The majority of our employees require flexibility at some point in their careers. Research increasingly points to flexibility as one of the most important career considerations of staff, emerging leaders and even our seasoned leaders. If we do not offer this flexibility in our organizations we will lose productivity in our top talent pool and we may lose this top talent completely to our competitors. In addition to flexibility as a requirement for top talent, consider the possibility that flexibility can actually improve your organizational results.

There are many definitions of flexibility. For the purposes of this discussion we are talking about any type of flexibility that allows team members to depart from the standard schedule of an early morning start time to an early evening departure, with all hours served as face time, either at a client/customer site or at the office location. There are many articles and books written regarding the types of flexible work arrangements available.  This posting will not focus on the mechanics of the arrangements but the business case behind them.

Flexibility is not exclusively about part time work. Many types of flexibility involve no reduction in the amount of hours worked. In fact, many types of flexibility involve only one dimension of work structure, such as location, amount of travel or timeframe of the hours worked. There are many dimensions to work structure. Each of these dimensions can be considered when offering flexibility options to team members which in turn gives organizations many options.

The days of flexibility centered on “flex-time” programs and individual “accommodation” has past. Organizations that are making flexible work cultures a success are doing so by using flexibility and the building of a “flexible work culture” as a business strategy that supports business goals directly. Each organization will have a slightly different emphasis in their business case for flexibility. The business case should be directly tied to the strategic plan of the organization which will drive the prioritization of the flexibility business case components specific to each organization.

The list below includes many common business goals .  Flexibility can assist in the accomplishment of these business goals. These business goals should be prioritized based on applicability to the organization and customized with actual organizational data when formulating the business case for specific organizational flexibility.  The upcoming posts in this series will focus on each of these business goals and how flexibility can assist an organization accomplishing these goals.

Employee Attraction and Retention ; Improved Productivity; Improved Customer Service and Satisfaction; Effective Operational Management

Stay tuned for Part II of this series….

Mary L Bennett, mlbennettconsulting.com

Me?  I always found English class an easy class.  Remember those exercises in breaking down the structure of a sentence?  Remember conjugating verbs and tenses?  I’ve always been as at home with words as my mom was with numbers.  One of my former positions was as marketing director for a large nonprofit agency in the central valley of California.  One year I was fortunate to have the assistance of a college intern from the University of the Pacific in Stockton.  This young woman was in the communications department and wanted to go into public relations.  However, I spent quite a bit of time proofreading.  For her the words “then” and “than” were one and the same.

Being able to communicate and enjoying the process is what I believe fuels the popularity of blogging.  Humans love to talk to one another.  We love to share ideas and make known our thoughts and opinions.  All social animals love to do this.  Have you ever observed two parakeets?  They talk to each other all day long!

It is this love of communication that turned me to the career of newspaper reporter years ago and that a few years more recent, compelled me to start my own blogs.  I write one about business and one about art.  And last year I was encouraged to write my first book.  This was inspired by a discussion I had with a friend about starting a home-based business.  She was asking my advice and I was recounting some of the thought processes I went through when I first got started.  Then she asked me why wasn’t I writing all this down in a book?

“They” say that if you want to be a writer you should write about what you know.  I was a beginning solo-preneur at one point and struggled through quite a few issues.  What kind of business?  How big or small?  Did I want to eventually have something that became fulltime or did I want a home business that was strictly parttime?  Where in my home would I work?  Would my business be centered around a passion for something I already knew or had?  Or was I willing to learn something new and develop a business around that?  And once I had my business how could I coordinate my presence online?

“Beginners Guide for Home-Based Business Owners-Establishing an Initial Presence on the Internet” was the result of the seed planting my friend did in the conversation that day.  It’s not a big book, more of a booklet at 50 pages, but every word, every sentence was designed to give value.

