I love to read. It wasn’t always that way. We were made to read in 1st grade and I hated it. However, all that changed in 2nd grade. That was when we were able to pick something from the prize box when we read so many pages. I couldn’t tell you a single book that I read that year, but boy do I remember those baseball cards that I picked out and how it motivated me to become a better reader. My teacher allowed me to read football books, baseball books, detective books, really any kind of book that I was interested in.. I read books that interested me … and, yeah I started my huge baseball card collection. Fast forward to present day and I am still reading books. My shelves may be full of books, but unlike many professors or business people, the books on my bookshelves aren’t just for looks, they have all been read. As 2019 approaches, I realized that I need a new batch of books to get me through the year as I ride the stationary bike at the YMCA or read right before falling asleep. Here are the 19 books that I plan on reading in 2019. I just went through Amazon and put them in my shopping cart and can’t wait for them to arrive. I will give you a quick summary of why I am wanting to read each book. Keep in mind, I am not saying these books are good books, like my previous articles Books for Coaches, Books for Leaders, Recommended Books for 2018, Underrated Books for Leaders but rather that these are the ones that I want to read for various reasons. I hope that they are good,otherwise I will have to toss the book and Mrs. Johnson might not give me credit for it thus denying me the next great baseball card from the prize box.
[Read more…]Episode 098: Leaving the Corporate 9-to-5 with Anna Lundberg
Anna Lundberg is the author of the book, “Leaving the Corporate 9-to-5”, a book that compiles the stories of 50 people who have left their corporate jobs and have found success by doing so. She is also the Founder of the company, One Step Outside.
Anna used to work for P&G for more than 6 years and has been recognized as one of P&G Alumni’s “40 under 40”. After leaving P&G, Anna built her own startup to focused on providing digital marketing consulting to beauty and luxury brands like Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, and Hugo Boss.
Today, Anna helps people who want to achieve meaningful success in their personal and professional lives by setting clear objectives, balancing their ambitions at work with their priorities at home, and managing their time and energy effectively. She helps people create business and build the lifestyle they love.
- How to leave your corporate 9-to-5 job
- Reimagining success
- Addressing fears
- Taking more vacations
- … and so much more!!!
Episode 082: Travel Expert Dayvee Sutton
Dayvee Sutton is an award-winning journalist covering a range of beats: travel, sports, entertainment, movies, and a number of lifestyle topics for television and digital media. You can watch Dayvee on-air as a national lifestyle and travel correspondent on HLN, and the talk shows “Sister Circle Live“, “The Jet Set TV“, “Coffee with America“, and in airports across the country as a travel tips expert for CNN Airport Network. She also hosts the adventure travel show “Beyond the Usual”
Dayvee started her broadcast career in radio working weekends as a producer for the number one station in Atlanta, then quickly moved to TV as a features reporter and producer for Falconsvision and Comcast Sports. Over the years she has built credentials doing work for ESPN, CNN Atlanta and CNN London, Turner Sports (TNT, TBS and NBA TV/NBA.com), where she earned two National Sports Emmys. She’s co-hosted a daily talk show for four years at NBC Charlotte and was the only female sports anchor and reporter in Atlanta, while at the CBS affiliate.
On the digital side, Dayvee has been a national contributor to sites like U.S. News and World Report, AOL, Yahoo, ESPN, The Root, NBA.com, Black Enterprise, NBC News and USA TODAY Network. She also has worked with brands like Firestone, Lifeproof, Nikon, Coke and Staples.
Dayvee is a part of the new wave of entrepreneurial journalists. Through her production company Dream Network Media she produces original content for TV networks, news outlets, online platforms and mobile applications. She’s created popular websites like (the now defunct) NBA fan site NBA FrontPage and the lifestyle guide, The Daily Affair. She also produced the emotional documentary “What We Told Our Sons: Four Families React to the Trayvon Martin Verdict”.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- How she measures success and how risk plays a part in it
- Her career path in journalism and TV
- The place that has had the most impact on her
- Getting upgraded on flights or hotels
Episode 071: Shoshanna Gabriel, Christian Inspirational Fiction Writer
Shoshanna Gabriel is a Christian inspirational fiction writer. She has a very unique story as she was was previously known as Shoshanna Evers, a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who wrote erotic fiction from 2009-2015 and was published by large New York publishing houses. At the end of 2015, after much thought and prayer, she changed her life and career path to be for God’s glory completely, giving up a new six-book contract and literary agent for the privilege of starting over to write for God’s glory as Shoshanna Gabriel.
No one expected a Jewish erotic romance author from New York to move to the country and find Jesus, least of all Shoshanna herself… but God has a sense of humor, and that’s what happened. She took 2016 off from publishing to raise her new boy/girl twins(!), and started writing sweet Christian inspirational cowboy romance novels set in north Idaho, where she lives with her husband, homeschools their three kids, wrangles three big dogs named after flowers, and takes in the wonder of the incredible evergreen-covered mountain landscape.
While published as Shoshanna Evers, Amazon had listed her as one of the “Most Popular Authors in Romance,” as well as one of the “Most Popular Authors in Contemporary Romance”. Reviewers have said Shoshanna has “…beautiful writing, and a truly imaginative and wonderfully descriptive storyline” (Night Owl Reviews) with stories where “the plot is fresh and the pacing excellent, the emotions…real and poignant.” (The Romance Studio). She hopes to bring the gift of storytelling that God blessed her with to her new inspirational books written under the Gabriel name.
