In Jim Collins book Good to Great
Collins also talked about the ‘Merry Pranksters’ who drove around the United States back in the early sixties on their bus called ‘Further,’ tripping on acid. I’m not suggesting that you trip on acid to build your business–you’d get some weird press and some truly unexpected consequences if you did–but Collins talks about this group because when they were planning the trip around the United States that would last a year, they needed to make sure they only had people on the bus that they wanted to spend time with, and with whom they could have meaningful experiences.
In addition to finding the right people, the Merry Pranksters needed to get the negative people, the low performing people, or the high performing people who had bad values, off their bus. Collins does a good job of using the Pranksters as a model for building your team.
It’s worth adding that business people do not obsess enough about the wrong people getting off the bus. This is crucial to completing Collins’ final step in the process, which is getting people into the right seats.
As a business coach and mentor, I help companies get the right people into their organization and the wrong people out of it, so they can begin to really drive the business faster and further.
by Simon Sinek – You need to read this if you want to build a fantastic company. And I can’t see anyone being happy in their work life until they are clearly working on their “Why” too. I’m living mine, ‘Helping entrepreneurs make their dreams happen’.
by Verne Harnish – This in my mind is the single most important book that EVERY entrepreneurial company and their teams have to read. Re-read it when you’re done. And ensure your team re-read it yearly until you’re doing everything in it properly. If you are doing everything this book has to offer then I’d say it’s OK to move on and read another business book.
by Ken Blanchard – In my mind simply the best book on leading people. I first read it in 1986 and being a business coach and mentor, I have all my clients read it too. Combining this book with Situational Leadership (the content developed with Dr Paul Hersey will transform any company). It’s still current today.
by Tom Peters & Martha Barletta – This book rocked me into realizing that women make so many of the buying decisions and we’ve been focusing our selling to men. A must read for anyone in the services space.
by Jim Loehr – This book is what broke me from my workaholic doom loop. It will help you realize that work/life balance REALLY is key to growing a great company.
by Jack Welch -This little book has all of the simple lessons Jack Welch learned and used to build GE into a global dominant brand. More importantly these are the lessons that helped it be such a well run company.
by Ayn Rand – Every business person has to read this book. It’s time we really see the entrepreneur as the hero and realize how much government is crippling our nations today. Gov’t should serve the people not strip away all their earnings and make it harder for companies to grow.
by Victor Frankl – While it isn’t a business book it will show you how much the human spirit can overcome and why you’ll overcome every struggle you encounter if you’re clear on what life is really all about. This is a great read before or after Start With Why.
by Alfred Lansing – The Riveting true story of Ernest Shackleton that will rock your world. Simply the greatest book I’ve ever read. Tons of leadership lessons from this if you need them too but it’s also a fantastic read. Steve Jobs bought a copy for every employee at Apple. My grandfather Cam Shortts, who was one of the most voracious readers ever said it was his favourite book of all time. Years ago I bought a copy for EVERY franchisee and it blew them away. When you see what they endured you will KNOW that you’ll build your dream too.