Numerous books have impacted me throughout my physio career.

Of note would be:

1 How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie). This book really turned the ‘switch on’ for my quest to develop ‘people skills’. It seeded my interest in personal development.
2 The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (John Maxwell). Once I realised that my effectiveness was determined by my leadership ability I became a student of leadership. John Maxwell’s many books have always yielded great learnings.
3 The Disease to Please (Harriet Braiker). This book helped me to overcome my pathological problem of people pleasing-it set me free to say ‘no’!
4 100 Great Businesses and the Minds Behind Them (E Ross and A Holland). This book inspired me to dream!
5 Too Busy Not to Pray (Bill Hybels). Self explanatory-it’s easy to get so busy that you neglect to make room and time for that which in my life is ultimately the most important.
6 Ordering Your Private World (Gordon MacDonald). This is a book about living life from the inside out. It’s about cultivating the inner victory required to be publicly effective.
7 A Resilient Life (Gordon MacDonald). This book draws on the metaphor of running life’s with intentionality and grace just as a gifted runner approaches a race. It taught me the value of spiritual self discipline to build stamina and grit for the challenges that lie up ahead.
8 EntreLeadership (Dave Ramsey). A great book that shares terrific leadership lessons cultivated through being in the trenches of growing a world class business. It’s a rule-book for doing business well.
9 The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (Al Reis and Jack Trout). As student of marketing this is a classic. These are laws violate them in your marketing and you will pay a penalty.
10 Personality Plus at Work (Florence Littauer). Harnessing the power of personality equips a leader to revolutionise their relationships. Business is all about people and therefore all about relationships.
11 The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team (Patrick Lencioni). A great and memorable leadership fable.
12 Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless (Jeffrey Gittomer). Helps develop a real sense of the value of loyalty over a satisfied client.
13 Think Bigger (Michael Hill). A great read about not limiting your vision of the future.
14 Good to Great (Jim Collins). Vital ideas for any business that is looking to stand out.
15 Axiom (Bill Hybels). This is a such a fun but impacting read.It contains 76 easy to digest and memorable axioms of leadership.

In 2014 the following books made an impact on me.
From these books I have listed my top 3 learnings:

Become A Key Person of Influence. Daniel Priestly

Key Learnings:

  1. Success requires influence, therefore anything that reduces your influence reduces your chances of success.
  2. A shift from being functional in your thinking and activity to being vital in order to become a person of influence in your industry.
  3. Don’t watch the news-make the news. Be mindful of how you spend your time and what you spend it on.

The Dip. Seth Godin.

Key Learnings:

  1. Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time. Most people quit (all the time) but just not successfully.
  2. Extraordinary benefits follow the tiny minority of people who:
    -stick with right stuff (they push that tiny bit longer than most)
    -quit the wrong stuff (they quit early and refocus their efforts)
  1. There are two curves that define any situation you face in trying to achieve something:
    -the Dip: everything in life worth doing is controlled by this. It’s the long slog between beginning and mastery. It’s actually a short cut because it will get you to where you want to go. If it’s worth doing there will be a dip.
    -The Cul-De-Sac: when you find one get off it fast- its where you hit a dead end-you work and work but nothing much changes.


The Entrepreneur Revolution. Daniel Priestly.

Key Learnings:

  1. Influence comes from output not confidence. Influence is not about confidence it’s about ouput. Influencers are prolific in their output-and they gather influence through their output’s quality.
  2. Income follows assets. An asset is simply something that would be valuable if you were hit by a bus. Every year as a business owner aim to create more and more intellectual property assets-systems, methods, procedures need to be documented.
  3. Being imaginative is not the same as being creative. Daniel writes that ‘we have lost our way when it comes to understanding what it means to be creative’. What’s going on in someone’s head doesn’t have value in the ‘real world’. Creating something takes focus, discipline, and dedication. You need to bring your idea to the world in a way that people can understand and value.

Let’s Not Screw It-Let’s Just Do It. Richard Branson.

Key Learnings:

  1. Work must be fun. Richard cites that he ‘seriously believes that work must be tempered by fun, not endlessly working and worrying and getting stressed out’
  2. Pick the right people and reward talent. Good advice from an organisation with 50,000 people!
  3. Aim to create excitement in everything that you as a founder do. Be passionate and beat your own drum! Richard also writes that ‘the presentation and image of one’s business should reflect the fun as well as the hard work behind it’.

Start With Why. Simon Sinek.

Key Learnings:

  1. People don’t buy what you do- they buy why you do it. It’s a different paradigm to start from the inside out with why for your organisation vs from the outside in (ie what and how you do something). Most companies try to sell what they do but we buy why they do it! Apple didn’t do this though.
  2. There are two ways to influence human behaviour: manipulate or inspire it. Manipulation includes: dropping prices, running a promo, using fear, peer pressure, and aspirational messages. When companies do not have a clear sense of why they use a greater number of manipulations to get what they need. Not a single manipulation breeds loyalty. A few leaders choose to inspire vs manipulate in order to motivate people. As business owners we must remind ourselves to start everything we do by first asking ‘why’?’
  3. WHY types of people (visionaries etc) need HOW types of people. Most people in the world are how types. Why types focus on things that can’t be seen, whereas how types focus on what can be seen. Great organisations need both.

To Sell Is Human. Daniel Pink.

Key Learnings:

  1. Most of what we thinking about ‘selling’ and the assumptions we hold have shifted. With the shift in technology we’re spending masses of time ‘moving’ people (selling) online through social media etc, and there’s also more people operating as small entrepreneurs which has obliterated the typical ‘salesperson’. We recognise that moving people is critical for professional success.
  2. With so much information at our finger tips we have shifted from a world of ‘buyer -beware’ to ‘seller beware’. The power has shifted. The only viable path to sales today is through honesty, fairness, value, and transparency. No more ‘old school’ nasties preying on people’s incomplete knowledge and vulnerabilities.
  3. There are three qualities most important in moving others (as evidenced from social science research) they are the ABC’s. Attunement-bringing oneself into harmony with others, Buoyancy-grittiness of spirit and a sunny outlook when facing ‘an ocean of rejection’, and Clarity- one of the most effective ways of moving others is to uncover challenges and problems that they didn’t know they even had-be great at problem finding.

Love at First Site. Jon Hollenberg.

Key Learnings:

  1. Building a great looking website is only the beginning. A successful business must generate good quality and regular content. Google will reward this with healthy SEO rankings.
  2. In getting a good site built- follow a plan and roadmap. This requires organisation and a disciplined effort for both parties to deliver.
  3. Don’t skimp on good design. Good design screams credibility and authority.

Currently I am reading the following:
  1. The Law of Happiness. Henry Cloud.
  2. Good Leaders Ask Great Questions. John Maxwell.
  3. Ask it. Andy Stanley.
  4. Be The Dad She Needs You To Be. Dr Kevin Leman
  5. Web Marketing That Works. Adam Franklin & Toby Jenkins.