From the Preface:

• “…I wrote this booklet in two parts because I have a heart for the owner of the very small business and recognize that it takes much thought to make the decision to start a business from home.  The first part of the book asks a lot of questions.  These are designed to help the reader think through the whys of starting a business…Part two of the book gives my suggestions for establishing an initial presence on the internet….”

Why put both in one book?  I think it’s important to include the beginning steps of being on the world wide web with the beginning steps of starting a business.  Not every business will put itself on the internet; however, in this day and age including a presence on the internet has great benefits…even if all you want to do is have a webpage of contact information.

“Beginners Guide…” helps you walk through the reasons for beginning a business from home.  It gives the reader ideas of what having a home-business can give: leverage of both time and money; freedom of time and money; pride of accomplishment.

Have you considered that a single person business, the solo-preneurship, has both a leader and a manager?  Just as with any large organization, leadership plays a vital role in setting the direction of a business.  A home-based business is no different.

• “…Vision – the leader in the organization holds the dream, protects the dream, polishes the dream and keeps it alive.
• Direction – the leader sets the direction by establishing long-range and short-term goals and objectives that will lead to fulfilling the vision.
• Thought Leader – the leader is always on a track of continuous improvement, eyes wide open to opportunity….”

From Part Two:

• “…Before the internet there was the phone book.  Businesses both big and small listed in the yellow pages and/or the white pages so that people (1) knew they were in town, (2) could find them and (3) had contact information available.  At the very least, these are the same reasons to give your home-based business a presence on the internet.  More and more people are using the internet to find all kinds of information.
• I remember when the internet was mostly a tool of research and a repository of information.  Since the 1990s it has evolved into a major player in world commerce….”

Whether your small business is local to your community or based entirely on the internet, coordinating your online presence is key to introducing your business, your products and services to a diverse population.

No one book can tell you everything necessary for making a success of a home business.  However, every tool you can add to your toolbox can help.

Beginners Guide for Home-Based Business Owners-Establishing an Initial Presence on the Internet is published and available through Amazon.com.

Our process affects our customers in many different ways, usually bringing forward many emotions related to decision-making. We’ve refined our process to lead to a focused, calm, assured, and effective result. However, we’ve found someone’s internal emotional state often has the ability to influence any external endeavor.

I think about how this reflects in my daily life.

• Why am I here?
• What do I represent?
• What guides my daily decision-making?
• Who am I in my marriage, my business relationships, and my family?
• How do I do the right thing as a parent, volunteer, and member of my community?

Stephen R. Covey, in Seven Habits of Highly Succesful People, writes about character development. He researched the history of self-help and personal growth articles, and he notes that in the first 150 years of the United States, the literature focused on character-building. The tools promoted were related to character traits, such as integrity, honesty, personal responsibility, and honor — these are more “internal” qualities. In modern times, he found a shift in the literature towards technique-building. The tools promoted were related to influence, such as relationship management, networking skills, and personality-shaping — these are more “external” traits.

Covey encourages us to live from the inside out. He speaks to the importance of understading and focusing on our internal assumptions and beliefs, prior to us attempting to “change the world.”

Essentially, he challenges us to walk our talk.

Many of us are in business in the first place because doing what we do gives us unlimited opportunities to literally embody our values. Many of us believe we are here for a reason, we provide important services to our customers, and we use our skills to our greatest ability. My business practice is a way for me to take my core internal beliefs and project them outwards to the world in the form of my products and services.

What is your core set of principles you live by? Does your business reflect those principles? How can we move into greater alignment between what we believe and how we operate in the world?

I invite your feedback on how this works for you.

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The women’s movement began quietly with a book “The Feminine Mystique”, moved to bra burning, and gained traction with consciousness raising groups.

All of that seems like it was centuries ago.

We now head large organizations, are in key positions in government, and have a say in just about everything. Yet some of the pleaser and martyr behavior patterns that were handed from generation to generation are still dying a slow death.

Just watch “Mad Men” and remember how it was. You worked if you typed and delivered. No not ideas – merely the coffee to the men. While much has changed, there is more work to be done.

