Book Reviews - July 2019: Presence, Business, and Fearlessness

I hope everyone is having a great summer!

I have been digging into my August non-fiction reads and I have some good ones to share with you next month. For now let’s take a look at what I managed to get through in July. I think you’ll find something here that might resonate. I’m not going to lie Amy Cuddy’s Presence is going to be an all-time favorite. It’s worth your time to see her TED talk (link), I watched it after I’d read the book and it’s a great primer if you want to get a feel for what to expect.

I had so many takeaways from the July reads that I’ll likely share more with you but for now, here are my thoughts:

Presence by Amy Cuddy

My favorite July read was Presence.

Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist, her TED talk has been viewed more than 50 million times. One of my recent reads led me to her book and boy am I glad!

I’ve been interested in non-verbal communication for years. I’m fascinated by what can be gleaned by simply paying attention to what someone isn’t saying; how they hold themselves, how they walk, facial expressions, including vocal tone and inflection. Presence is a culmination of all the non-verbal signals we receive from someone. The things that we can’t put our finger on but that make you take notice and listen. I think of it as charisma. We know it when we see it.

Cuddy sets out to define presence and then shows us how we can achieve it. I was completely hooked as soon as I started reading. She shares her story, she shares the stories of others, and she shares her research. I was especially interested in the chapters that focused on body language. If you’ve heard of the Wonder Woman pose and its relation to increasing confidence, then you’ve heard of Cuddy’s work.

Can posing really increase presence? Yes, it can and the science behind it is fascinating.

I highly recommend this one… go grab a copy (it’s available in paperback) or head over to the library. You won’t be sorry!

Company of One by Paul Jarvis

One of my more favorite reads this year is Company of One. I tagged the shiitake out of this one. I found so much to relate to in this book… I could have written it myself. What I loved most was the amount of research Jarvis shared.

Something I discuss with college students is how they want their businesses to look in relation to their lifestyles. Many of them haven’t considered that they don’t need to be a big corporation to have financial success. They just assume they need to scale in order to make more money and it’s just not true. I ran a small construction company with 30-50 employees and made more money running a 3-person automotive repair business. It was also far less stressful.

Jarvis argues that you can have a small business that outsources in lieu of employees. He is not talking about freelancing but rather a business.

Company of One sets out to provide information and guidance on how to build a super small business. It’s an easy read filled with great statistics, strategies, and stories of entrepreneurs who have embraced and succeeded with a one-person operation.

If you are more interested in lifestyle freedom and less interested in scale, then this book is for you. I highly recommend it.

Be Fearless by Jean Case

Jean Case is an accomplished woman. A philanthropist who spent many successful years in the tech industry, Case is also the current National Geographic Chairwoman. Sprinkled throughout Be Fearless are stories of her experiences which were, for me, the more interesting parts of the book. Of course, having read so many books, I felt as if the “5 Principles for a Life of Breakthroughs and Purpose” weren’t especially unique.

This is still a good read and an easy one. If you are at all interested in the work the Case Foundation does or if you are interested in non-profits and social good, you’ll find this book full of interesting ideas and stories of change-makers you know and some you likely haven’t heard of.

Radical Responsibility by Fleet Maull

This was my least favorite read for the month. It didn’t resonate with me and the title didn’t seem to fit the content. Maull was incarcerated for 14 years. After his release he set about changing his life. The premise of his book and teachings are rooted in mindfulness. Sprinkled throughout the book are mindfulness exercises. I felt like this was a book about mindfulness and not radical responsibility.

This book may speak to you, especially if you are looking for a mindfulness-based approach to self-improvement.

Go grab something and READ!