Book Reviews - By Edward Mungai
The Founder of Inspire Leadership & focuses on unlocking people’s potential by providing them with programs; mentorship and coaching into high performance
Books Reviews
Juliet is a communication coach who has for over 30 years worked with people one-on-one in refining the way they communicate so that their ideas or messages would get through in the way they wanted or needed them to. I must confess that Juliet has really helped me and my team to sharpen our communication skills especially way back in 2018. This has in turn improved how we communicate. Juliet has also helped me and my management team to put together a pitch... Read More
This week’s book is Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland and his son J.J. Sutherland. Before we go any further, there are three things I would like to disclose. One, Jeff has been a friend since 2016; Two, this is probably the fourth time I am reading this book and thirdly I am scrum Master. I teach scrum to organizations at a fee. If you are interested in having Scrum in your organization.... Read More
This is a handbook on how to succeed in the world. It is a very easy-to-read book full of nuggets of wisdom for all of us irrespective of what our situations are at the moment. The book was written by a marketing and advertising guru hence it is very positive and illustrative. Paul Arden was an advertisement guru renowned for the slogan ‘The Car in front is always a Toyota'. He offered up his wisdom on issues as diverse as problem-solving, communication, how we can play our cards right, making mistakes, and creativity. All the notions can be applied to aspects of modern life.
This fable story is about Santiago, a shepherd boy who travels from Spain to Egypt in search of a treasure. As he travels, he meets with three people who direct him to the location of the treasure; the three are a woman, a king and an Alchemist. Unfortunately, nobody among the three knows where the treasure is but one thing is clear, Santiago will have to face many obstacles as he heads towards the treasure. The story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.
My main objective and mission quarterly is to read a biography, and for this one, a hard copy always does the trick. This quarter of 2020, I have been entertaining myself with the biography of Benjamin Franklin titled: An American Life by Walter Isaacson. This is a must-read book for all those who want to be successful. Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who all Americans and some of us look up to. The book provides us with this titan’s 84 years of life from the streets of Boston, to Philly, to London to Paris and back.
Extreme Ownership is a book written by two former Navy SEALs, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, who now head a leadership training company, therefore, if you like military combat, you should read this book. If this is not your thing, then the leadership lessons will make you more interested in the book. Extreme ownership is a mindset which explains everything you need to do if you want to be successful. Authors Jocko and Leif have written this guidebook to help us be successful in all ventures of life.
A.G. Lafley collaborates with Roger Martin to explain how one can create a winning strategy for his or her organization. This is a story about strategic decision creation. It is told through the strategic decision making at Procter & Gamble (P&G) when A.G. Lafley was the Chief Executive Officer and Roger Martin was his chief Outside Strategy Advisor. Under Lafley’s leadership, P&G’s sales doubled, its profits quadrupled, its market value increased by more than $100 billion
We are still in a period of uncertainty. The truth of the matter is that we do not know when we will be declared free of the COVID-19 menace. That said, this is the time leaders need to focus even more on the issues of strategy. It does not matter if you are running a multinational or an SME/Start-up, the strategy that you put in place now is what will make you resilient during these difficult moments. Once the strategy is in place, the next phase is the execution;
What we are going through currently is quite uncertain and will definitely distract our vision and dreams. This week, I decided to look more into the issue of vision and there was no other better way than to read; “Vivid Vision” by Cameron Herold. Cameron articulates how we can use our vision and mission to inspire others, especially at the workplace.
This is the first personal branding book that I have read this year and Crushing It has a lot to offer. If you aim to create your own brand, this is a must-read book as it is a collection of interviews of some of Vanynerchuk's followers who supposedly read Crush it and are Crushing it now with their brands on social media. Even more interesting and more useful is how Gary Vee
Self-Discipline: Develop Good Habits. Achieve Your Goals is an excellent book for you if you desire to achieve your Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) and feel like getting some motivation to change your ways. In most cases, we feel like we do everything we can to achieve our goals, but the truth is that things get in the way and we don’t prioritize our own goals.
