Now that you’re firmly committed to your New Year’s resolution, we thought a potpourri of different books and podcasts – thematically different – might be just the break you need from a management resource shelf with a singular focus. It’s rather like browsing through the bookstore with no specific theme in mind and settling on a book that seems intriguing or captures your fancy. We hope you like our suggestions and find them helpful. 

Books:

Impact Players - Liz Wiseman

Your business has a star, or stars, that go above and beyond. They are all in on the mission and step up for the demanding job before anyone else. Liz Wiseman has interviewed hundreds of leaders, managers and employees to determine what makes these "Impact Players" so effective. As a result, she has constructed a framework for developing the impact players' skills and mindset for yourself and the rest of your business. Find it here.

  

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin are retired U.S. Navy SEAL officers who have distilled the lessons they learned on the battlefield into 312 pages. It covers leadership, strategy, and tactics that have—literally—been battle-tested and placed in your hands to help you run a successful business from the top down. While these lessons were tested in combat, they can be universally applied in order to lead a team, execute a plan, and reorganize after a plan falls apart. A good leader is the cornerstone of a successful business. If your purpose is to "lead and win," this book is for you. Find it here. 

The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World by Dorie Clark
Small, positive changes today will significantly and positively impact the future. This is true both in business and in life. It is easy to become short-sighted as the relentless requirements of day-to-day life bear down on us. Clark helps the reader take a step back, take inventory of what they want to accomplish and set forth the framework to accomplish it. Every overnight success is a long, slow grind, but it rewards those who stick to it. Find it here. 

Podcasts:

Social Media Marketing 
The Social Media Marketing podcast, hosted weekly by Michael Stelzner, dissects the best practices to successfully employ social media marketing for small businesses. Stelzner keeps you ahead of the curve in a constantly evolving landscape by bringing in marketing experts from various industries who provide strategies for entrepreneurs to leverage social media to create revenue. Find it here. 

  

HBR IdeaCast 
From the minds of the Harvard Business Review comes the HBR IdeaCast, a podcast that features successful business leaders on topics ranging from high-pressure decision making and team building to artificial intelligence and how it affects your business. This podcast is a perfect fit if you subscribe to the Harvard Business Review. If you are an entrepreneur seeking advice on fine-tuning performance management (an episode from September 2022), this podcast demonstrates why. Find it here. 

Blogs: 

   

First Round Review
The First Round Review is an entrepreneur's guide on how to generate customers, recruit and retain talent, develop management skills, and so much more. For more than 10 years, The First Round Review has provided advice from industry experts, teaching its readers how to succeed with well-written and engaging articles. Whether you are an established CEO looking for guidance on conducting performance reviews or are a brand-new business owner looking for start-up advice, the First Round Review has you covered. Find it here.