The Cult of the Leader wins CMI Business Book of the Year
I was at the British Library Conference Centre last week for the CMI Management Book of the Year 2012 awards. This was the second year it’s been running, masterminded by Piers Cain, Head of Knowledge Management at the Chartered Management Institute.
There were a 200 or so movers and shakers from the world of publishing. We heard a lot from the judges, but nothing from the winners, which was a pity.
Management titles can be a little dull and worthy, but the competition did make an effort to pick out the most accessible and colourful titles.
The ‘Commuter Read Category’ caught my eye. It was won by James Reed and Paul G Stoltz for their book Put Your Mindset to Work: The One Asset you Really Need to Win and Keep the Job you Love.
I had a chat with Andy Milligan whose book Bold: how to be brave in business and win won best e-book. The Practical Manager category winner and overall winner (see picture above) was Christopher Bones, author of The Cult of the Leader.
You can find out all the back ground to the competition by going to the CMI Management Book of the Year website.
Warren Buffet’s Tips for a Secure Financial Future
This advice was given by Warren Buffet in 2009. It’s just as relevant now…
We begin this New Year with dampened enthusiasm and dented optimism.
Our happiness is diluted and our peace is threatened by the financial illness that has infected our families, organizations and nations.
Everyone is desperate to find a remedy that will cure their financial illness and help them recover their financial health.
They expect the financial experts to provide them with remedies, forgetting the fact that it is these experts who created this financial mess.
Every new year, I adopt a couple of old maxims as my beacons to guide my future. This self-prescribed therapy has ensured that with each passing year, I grow wiser and not older. This year, I invite you to tap into the financial wisdom of our elders along with me, and become financially wiser.
Spending: If you buy things you don’t need, you’ll soon sell things you need.
Savings: Don’t save what is left after spending; spend what is left after saving.
Hard work: All hard work brings profit; but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Laziness: A sleeping lobster is carried away by the water current.
Earnings: Never depend on a single source of income.
Borrowings: The borrower becomes the lender’s slave.
Accounting: It’s no use carrying an umbrella, if your shoes are leaking.
Auditing: Beware of little expenses; a small leak can sink a large ship.
Risk-taking: Never test the depth of the river with both feet.
Investment: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
I’m certain that those who have already been practising these principles remain financially healthy. I’m equally confident that those who resolve to start practising these principles will quickly regain their financial health. Let us become wiser and lead a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful life.
Prize for Business History
I was reading The Spectator yesterday and I discovered there is an annual prize for the best business history. It’s called the Wadsworth prize and it’s awarded by the Business Archives Council. Journalist, Martin Vander Weyer, was one of the judges and he picked out Deborah Cadbury’s Chocolate Wars as a favourite. It got an excellent review here, and seems to have pleased customers at Amazon.
The overall winner was The Rise and Fall of Great Companies by Geoffrey Owen.