Dr. Doug is a Wall Street elite who provides us with the eight peak performance principles which when combined with action will lead us to a place called extra-ordinary. This book will help you discover the success secrets of top performers who thrive in today's toughest frontline on any kind of a job.
This book is great, fun, and full of excellent advice especially if public speaking is becoming a struggle for you. Pitch Perfect teaches you how to overcome common communication pitfalls using McGowan’s simple Principles of Persuasion which are highly effective, easy to learn, implement, and master.
Last week’s book choice was Finish! by Jon Acuff. It is with no doubt that we are always excited to accomplish new projects, but along the line, they stall and remain unfinished. Just to check, how are you doing with your goals for 2020? I can bet in January you were very excited about the planned achievement for the new year.
The 10X Rule is a philosophy towards achieving your goals in life. Grant Cardone states that success is your duty and obligation. According to the book, success is a standard level that you will need to strive for because the other alternative of being mediocre carries far too many consequences.
This book is life-changing. What makes it great is that it's short and sweet while giving you practical tips at the same time on overcoming procrastination that can be implemented right away. This is a must-read for anyone struggling with procrastination
Simon Sinek’s book- Start with WHY is a must-read for anyone interested in transforming their life. The book is about our sense of purpose, whether personally or professionally, it is about how we can get to success.
In Designing Your Life, Silicon Valley design innovators Bill Burnett and Dave Evans use their expertise to help you work out what you want in life and how to get it. They show us how design thinking can be used to create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling.
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance was published in 2016. In this book, Angela Duckworth analyses how grit is a key ingredient to success in life. Grit is about having passion and perseverance for long-term goals. According to her, talent is not a driver of success, but grit is a guarantee
In October 2016, I was privileged to spend about fifteen minutes with the General, and I was impressed by his humility and his incredible personal presence as someone who truly knows what it is like to practice leadership excellence.
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Entrepreneur
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Nyawira Gitaka
Blog for Development 2017 finalist, World Bank Group
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Paul Acher
CEO Jade Communications
""Edward captured the attention of everyone in the room. His energy and absolute conviction in what he was sharing made everyone take notice. There were copious notes being taken throughout his talk! Ed challenged me to think bigger about what I am capable of accomplishing. He inspired me to reach for greatness and not settle for mediocrity. We can hardly wait to have him back sometime in the future!" "
Pius Nganga
CEO Capital Strategies Limited
"I had the absolute pleasure of recommending and contracting Edward to present to our congregation. Edward was punctual, easy to communicate with and his amazing energy resulted in the following responses from the congregation: Over 90% rated Edward and his presentation as 'Absolutely Fantastic', with the remaining rating him as 'Great'. When asked about what key learnings the congregation had taken from the conference, the following referred to Edward: • How important a positive attitude to life is important & not to let other people's negativity impact on you • Ignoring the naysayers • The need for work, life balance • Be thankful for your health and look after yourself • Surround yourself with people that make you happy and positive • Spirituality is key to success and how to relate with your networks • The importance of making a real difference in our life I would have no hesitation in recommending or contracting Edward for future events and I can't wait to work with him again. "
Rev. Dr. Johnson Kĩriakũ wa Kĩnyua, PhD
Senior Paster, Church of Amazing Grace International (C.A.G.I)
"Thank you for delivering a powerful message to our CEO Apprenticeship Programme Thought Leadership Session. The leaders had nothing but positive comments about your presentation, and left feeling ready to take action, and ‘owning’ that engagement starts with them. Your message was practical and logical, yet highly engaging. You delivered it in a way that the audience could easily connect and relate to you. Our event couldn’t have been a success without you!” "
Stephen Mukasa
Country Director, Uganda, Strathmore University Business School
"Edward message is entertaining, high energy, engaging, motivational, thought provoking, and behavior changing. His powerful message is delivered with humor but sprinkled with real life example as well as some science. His presentation will be a highlight of any meeting. People will be talking about his message for years to come."
Jennifer Githinji
CEO, Africa instore
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