Key Person of Influence – Daniel Priestly
I first heard Daniel speak when he hadn’t been in the country that long, probably six or seven years ago. At that time everyone was talking about the world changing in terms of the importance your own personal brand was going to have rather than the business that you operate and represent. He was really the first person who was ever able to articulate that in a way that had meaning for me. I think this book fundamentally summarises really well what it is to have and develop a personal brand and how you go about doing it.
Having had lots of formal presentation training over the years, I think you see the impact that some of the TED Talks have had on the world and society, through all different ways and means. There’s definitely a skill and knack to delivering a story compared to purely getting up and giving a presentation. For me, this book summarises that technique, that skill and enables you to see, from Chris Anderson’s experiences of listening to thousands of TED Talks, what it takes to actually deliver a meaningful story as a presentation. Great book.
Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know – Ranulph Fiennes
I love autobiographies and this, for me, is the autobiography of all autobiographies. Not only is Ranulph Fiennes’ life story a fascinating one—the honesty and integrity by which he tells his story is incredible—what it did for me was really hit home that mind over matter counts. We all think we push ourselves in life, we all think we push ourselves to extremes, and actually we’re not anywhere close to scratching the surface. And when you read some of the achievements of this man and understand that it’s largely mind over matter that’s done it, it’s an amazing book that everyone in business should read.
Turn the Ship Around! – L. David Marquet
There are lots of books out there that talk about the military way of management and how it relates to business; I’ve never been of that mind. However, somebody recommended this book to me when I was talking to them about the struggle of effective delegation and sharing responsibility. This book conveys what Captain Marquet did to turn around a failing nuclear submarine squadron. And there’s a particular phrase in this book which had a profound effect on me and you’ll hear it used within Inspire: “I intend to…” A lot of people say, “Don’t come to me with problems, come to me with solutions,” but in reality what that means is if you ask people to say, “This is the situation, I intend to…” and they say what they intend to do, it’s a very simple, practical way of solving a problem.
The Miracle Morning – Hal Elrod
I’m an early morning person so this book really appeals to me! I’m a great believer in self-development and the power of being in the right mind set, starting your day in the right way. It’s a bit like ‘The Four Hour Week’ by Tim Ferriss, but the thing with any book like this is that to apply it you’ve got to make it real for you. ‘The Miracle Morning’ is a really powerful book that I’ve shared with many, many people. I’ve even bought people this book because I think it can have a great impact if you read it with a free mind.
- Warren discusses these books in this video.