This is a year of both celebrating change and dialoguing about what still needs to change. CELEBRATION: in the next few months women will cross the threshold and become the majority workers in America. CELEBRATION: women professionals are in the majority in this country. CELEBRATION: women have become economically powerful in their own right.

What is the next phase of the revolution toward equality, and even beyond that, toward partnership?

Perhaps we need to regroup and create consciousness-raising groups that mirror the 60’s. Maybe this time it needs to include both men and women. While we need to celebrate the successes, we really need to ask the hard questions that remain unanswered for ourselves, our children, and even our grandchildren.

My daughters are grown, and I am now watching the dilemmas and concerns about what it means to raise children in a world that is going at warp-speed. What does it mean to run a business, run a household, and still have time for the kids?

I believe the dialogues of today are around the unfinished business of the past. The issues are around motherhood, and fatherhood. The issues at the deepest level are about the children. If we have them, then who raises them?  What kind of support is needed to bring out the best in the next generation?

This is where the pleaser and martyr patterns of the past, so deep in the neuropsychology of most women, kick in. Women still appear to be the ones who make the plans for the youngsters, take off the time if they are sick, and worry about grades, friends and drugs. Sure, dads are included, yet it still seems that mothers are carrying the heaviest part of the load. That has not really changed.

I am not suggesting we demand that our men vacuum and make the oatmeal. That discussion belongs to each couple to sort out. I am thinking way bigger than that. I am wondering if we can look at the countries that have offered families more help, looking especially at Norway and Sweden.

What do we need to do to change, so the next generations grow to be the best they can be? When do we as women take the pleaser and martyr parts of our personalities and transform them into their positive opposites – the truth teller and the integrator? What are the questions that need to be asked to sort out the dilemma of what we can do, what our businesses can do, and what government can do?

I’d love to hear from you with ideas about creating life-enhancing programs that can deter so many of the social problems connected with the new world of work we have helped create, and the burdens of parenting at every level of our society.

Let’s start a 21st Century rendition of consciousness-raising, and keep the revolution for healthy and balanced evolution at the forefront of our lives.

One of our best consultants at Creative Energy Options, Inc. (CEO), Dianne Moore, who covers the Midwest for us, had an amazing “aha” moment about too much process time and what it does to us. An eloquent writer, she talks for so many of us, especially women who do tend to be the queens of analyzing and looking over and over again at what life holds, both at home and in the business world.

I’d love your comments on what you do when you get stuck in a place where you begin to over think what you are doing.

“The Pity Pot”

Let’s hear it for process!  Yes, let’s give it some well-deserved, rousing applause….clap……..clap………..clap……..clap.

I am sick of process.

Process grinds you down, beats you up, gives you the run around, wrings you out, slaps you sideways, and pulls you under.

 
Process halts life, sidetracks dreams, curbs joy, and blocks creativity.
Process addles the brain, amplifies pain, and arrests gain.
Process destroys, dumbfounds, and demolishes.  Process disconnects, disturbs, discourages and disengages.

Plain and simple….PROCESS SUCKS.

 
I am sick of the journey.  I am fed-up with faith, have had it with hope and checked out of charity ten days ago. I feel like molasses and look like shit.  I am bored with my whining, irritated by everyone, and sick to death of living in brain fog.

 
I am plagued by idiots, pained by idealists and just plain out of idioms (thank goodness).

 
I want a process-free life.   Where is the potion, the pill, the process to be process-free? (Now that is just plain silly.)

 
It is time to give this pity pot A ROYAL FLUSH!

