Blog / News & Opinion

Excerpt from The Power of Adversity

By Porchlight

The following excerpt is from The Power of Adversity: Tough Times Can Make You Stronger, Wiser, and Better by Al Weatherhead with Fred Feldman. Weatherhead says adversity is not a curse but a gift and that when we embrace our problems we temper and empower ourselves to achieve unimagined success. The Invention (from Chapter Two) In 1971, with heavy financing and a tiny amount of cash, I purchased a small, two-customer plastics company in Twinsburg, Ohio.

Blog / News & Opinion

ChangeThis: Issue 46

By Porchlight

The latest issue of ChangeThis has been posted. In it, the "human CliffsNotes" John Spence condenses his years of consulting and research into six strategies that all great companies focus on. "Performance Architect" Carlos Salum teaches us how to reach our peak performance, sharing his own incredible journey along the way.

Blog / News & Opinion

The Wall Street Journal Business Gurus List

By Porchlight

The Wall Street Journal yesterday had a major feature titled "New Breed of Business Gurus Rises. " The article provides a ranking of the thought leaders in business today. The ranking system is based on the 2003 book What's the Big Idea?

Blog / News & Opinion

Predictably Irrational

By Porchlight

A book that's seen a lot of press and hit the bestseller lists this year is Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely. Paul Dunay over at MarketingProfs had a chance to interview Dan. You can listen to that interview here.

Blog / News & Opinion

New Version of Gitomer's Sales Bible

By Porchlight

When the Sales Bible first came out from William Morrow in the 1994, it got a slow start. I was selling it with some success in the bookstore and Jeffrey Gitomer called to see what I was doing. I told him it was nothing in particular, just that I had found it very helpful and was suggesting it to many of our customers.

Blog / News & Opinion

A glaring gap in the list

By Porchlight

There's a post up on the WSJ's Independent Street Blog pointing out that the Journal's list of the top most influential business thinkers does not include a single woman. The author, Wendy Bounds, poses these questions: Why do you think there aren't more influential women business thinkers on today's list? How can this change?

Blog / News & Opinion

How to Prosper During the Coming Bad Years in the 21st Century by Howard J. Ruff

By Porchlight

A look at investing in the 21st century from Howard J. Ruff. An excerpt on where Ruff thinks our economy is going and what will be valuable.

Blog / News & Opinion

April 2008 International Best Sellers

By Porchlight

Here are our TOP 10 business books that people across the world are reading: 1) Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne - Malaysia 2) Fire Them Up! by Carmine Gall - Norway 3) One Billion Customers by James McGregor - Switzerland 4) It's Not About the Coffee by Howard Behar - Canada 5) Citizen Marketers by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba - United Kingdom 6) Rules to Break and Laws to Follow by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, PhD - Singapore 7) Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Cashman - The Netherlands 8) Who's Your City?

Blog / News & Opinion

Non-Business Books For Business

By Porchlight

Daniel at Pit Bulls and Labradors is wondering out loud about "certain books that are not at all about public relations, business, management or marketing per se [and] can offer insights into how we can do our jobs better. " I added my thoughts. Jump over and add yours.

Blog / News & Opinion

BookExpo America

By Porchlight

Each year, in late May or early June, thousands of authors, booksellers and publishers convene for the annual BookExpo America. This year BEA is in Los Angeles. It's quite a sight.