Business Book Archives - Page 21 of 28

Head and Heart Together: Extreme Leaders Change the World

January 1, 2007 by Liz

I’ve been thinking about changing the world — not that I don’t do that already. Everything we do changes the world in some way. We breathe; we release carbon dioxide for the plants. We smile. We frown. People notice, even if we don’t. We walk the given path or find our own direction. Every step changes what was there before we passed.

But from now on, I want to change the world on purpose, for real, and for the better.

The hard part is making changes for the better. It takes energy to be audacious about pursuing the right goals and values and proving that they make a positive difference. Energy is easy when the world is going smoothly, but not so, when things are extreme and uptight. If I want to always have a positive impact, I need to have energy all times. I need to be an Extreme Leader.

Extreme Leaders know that love generates boundless energy — love of all kinds.

“Love of what future principle we’re trying to live out, love of what people I have around me, and love of what they want for their lives. Love of what customers I have, and love of what customers I might have in the future if I am smarter, faster, and more creative in serving their needs. Love of what impact we can have on the lives of our customers and — if we’re audacious enough — on the world as a whole. Love of what our business really is, and love for what — when we cut away the chaff — we really do at work every day. . . .

If I love who we are, and if I love what we can be, then I’ll love the process of how we get there. And in order to make it all happen, I will act boldly and courageously and I will, at times, fail magnificently. But my love demands that I try. Demands it.” — Steve Farber, as Pops in Radical Leap

Extreme Leaders don’t use their heads solely to run their autonomic functions. They don’t use their hearts only to pump blood.

“Now is the time for all of us to take our power back and become, each of us, Extreme Leaders in our own right. We have to set a new example of what’s right in business and everywhere else. We have to be audacious enough to follow the examples we respect and challenge the ones we don’t.” — Steve Farber, as Edj in Radical Leap

Head and heart together, full-out open, audacious and engaged.

It takes that to be fully human. It takes that to be an Extreme Leader.

When head and heart work together, the world responds positively.

Imagine the little and big changes many Extreme Leaders can make.

How will we change the world this year?

Liz

SOB Business Cafe 12-22-06

December 22, 2006 by Liz

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Presentation Zen knows which books to buy as last minute gifts — the cool and engaging ones.

Kickass Webdesign Design knows that our emotional sides still require strong and effective web support that’s well configured.

Content Done Better clarifies a Google clarification, making sense of adsense.

Brain Based Business explains why our messages get crossed.

99 shades of grey helps us dream of sugar plums more easily.

Related ala carte selections include

Orbit Now! has identified what’s worth paying attention to, and he also listes what other folks say on similar subjects.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like.
No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

The Work We Do

December 15, 2006 by Liz

A Few Words from Michael E. Gerber

I read this last night, and I had to share it with you.

“He said,’The work we do is a reflection of who we are. If we’re sloppy at it, it’s because we’re sloppy inside. If we’re late at it, it’s because we’re late inside. If we’re bored by it, it’s because we’re bored inside, with ourselves, not with the work. The most menial work can be a piece of work done by an artist. So the job here is not outside of ourselves, but inside of ourselves. How we do our work becomes a mirror of how we are inside.’ ” –Michael E. Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited, pp. 199-200.

I can’t add a word to improve that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

The book is in my store and at Amazon.

Bookcraft 2.0: Writer, Book Editor, Copyeditor — What Do They Do?

December 14, 2006 by Liz

Who Does What?

Phil and I have moved into Section Two of the four sections of his book. Are you surprised to notice that I’ve not talked about sentence structure or commas? . . . . When I was a publisher, I used to tell my boss:

You have to build the book, before you can see the commas.

Beginning of the Writing Process (courtesy of Voyages In English 2006)

This diagram shows the part of the writing process that Phil and I are currently working on.

This post is a closer look at what we’re actually doing — what his role is as the writer and what my role is as the book editor.

The Writer

The writer, that’s Phil, crafts the message. In this case that’s his blog posts.

The writer’s job is to choose words with precision and arrange them carefully. His purpose is to convey meaning. He does this by prewriting, drafting, and writing/revising. The writer is on the outgoing side of the message. In this process, Phil’s blog posts are the draft in the diagram.

The Book and Content Editor

The editor’s job is to challenge the writing. All editors are on the incoming side of the message. We remove ambiguities, errors, and barriers. An editor ensures that the meaning the writer intends is the meaning that reader receives. Editors look and listen for the audience and then tell the writer the truth about what they see and hear.

That’s why and how great writers and editors form lasting partnerships. The relationship is balanced and symbiotic.

As the book editor, my job is to help structure and challenge the writing to ensure that every idea and detail belongs in the book. As the content editor, my job is to challenge the writing, looking for problems in the expression of ideas — logic, clarity, and cohesion. I think about questions like these.