Money alone will not make you happy. It’s what the money can do for you that can bring joy. It can give you leverage to capture a life-long dream. It can go to a family in need. It has given me the ability to buy this computer, my writing tool in sharing my coaching, teaching concepts and to write my book, Blast Off! Money is often given a negative connotation. You’ve heard the idea that having wealth will make you greedy or give you an attitude of being “better than.” How can this be true? Money is actually an avenue for freedom of choice. Just as a state of balanced health gives us freedom to move and be in the world, money gives us the freedom to do, or not to do, what we choose. When money is limited, your choices are limited. If you’re struggling to come up with cash, your choices of housing and food decrease. The more money you have access to, the less you worry about survival, which frees up your mind from unwanted thoughts. Therefore, money is an avenue of liberty because it gives you independence to express your creative and individual voice.

What you want to spend your money on may not be what I want to spend my money on. Money is used to express your desires, whether you save it, invest it, or spend it. You may enjoy spending your cash on mystery novels and I enjoy spending mine on a vacation to Mexico. You may donate funds to the homeless and I choose to support a literacy campaign. Money gives us the freedom to express our passions. If you have money, you have more choices.

Do you struggle with issues of fear around money? Have you ever thought that the fear and the action of holding onto your money or your safe job could actually be the very things that may be causing you to struggle in survival mode? This fear of losing or not making money will actually hold you back from creating more money.

If your attitude tends toward the pessimistic, skeptical vein of life, you are energetically closing off any opportunity or space for your abundance to arrive. The result? An even more pessimistic, skeptical life experience.

Survival, meanwhile, is doing what you have to do just to get by. It’s more about existing or staying alive. It’s similar to a predator/prey situation where an animal does what’s necessary to survive or protect its pack.  When you’re struggling each day just to survive, there may also be a huge element of fear present that says, “If I don’t do this job, even though I hate it, the rug will be pulled out from under me. Or even worse, the walls will all cave in.”

Many people come to me to make a drastic change in their careers. Their tendency has been to jump right back into the same type of career for security purposes only, even if they truly dislike this work. This is a dead end tactic. Having someone to offer them direction, guidance and strategies to help work through the fear of change and the unknown is often the key to moving them out of the state of survival to a new life of abundance.

Survival is “disaster prevention” rather than the creation of a new magnetizing prosperity. When you live to survive, you miss out on a whole host of opportunities waiting restlessly to be noticed and accessed.  Survival thinking uses language like “stuck,” “struggle,” “effort,” “hard” and “victim.” Abundance thinking translates into language like “effortless,” “in the flow,” “passion,” “dream,” “is coming,” “is happening,” “fullness” and “feeling alive.”

When you look at your bank balance and the bills each month, how do you react? Do you feel a sense of anxiety rising up from your stomach to your throat, or a heavy, weighted pressure in your chest? Do you express your anxiety to your partner or do you hold it in and obsess about it? Do you have a dream that you continue to put on hold because you’re waiting for your financial or personal situation to change?

As long as you continue to take the same survival actions that are based in fear, your results will not change. The reality in every aspect of your life is birthed from your belief about a particular situation, and the intention and actions you take regarding your situation.  Your words are an unconscious expression of your life force. This is an inner game. You may be saying or thinking negative language that you’re not even aware of. If you are thinking these thoughts, you are creating an energy frequency, and therefore, a negative reality around them. Let’s take a look at all the ways you are experiencing and expressing survival thinking, which consists of repetitive thoughts and language concerning money that limits your financial growth.

Say these statements out loud. How does your body feel as you express the words?

• “Money never comes easily to me.”
• “I never have enough.”
• “I don’t deserve to have money.”
• “People will think I’m greedy if I have money.”
• “Money comes to others, but not to me.”
• “I would love to travel, but I will never have that kind of money.”
• “The economy is terrible right now. It is a time of struggle.”

Now say these words. Do you notice an immediate lift of energy in your body?

• “Money is a wonderful expression of energy.”
• “Money gives me a sense of freedom and choice.”
• “Money is a very positive asset because it gives me freedom.”
• “Money helps me to help others.”

The choice of our thoughts, our words makes an immediate impact on how we experience poverty or prosperity in every day.

