Brush Up With Brand-New Books

Reading books is essential to short- and long-term success. I have written five books, and just the process of writing the books made me remember things that I had forgotten. Some seasoned executives feel there is no point in reading when you have "experienced it all." That's nonsense, and here's an example of a guy who knew that.

I once worked for Warren "Pete" Musser, the founder of Safeguard Scientifics, who either co-founded or was the first investor in companies such as Comcast, Novell and QVC, to name a handful. When I worked for Pete, he was in his 70s, and he read a new book every month. If this guy didn't know it all, then no one does; there's always something else you can learn. I have found from talking to successful leaders that they are all voracious readers.

Here are some of the books I am reading that I hope will improve my performance:

Ladies Who Launch, by Victoria Colligan, Beth Schoenfeldt and Amy Swift. Why should a guy read a book targeted to women? Well, I have two daughters, and I think entrepreneurship is the safest way to make a living because you can control your financial future. Plus, it lets women have both a career and a family. I also read this book because I wanted to understand how women viewed business and how I could target them as potential clients. There are a lot of good, inspirational stories in the book, along with practical information.

Beyond Buzz, by Lois Kelly. This book provides insights backed by case studies on how to communicate the value of your product or service in a way that makes people talk about it. The best recent example I can recall is Apple's iPhone: secretaries in my synagogue were talking about buying them! It's not about spending millions on advertising; it's about understanding what makes the market take notice.