Is the focus clear? Is the message sound? Does the structure make sense for the premise? Does every part meet the standards?
Is the structure natural to the topic? Is the navigation seamless and not in the way of the message?
Is the voice confident and consistent? Does it sound like Phil’s voice? Is the tone authentic and appropriate for the audience?
Do the words make sense, with a consistency? Will the reader hear what Phil is saying without a chance of misunderstanding? Does the word choice fit the premise and the way the audience listens?
When I turn the page, is what comes next, what the reader expects?

As I answer each question for myself, I share my answers with Phil. Every week we talk. Phil uses our conversation and specific edits to do his writing revisions. He adds new content where he agrees it is needed to make the pages fit together and flow. He wants the message in the book to work for readers.

The Copyeditor

When we’re finished with all of the pages, we’ll hand them over to a copyedtior. Then the focus moves from “what” the writer is saying to “how” and “how well” the message is said.

Though copyeditors still care about sense and logic, their irreplaceable contribution lies in their work to achieve linguistic perfection. Copyeditors check for grammar, usage, mechanics, syntax and semantics. In some scenarios, proofreaders follow to check spelling and punctuation. They also check to ensure that no new errors have been introduced during the editing process. In other scenarios, copyeditors do these roles too.

Phil and I have three more sections to get through the diagram. But keep watching, we might be doing a few things with Section One while we’re working on those. . . .

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you’d like Liz to help you find or make a book from your archives, click on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Bookcraft 2.0: Why Consistency Makes Authors Look More Intelligent

November 27, 2006 by Liz

This week Phil and I reached a benchmark. We finished the first edit on the first of four parts of his book. This first section will serve as the prototype for the rest of the book. As the prototype section, we used it to test our ideas for how the book would work. Could the vision we talked about be a reality when we tried it out across a complete section of posts from Phil’s blog?

As we moved through the section, we were to careful keep to these standards.

The content and structure work together.
If one isn’t working, don’t force a fit. If the structure works for all but one page, that page doesn’t belong. If many pages don’t fit, the structure needs to be refit.
Consistency is a value, a benchmark of quality, and a support for readers. It also makes authors look smart.

That’s right. Consistency makes us look more intelligent.
In fact,

It’s better to be consistently wrong than inconsistently right.

Why Being Consistently Wrong Is better than Inconsistently Right

When we meet someone who thinks and talks like we do, we call that person someone who “gets” it. We think people who think like we think are intelligent . . . and those who donÃ¢â¬â¢t, well, theyÃ¢â¬â¢re not.

I can adjust when I talk to someone. I can put my “best brain” forward. I can listen actively and organize what I say to meet how someone takes in information. Teachers do that every day.

But how does an author do the same thing? Book readers think in many ways. An author can’t adjust for each reader.

The answer is one word, consistency.

Why is it better to be consistently wrong than inconsistently right?

You can spell the word house as hous, and if you do so consistently, readers will accept it as an alternative spelling. Miss once and they will see the mistake.

How Does Consistency Make Authors Look Smarter?

Consistency is key to a predictable book. When a book is predictable, readers know where you’re going without thinking about it — they “get” how you think. Giving readers consistency in every facet of a book means they can concentrate on what you’re saying. Your message and it’s brilliance can shine right through.

At the Book Level — A consistent structure offers orderly navigation. Readers know what to expect and what will come next. The experience is predictable and repeatable. Readers can feel safe that they know where the author is going. That can make an author look smarter, because readers feel the author is following a logical, predictable progression.

At the Detail Level — Many companies have a house style that determines how they phrase terms and spell certain words. Publishers and journalists follow a style manual for the same reasons. A consistent style provides credibility and accuracy. If an author is consistent in matters of detail, he or she establishes trust on matters of accuracy — inconsistency undercuts that bond and makes readers wonder whether the thinking is equally inconsistent and flawed.

Staying consistent lets a reader know how an author works and where he or she is going. Authors can’t adjust for readers, but they can make it easy for readers to follow their thinking. When authors do that, readers feel like the author “gets” it.

We all know that someone who “gets” it is really intelligent. — as intelligent as we are. It proves itself out consistently.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you’d like Liz to help you find or make a book from your archives, click on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Let’s Help Delaney Find Great Books on Organizational Behavior

November 26, 2006 by Liz

Dr. Kirk Doesn’t Want to Use Textbooks

At Tuesday Open Comments Night, Delaney Kirk told us that she was going to teach her classes using business books — not textbooks. She asked our suggestions and we mentioned some powerful selections.

On Saturday morning, Delaney and I continued the conversation. We talked about books and blogs that also could be useful.

Dr. Kirk still has time to put her list together. Won’t you join us in helping her? The topics include:

Leadership
Motivation
Communication
Organizational Change
Teamwork
Power & politics

You can catch up on what books we’ve recommended and get the details by clicking the title below.

Take a look at your shelves and your bedside table. Check your briefcase, your desk, the arm of the couch, wherever you keep business books you might have. It’s also a great excuse to visit your favorite bookstore. You can always say you’re helping the college kids.

–ME “Liz” Strauss