The definition of abundance is a degree of plentifulness, affluence and fullness. It is a word that mirrors an energy of growth and limitless living. Abundance is displayed in our world on every level. You witness an abundance of spirit as you observe children playing together, running and laughing; an abundance of joy as you share a tender moment with your loved ones; an abundance of giving as you help an individual, family or a community in need; an abundance of passion as you actualize your true calling; an abundance of health as you move your body freely; and an abundance of wealth as you create opportunity and space for money to flow to you and through you. Abundant thinking is a language of consciousness that translates into the following statement:

“I believe and see that we create our own limited world, therefore we have the ability to create an infinite reality.  All we desire is possible.”

If you believe that all is possible and make room for these possibilities to appear, abundance will arise in many levels of your life.

The Power of Money Knowingness

In my life, whether I had surplus cash or was flat broke, I’ve always known that the money would come, and that I would live in prosperity.  I am not a psychic, nor a fortune-teller, and I haven’t inherited a trust fund. How do I know that the money will always be present in my life when and where I need it? And where did this belief originate? Whether this developed from watching my father build his business, or just plain denial of my bank balance, I cannot say for sure. I do know that what I project out into the Universe will come back to me. Faith in abundance has become a part of my cellular makeup.

The biggest asset towards creating wealth and prosperity in my life is this deep belief that all things are possible, no matter what.

About the Author

Allison Maslan, HHP, CCH has been an entrepreneur for the past 25 years and has a vibrant array of nine successful businesses to her credit. She is an author, life and business coach, homeopathic physician and international speaker. Allison is the president of The Blast Off Life and Business Coaching where she specializes in helping people tap into their passion and purpose and launching them into a new business and the best chapter of their lives. www.myblastoff.com. Allison’s new book, Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan To Launch Your Dreams Into Reality, is being released on January 19th on Amazon. Don’t miss your chance to receive thousands $$ in bonus gifts on launch day. www.myblastoff.com/booklaunch. 888-844-3550

 
I believe that female leaders in the work world can lead the way in positive and exciting ways. It struck me, and with pride, I acknowledged our successes to date. While we have a rocky road ahead, any transformation worth its weight means twists and turns and boulders to be confronted. Yet, if we stay centered with our eyes on the goal of male/female partnership, we can and will change the world for the better.

 
Here is what happened as I dove into some dusty, old boxes. I found a journal, like really old. One my daughter wrote as a teenager. I did call and ask permission to read before I sent it to her in San Francisco. I remember learning my lesson about snooping a long time ago!

 
She is now married with two children. After balancing work and kids, she made the decision to close her business and be a stay-at-home mom till they were “launched”.  That meant two years at home and I believe it was in part a reaction to the fact that I never stopped my career when she and her sister were little.

 
She is now ready to re-enter the work force and is keeping all options open. That means changes on the home front. I have watched as she and her husband have negotiated the unavoidable – the car pools, doctor’s visits, and yes, even folding the laundry. It will get more intense, and so what!

 
Now back to her journal. What struck me was the tone of her teen writing. I was surprised that there was so much of the old model from my own adolescence. There was still a quality of letting the male take the lead, of waiting for the phone to ring, of obsessing over the extra few pounds.

 
That was twenty plus years ago. I asked her what has changed. She seems much more willing to say her piece, to stand her ground. Here is what she said, “The great things you and your female colleagues did to stand up against “second class citizenship” for women both at home and at work really did rub off. I don’t worry about my daughter growing up with limited choices. I do also want her to see parents who talk about what is fair. That is what was missing from your generation”.

 
I agree. We are entering a time when one key is adaptation. New models of what it means to be a female and what it means to be a male are emerging. How are we going to create the dialogues that will lead to   integrated ways of working and playing together? Can football and beer survive? Can frilly clothing and spa days survive?

