What’s on your summer reading list???

I am always curious to know what others re reading for business, so before we fully enter the summer, I thought I’d share my current reading list, with the hope that you might share a few of the books you’ll be reading. I always have a pile of books waiting for attention, and there are always a few I want to revisit, with highlighter in hand and my Moleskin ready for notes.

So without further ado, here is my list and a short explanation as to why they made the list, er…pile, which continues to grow.

The first book is a re-read, sent to me by my friend Felicia Sinusas at Harvard Business Review Press. The Imagination Machine by Martin Reeves and Jack Fuller both of Boston Consulting Group and the BCG Henderson Institute. The premise of this book is that imagination is a crucial element in growing a business and there are some great examples throughout the book to illustrate this. It is a fun read and I had co-author Martin Reeves on my podcast/radio show to discuss the book. If your company is in a rut, this book is for you.

Strategic by Rich Horwath was sent to me by Emily Provost of Fortier PR. I have several books on strategy from Sun Tzu, von Clauswitz, Patton and John Keegan on the war side of things, and books from Boston Consulting, McKinsey and others on the business side. Rich Horwath, founder of The Strategic Thinking Institute, is the author of several books on strategy and strategic thinking and none of his books until now have been in my library, which I needed to correct. In our market, there is much more “me too” thinking than strategic thinking so I plan to use Mr Horwath’s ideas and framework for my clients.

Along the same lines, I am re-reading The Visible Expert Revolution by my friends at Hinge Research- Lee Frederiksen , Elizabeth Harr and Karl Feldman . I have used Hinge’s studies for over ten years to help develop growth and visibility strategies for both my clients and myself. Lee was on my show to discuss the book shortly after it came out last summer. If you need a blueprint to help your SMEs stand out, this is a great place to get started. Elizabeth was just on my show discussing another new Hinge study, the 2024 High Growth Study.

I also plan on re-reading Government Marketing Best Practices 2.0: What You Need to Know for Accelerated Success . Yes, I am a co-author, but I put together a great team of front-line professionals to write this book and I am happy to say that if you only have one GovCon marketing book in your library, it should be this. We cover strategic planning, corporate branding, thought leadership, PR, association involvement, SEO and your digital footprint, content, events, webinars, developing a marketing campaign, email marketing, influencing the RFPs, marketing to the IC, promoting your presence at events and LinkedIn – each chapter by a pro who lives and breathes their topic- Sheri Ascencio, MBA , Joyce Bosc , Carl Dickson Stephanie Geiger , Katie Helwig , Larry Letow , Chelsea Meggitt , Christopher Parente , Stacey Piper , Eileen Rivera, MBA and Janet Waring .

A new strategy book from Harvard Business Review Press (available August 20, 2024) is Smart Rivals by Feng Zhu and Bonnie Yining Cao, both of Harvard Business School. In some ways this can be viewed as a follow-up to The Imagination Machine as it discusses in detail why emulating tech giants is not the way for small tech companies to succeed. Can’t wait to dive into this one.

There is a recurrent theme for me throughout what these books will offer, why I chose them and why they were recommended to me: the need to carve out a well-defined, niche that is differentiated from the norm, for companies agile enough to morph and thrive when things like, say Generative AI, pop up.

As stated at the beginning I am always curious to know what others re reading for business, so I hope you share your summer reading list.

Thanks for reading this… and have a GREAT FOURTH OF JULY!!!!

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