Shoshanna used to work as a syndicated advice columnist in NY and a registered nurse, but now she’s a full-time author, home-schooling mom, and the co-founder of SelfPubBookCovers.com, the world’s leading marketplace of high-quality, affordable premade book covers for indie authors, available instantly.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- Writing fiction stories and the life of a writer
- Conversion from Orthodox Jew to Born-Again Christian
- Going from writing best-selling erotic novels to Christian romance novels
- How authors can get high-quality and low priced book covers
Episode 070: Tim Elmore, President of Growing Leaders
Dr. Tim Elmore is the founder and president of “Growing Leaders”. He founded it in 2003. Growing Leaders is a global nonprofit that encourages and equips young adults to take on real-life opportunities and challenges in the classroom, in their careers, and in the community.
Growing Leaders does this by partnering with organizations to teach practical life and leadership skills using real stories, intriguing images, and engaging experiences that are relatable and memorable. The process and resources are grounded in research and a unique understanding of the emerging generations, and recognize that leading others at any level begins with learning how to lead yourself.
Tim spends his time teaching leadership courses and speaks at schools, universities, business, and athletic programs. He has trained thousands of leaders in partnership with nationally renowned schools and organizations like the San Francisco Giants, Stanford University, Virginia Tech, University of Alabama Athletics, Duke University, University of Texas, Chick-fil-a, Cici’s Pizza, Delta, and more.
Dr. Elmore has also authored more than 30 books including: Habitudes®: Images that Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes, Artificial Maturity: Helping Kids Meet the Challenge of Becoming Authentic Adults, Generation iY: Secrets to Connecting With Today’s Teens & Young Adults in the Digital Age, 12 Huge Mistakes Parents Can Avoid, Life Giving Mentors, and Nurturing the Leader Within Your Child. His newest book is Marching Off The Map: Inspire Students to Navigate a Brand New World
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- How to reach this current generation of students
- What does the phrase “habitudes” mean
- What is the differences between generations
- Stories about James Bond and Jim Harbaugh
Episode 056: Jeff Brown, Host of Read to Lead Podcast
Jeff Brown is the host of the highly-acclaimed “Read to Lead” podcast. Before beginning Read to Lead, he spent 26-years in radio. Jeff even co-hosted an award-winning and nationally syndicated morning show from 2002 to 2008.
The Read to Lead Podcast began in 2013. Since then I’ve been fortunate to interview a number of New York Times bestselling authors including John Maxwell, Seth Godin, Dan Miller, Daniel Pink, Simon Sinek, Chris Brogan (not once but twice), Gary Vaynerchuk and Liz Wiseman among others.
The Read to Lead Podcast has been a top #10 Business and top #3 Career podcast in iTunes, is an iTunes Essentials podcast (Book Lovers), and has twice been nominated Best Business Podcast. Read to Lead has been featured in Entrepreneur, Inc., SethGodin.com, ChrisBrogan.com, Goins Writer, Social Media Explorer, Nashville Business Journal, the Tennessean, and more.
Jeff also helps mentor and teach people how to host their own shows. Since January 2014, Jeff has leveraged his radio background to coach numerous podcasters, helping dozens create, launch, grow and monetize their shows. People like Brendan Hufford, Liz Covart, Harry Duran, Darrell Darnell, Ben Castleberry and Nicole Welch have all been clients. He has even had the opportunity to consult with the US government and several multi-million dollar companies the last few years.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- His early career as a radio DJ
- How he got started in podcasting
- Who is on Jeff’s bucket list of guests
- Some of his memorable guests like Alan Alda, John Maxwell, and Seth Godin
- Advice for people who might want to start their own podcast
Episode 051: Best-Selling Author of the “Go-Giver” Bob Burg
Bob Burg was named by The American Management Association as one of the 30 Most Influential Leaders. He is a much sought-after speaker at company leadership and sales conferences on topics at the core of the Go-Giver books. A former television personality and top-producing salesperson, Bob has shared the platform with some of today’s top business leaders, broadcast personalities, coaches, athletes, and political leaders, including a former U.S. president. In addition to coauthoring the bestselling Go-Giver books with John David Mann, Bob has authored a number of popular books, including the critically acclaimed, Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts Into Sales and Adversaries into Allies. His total book sales are well over a million copies. Bob is one of Inc.’s 100 Great Leadership Speakers. Richtopia named him one of the Top 200 Most Influential Authors in the World.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- Various definitions and ideas of what success really is
- What a Go-Giver actually is – as opposed to a go-getter
- How a “drive-by” mentor changed his outlook on life
- A bad first question that most of us ask
18 for ’18: 18 Books To Read In 2018
“It’s what you read when you don’t have to that will determine who you are when you can’t help it.” (Oscar Wilde)
“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” (Margaret Fuller)
It’s often said that all great leaders are readers. John C. Maxwell talks about leadership being about influence, nothing more and nothing less. If this is the case, then in order to be more influential it makes sense that you would want to gain knowledge and a greater understanding of the world that you know and that you don’t know.
Episode 044: Lolly Daskal, Top-50 Leadership & Management Expert
Lolly Daskal is the go-to executive leadership coach for Fortune 500 companies. She has been named by Inc. Magazine as a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert. The Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of “The Most Inspiring Woman in the World”. She regularly writes for the Harvard Business Review, Inc, Fast Company, Huffington Post, and Psycholgoy Today. Her newest book is called The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness. It has appeared on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller charts. Lolly is the founder of Lead from Within, a successful leadership firm that offers custom made programs in leadership and organizational development. Lolly also has more than 1 million followers on twitter.
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- How Lolly is able to read a book every day
- Why leadership is important for everybody
- What to do when you have a gap in your life and leadership
- How to measure success when working with Fortune 500 companies