 
The other side of adaptation is resistance. How many Dr. Laura’s  will be needed to beat down the intended changes? How must the media rethink its role in selling the old stereotypes? We need some educated discussions about “Mad Men” and what we can learn from those days. What my daughter said is what the world needs now, enhanced discussions about fairness and partnership as we all walk the rocky, winding road of this teen decade.

Take a few minutes and think back to when your career as a leader started. It certainly began long before you accepted your present position. It may have been when you ran for a class office in junior high, or became the captain of a sports team in high school. Think about what you learned at that juncture about playing to the crowd, perhaps, even the local media, and what it means to maintain authenticity.

Now, look at the mantle of leadership and how well it fits you. Do you find it too loose, too tight or just right? Some of us have to let the seams out and become more forceful, own more of the package. Others need to rein in their authority or are seen as that awful woman in “The Devil Wears Prada”. I don’t really know of any present-day leader of a large company, an entrepreneur endeavor, a project manager, a school official, a government agency head, who tells me they have it “just right”.

It seems all women leaders are searching for the balance between public persona and private person. There are so many expectations about who a leader is – who you are; what a leader should say – what you communicate; how a leader looks – how you dress. Think about the demands and how you feel about the burdens of performing and meeting the expectations set upon you.

Where does the word “authentic” fit into your inner dialogue? From all of my coaching clients, I am aware (as well as in my own inner conversations) that there is a continuous struggle between being someone the world wants and what you know is the right fit for you. It is a constant battle – kind of like that extra ten pounds that are always either obvious or hidden in the background ready to disrupt.

There is an excellent article on Oprah.com, written by Mike Robbins, about the need for recognition and the craving for fame, that has some great insights. Now, I am not suggesting that as a women leader your driving force is to be famous. I am saying that being noticed and critiqued comes with the territory. It is a relationship with employees, customers, community, and often, stakeholders.

Our relationship with positional power is directly related to our sense of personal power.

This is a season of reflection, so take some time to look at the patterns of behavior, the relationship world, that has shaped your ability to be authentic, stand firm and not succumb to the demands of colleagues, community, or critics and be true to yourself. Not an easy task to find the way OUT of old behaviors into new, more effective true-to-yourself reactions. Not easy to go from “too this” or “too that” to “just right”.

Take time to Observe, Understand and then Transform behaviors that are blocking the route to authenticity. One gift I would like to give you is the opportunity to take the pattern aware quiz at www.sylvialafair.com and then have some phone time to assess the results.

The best gift we can give ourselves going into the new decade is the gift of deep diving into our own authenticity and how our presence impacts those we lead.

Increasingly, journaling is a core component of leadership classes and related training programs. Why? Journaling is an effective technique for reflecting on one’s strengths or areas of weakness, or in response to a significant incident that shaped you in some way. Journaling is a process of self-development that aids progress and is helpful when used alone, in a group setting, or with a trusted advisor. Many women executives I interviewed suggested keeping logs or diaries of career successes and lessons learned to reflect upon. The concept of a professional diary fosters accountability and progress, and represents an organizational system for documenting your talents. Alexandra Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Mercedes Medical, Inc., encourages young women to use concrete strategies that encourage goal setting. She advised, “Focus like a laser beam on what you want. Set goals, and timelines on how you’ll achieve them.”

Documentation has a practical use as well; it becomes handy in hiring, promotion, and compensation conversations. Whereas many of us are used to engaging in verbal dialogue about our careers, journaling converts it to a tangible medium, thereby increasing our chances of accountability and effectiveness in meeting goals. Your journal can also be a reference that you consult to help substantiate how you have improved in an area.

