The Maverick Mindset
Fear is a powerful emotion. It can stop you dead in your tracks;
it can keep your entrepreneurial dreams forever shelved. Forcing
yourself down the path of most resistance, on the other hand, is
the act of a truly courageous person. Or, to use authors Doug Hall
and David Wecker's lexicon, mastering one's fear is the
attainment of the maverick mindset.
"The Maverick Mindset is the highest order of
courage," write Hall and Wecker in The Maverick Mindset:
Finding the Courage to Journey From Fear to Freedom (Simon
& Schuster, $22 cloth). "It's having the courage to
live free from conformity and the grit to stand alone."
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Although entrepreneurs aren't famous for conformity,
don't assume Hall and Wecker have nothing to teach you. The
path of most resistance is, after all, best walked prepared.
Being Direct
As a direct marketing pioneer, Lester Wunderman has pushed the
envelope of advertising. Not only was he the brains behind the
Columbia Record Club, but Wunderman has also engineered the
marketing efforts of top-name magazines, credit cards and
automobiles. Even if you don't recognize his name, you surely
know his work.
Which is one reason to read Being Direct: Making Advertising
Pay (Random House, $25 cloth). As the title suggests, Being
Direct is filled with insights from the man who is described as
the Bill Gates of his industry.
"I am not sure whether I discovered direct marketing or it
discovered me. I found its components one by one during a lifetime
of trial and error," Wunderman explains. "And only
recently did I realize that there was a pattern to successful
direct marketing--19 things all successful direct-marketing
companies know. Those that fail or fall short of realizing their
full potential neglect one or more of these fundamental
rules."
Clearly, Wunderman knows a thing or two about potential
fulfilled. From his shaky beginnings as the founder of his own
advertising agency--complete with a first client whose life was
literally saved by Wunderman--to his shaping of an entire industry,
this direct-mail wizard has scaled the heights of accomplishment.
In a sense, you could say Being Direct is the view from the
top.
The Tao Of Personal Leadership
West meets East in Diane Dreher's intriguing The Tao of
Personal Leadership (HarperBusiness, $13 paper). Yes, the title
alone may raise your skepticism barometer a few degrees--but The
Tao of Personal Leadership is genuinely rewarding.
"In contrast to modern books on leadership that focus on
power plays, one-minute solutions, clever strategies and game
plans, the Tao Te Ching affirms personal leadership,
the enduring power of character," writes Dreher of the
2,000-year-old Chinese classic in which sage Lao-tzu illuminated
the Taoist philosophy of life.
And, truly, character is what lies at the heart of this book.
"Becoming a Tao leader means daring to take risks,"
Dreher asserts. "It means making mistakes and then returning
to the music. It is the courage to live with integrity, to be
honest, to live what we believe--in the dozens of small choices we
make every day."
As you might imagine, Dreher quotes liberally from the Tao Te
Ching throughout The Tao of Personal Leadership. As you
might not imagine, the quotes themselves are fairly easy to
understand and infinitely relevant to modern-day leadership.
Entrepreneur's Bookshelf
In The Morningstar Approach to Investing: Wiring Into the
Mutual Fund Revolution (Warner Books, $24 cloth), Andrew Leckey
reveals how Morningstar separates Wall Street's winners from
the losers, and shares secrets you can use to improve your own
portfolio.