likeable business review

I read likeable business through 12 books group, which is an online book club that features a new personal development book to read and discuss each month, and it is definitely a book that I can see myself referencing back to often in the future. This material addressed in this book is by no means a new concept, which the author fully acknowledges, however it is presented in a way that significantly makes it easier to grasp and understand why these practices need to be put into place.

Likeable business addresses topics such as; listening, transparency, passion, responsiveness, authenticity, and more interesting topics. The book is full of wonderful examples of how each of these ideal business practices have been put into practice already. I felt like it was a lot easier to relate to what the author was writing with examples and tips of how to actually implement much of this within an organization. While the topics discussed felt like basic skills a manager, employee, or organization would already use, it was easy to see how many had lost the focus of going back to the basics.

This book helped me understand responsiveness and what going the extra mile for a customer can mean for an organization. There were also a lot of examples of organizations that chose not to go the route of applying these skills to their organizations, and unfortunately many of those organizations are no longer in business. The examples of businesses that went the extra mile made me want to jump on Twitter at that moment and let them know that their actions are not going unnoticed. They have me as a customer for life, even if I haven’t yet had the pleasure of doing business with them, I will in the future.

I would definitely recommend this book with ease to individuals looking to improve on their customer service skills, organizations who can’t understand what they’re doing wrong and anybody at all that would just want to learn how to apply these skills to their own personal life. It definitely comes down to treating individuals as you would want to be treated. It overall has improved my understanding and ability to identify organizations and businesses I currently shop at, that at the moment, do not seem to care if they lose my business. 

My review on Uncertainty

I was given the opportunity to read and review “Uncertainy” through and online book club I participate in called 12books. “Uncertainty” was a pretty challenging book to get into and found it hard to hold my attention until chapter 6. The concept of the book was very interesting in regards to learning to accept that fear and uncertainty come with most great things we do in life. Where I felt it was hard to get into were a lot of the random examples that were thrown into the book and the occasional paragraphs which would compare our brains’ response to the feelings of fear, judgment, and uncertainty.

Towards the end of the book though, my attention was held by the interesting topics that came up. How friends, family, mentors, and other individuals in our life can push a forward or hinder our progress is interesting. A feeling I had was that I could separate those thoughts but there is a lot of evidence that we internalize much more than we think. The author gives some good examples of how to turn criticism and judgment from people in our lives into fuel to push our dreams and goals even further.

The other interesting chapter and section for me, was that regarding mediation or Attention Training (AT). Meditation has always been of interest to me, but not something that I have ever been able to put into a consistent practice. I felt the author gave some great tips to get started and even so much as saying that if you are consistent, even for shorter periods of time, that you will begin to feel the effects of this relaxed state of mind fairly quickly. I definitely intend to make that a regular part of my day by starting out for shorter periods of just sitting and allowing my mind to be at peace. The author also gives some great advice about the correlation between exercising and your brain being in better shape to handle stress, work more productive, and to increase creativity. I definitely believe that adding more exercise to my life would impact my business endeavors and activities in a positive way.

Overall I would recommend this book to individuals that are in a limbo in their life. Do you continue forging through with your dreams and goals or is it time to take a step back and evaluate them? This book will help you think all that and more through. It is definitely a good read and I would just suggest pushing through the first few chapters if you find it harder to get into, because it does get better.