Journals can be used in many forms; below I have listed some of the methods with which creative journaling can be most useful:

• Reflect on an area you are struggling with.
• Reflect on an area where you are thriving.
• Take time to daydream about your loftiest aspirations, documenting what the dream looks like. Consider how realizing your aspiration could change your life.
• Reflect on a single event or situation from a 360-degree perspective, taking into account multiple people’s perceptions.
  Create a goal workbook with specific time limits for reaching your goals.
• Develop positive scenarios. Ask yourself questions that start with, “What if . . . ?”
• Write about the first business idea that comes to you and give yourself time and space to brainstorm in your journal.
• Consider engaging a journaling partner where you can have a dialogue and build upon each others’ ideas.
• Keep a collection of pictures, quotes or symbols that inspire you. If you are so inclined, write about your reactions to these.
• Develop a list of pros and cons regarding any situation.
• Create a table where you write key ideas or events in one column and your personal reactions to them in another column. (The Double Entry method has long been used in education to help students separate fact from emotion.)
• Consider journaling as a means for creating a knowledge base or memory bank. As you continue to accumulate knowledge, you can organize, file, and sort your knowledge inventory, a job that is easier when your journal is electronic.

You can also ask yourself simple but provocative questions that stimulate your journaling experience. Below are some examples taken from Journal Writing for Teachers and Students.

These questions can be used following any experience:

• Descriptive—What happened?
• Metacognitive—What were your thoughts, feelings, assumptions, beliefs, values, attitudes?
• Analytic—What were the reasoning and thinking behind actions and practices?
• Evaluative—What was good or bad? What are the implications?
• Reconstructive—What changes might be made? What are plans for future actions?

About the Author

Selena Rezvani is President of NextGenWomen, LLC.  This article is excerpted from Selena’s book, The Next Generation of Women Leaders: What You Need to Lead but Won’t Learn in Business School (Praeger Publishing). The book will be released on 12/31/09 but is available now for pre-order on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble online.  For more information, visit: www.nextgenwomen.com.

The path to self-enlightenment is a long one, but the journey becomes easier to manage when we’re using the right educational tools.

Finding the right tools, however, can be a bit of a challenge.  Personally, I’ve wasted my share of time on supposed “self help” products – books and films with wording so muddled and rambling that they’ve left me with more questions than answers.

If you’ve been looking for some well-written words of wisdom, you’re in luck.  Below are 3 personal development books that I strongly recommend.  In addition to being beautifully written, they are concise, simplistic and timeless.

If you haven’t read these 3 books, you must.  They will change your life for the better.

Think and Grow Rich
Napoleon Hill

One of the most influential self-help books in history, Think and Grow Rich is the end-result of twenty years of research.  Born into poverty, Napoleon Hill was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie, then the richest man in the world, to create a “success manual” that would work for the everyday man.  The book draws upon words of wisdom from influential entrepreneurs like Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Theodore Roosevelt and outlines a thirteen step formula for achieving financial success.  Hill followed the techniques outlined in the book and became extremely wealthy – proving that his system can yield results.

9 Secrets of Women who Get Everything They Want
Kate White

In addition to being the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine, Kate White is also a best-selling author, public speaker and mother.  In 9 Secrets, White discusses the ways women sabotage their own dreams and gives career advice.  Like Think and Grow Rich, 9 Steps is refreshingly simplistic.  What I like most about this book is the fact that it is targeted towards women, and that White understands the unique challenges we face – both personally and professionally.  Kate’s great writing style, complimented with real-life anecdotes and loads of encouragement, is why this is one of my “go-to” books.

Who Moved my Cheese
Spencer Johnson, M.D.

This is another best-seller that should be added to your “must read” rouster immediately.  Who Moved my Cheese tells the story of four little characters chasing the proverbial “cheese” around a maze.  The illustrated book outlines the need to be adaptable in an ever-changing marketplace.  Often cited by upper management types, Who Moved My Cheese teaches a valuable life lesson that never gets old.  And at less than a hundred pages, you’ll be able to finish the book in an evening or two.

And there you have it.

I hope you enjoy these books as much as I do – and I’d appreciate your feedback.  If you’d like to recommend a good read, feel free to leave a comment under this post or drop me an email at cheryl@cherylsantamaria.com.

Thanks and happy reading!