, how does it fit in your overall understanding of the good life?--is it about being good for you, getting lots of goodies, or being good for you and your loved ones, good for all involved, or extending "the good" into a larger world? BTW: None of these authors makes you think that they have the right answers in life--that wisdom is for you to uncover.

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These authors offer the reader pointed questions that force them to reframe their mission in a way that is practical as well as personally congruent. Each book invites the reader to take concrete action steps and to build in accountability rituals with an ally in order to help you "go forward" not just in your new thinking but in your day-to-day life. All of these books instigate risk-taking and challenge the solopreneur to take the solo one step further by consistently building helpful relationships.

Gordon's advice offers a very practical framework, she sees your business like a garden and sees an entrepreneur as a gardener--one who "gets over her/himself" and gets to work attending to the garden of growing their business." Gordon appreciates ideas proffered by some of the "law of attraction" bunch, you know, the ones' who keep sharing "the secret" to manifesting wealth? But she sees their limitations in terms of smart business practices. Gordon writes, 

"They're terrific for inspiration and encouragement, but while the ideas are good, the instruction manual is missing. When was the last time you heard a guru explain how to set prices or write a web page?"  

Each author has had some form of personal transformation in their life (a loss of some kind, addiction, a hard road or rough turn, lots and lots of mistakes, etc). Each one came to the realization that they needed to face their fears of being a failure. They had to make the decision to be bold and make a living doing something that felt right to them, or be willing to return to a life that was too small.

Each author had an experience, (or more than one), that brought them back to the basics of their mission in life. Now that they are older and wiser, they want to help the "up-and-comer" to skillfully negotiate--with integrity and joy--the business world of the 21st century.

Impressive educations certainly do not make the person, as a matter of fact both Pressfield and Gordon claim that most of their credentials have come from the School of Hard Knocks (SHK). Still, many of these authors have been contributors to Harvard and/or Stanford University School of Business.

I can't wait to hear what other people consider their favorite business book reading. I want to know what books have changed your life or, at least, your sense of yourself as a solopreneur.

P.S. I think more of us could be writing up what we've learned and sharing that with other people. As Winter says, "Why not be a gatherer of all that's out there in your field of interest. You can self-publish all your tip sheets as The Best of What's Out There on X." And who better to call than your friendly self-publishing coach?