The Extraordinary Business Book Club

Claire Pedrick, a Master certified coach and co-author of 'The Human Behind the Coach,' discusses the evolution of coaching beyond asking questions. She emphasizes the importance of human connection in coaching conversations and how being curious and iterative can enhance both coaching and writing. Claire shares insights about the challenges of crafting their award-winning book and highlights the need for meaningful communication. Listeners will appreciate her thoughts on maintaining authenticity in an increasingly automated world.

Explore the transformative power of writing as a tool for self-discovery and clarity. Dive into the art of merging personal experiences with business insights. Discover how vulnerability in writing can lead to personal growth and understanding. Hear from various authors about the joy and challenges of the writing process. Gain practical tips for enhancing your own writing journey. Plus, discover new impactful reads for business professionals that can boost personal and financial growth.

 'That's my goal here is to hopefully provide an inspirational story that can be a catalyst for the reader to go out and do amazing things.' Per Wimmer has spent his life soaring to new heights, metaphorically in global finance and quite literally as an astronaut. It's a fascinating mix, but the two spheres have more in common than you might think.  When you've lived a life so full of variety and adventure, it's a double bind: this is exactly the kind of life worth writing about, and yet how do you choose what to include, and how do you link it all together? We talk about the challenge of making sense of one's own life in order to create sense for others.  And how do you give people a reason to read, beyond the mere act of goggling? Per's solution: catalyse inspiration and action in everyone. Winning Business Journey Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards 2024 meant everything to him, as it was a sign he'd achieved just that.  (He's not one for being constrained by limits, and he's not done yet; this is just Volume One.)

In this engaging conversation, award-winning entrepreneur Kate Toon, a digital marketing guru and bestselling author, debunks the myths surrounding passive income. She reveals that all income streams require initial effort and ongoing maintenance, challenging the notion of earning money effortlessly. Kate emphasizes the importance of marketing and community-building in achieving sustainable success, urging listeners to value patience and relationships over quick sales. Get ready to rethink your approach to financial freedom!

Explore the idea of designing your life instead of making fleeting resolutions as we enter the new year. Emphasize your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions while using AI as a supportive tool, not a dictator. Discover the power of exploratory writing to deepen personal growth and maintain human connections. Consider how current global events shape our aspirations and the importance of intention in enhancing well-being. Let's make intentional choices that lead us to become slightly better humans in 2025!

Join Jenny Proctor, an experienced marketing consultant and author of the award-winning book *Marketing for Introverts*, as she shares her journey from introversion to marketing success. She discusses the challenges introverts face in a noisy business world and reveals strategies for leveraging their unique traits. Jenny emphasizes the power of quality content in influencing purchasing decisions and how introverts can thrive with authenticity in marketing. Listen in for a blend of practical tips, personal anecdotes, and holiday reflections!

'[And this is} the rationale and the motivation for the book. It's about, well, how do we spread this? How do we do some good with it? How do we improve the economy? How do we make businesses more effective?' David Falzani has spent decades building and growing businesses, and now, as a  Professor of Practice, helping others to do the same. And throughout that time he's watched entrepreneurs grapple with one constant, intractable, mysterious issue: pricing.  It's not just about numbers. (In fact it's not really about numbers at all.) The price we put on something, the price we're prepared to pay for anything, is wrapped up in emotion and our deepest most irrational cognitive processes. Understanding that and getting your pricing right is all too often the difference between thriving and failing as a business, which is why David wrote his Business Book Award winner, 'Double Your Price'.  If better pricing leads to better business, David is equally clear that smarter writing leads to more satisfied readers. (Or at the very least, fewer rewrites.) And he has some good tips to help you with that, too.

'The writing is joyful, more or less. It's painful, but it's also joyful. The marketing of it is much harder.' Dr Lucy Ryan's book Revolting Women touched a nerve worldwide: many women can relate all too well to the perfect storm of challenges facing midlife women at work, and everyone has an opinion on it. Which took a bit of getting used to. In this week's conversation, part of my series talking to this year's Business Book Awards winners, Lucy talks frankly about the learning curve when a doctoral research project becomes an award-winning, conversation-sparking business book, and how she learned to love (or at least manage) the work of promoting it. From being squeezed down to seconds in her first radio interview to talking sex, drugs and rock and roll with Mariella Frostrup, her experience and hard-won lessons are pure gold to anyone setting out to write - and promote - a business book that makes an impact.

'The TLDR, the too-long-didn't-read of the whole thing, is that everybody's skimming. So we need to write in a way that makes it easy for skimmers if we want to achieve our goals as writers.' Todd Rogers has been using behavioural science for good for many years, from strengthening democracy to increasing student attendance, so his kids were somewhat underwhelmed when he turned his research to writing. But think for a moment what the world would be like if everyone wrote clearly and effectively in a world where readers have little time and patience. Imagine the time not wasted, the offence not taken, the goodwill not squandered, the ideas not lost in translation.  Todd argues, and I agree with him, that better communication can lead to a kinder, more efficient world, and it starts with us. Whether it’s an email, a business report, or a book, here are practical ideas for writing that's simply easier to read. 

'Ruthlessness exists on a continuum, caring exists on a continuum, and it's about being in the sweet spots of both of those, not overplaying either one, or underplaying either one.' Amy Walters Cohen is the author of Ruthlessly Caring: And Other Paradoxical Mindsets Leaders Need to Be Future Fit, which was named overall Business Book of the Year in 2024. It's based on years of research, which revealed that the key skill for effective leadership in a complex world is the ability to hold in tension five seemingly paradoxical mindsets.  As well as talking me through these, Amy told me about the challenges and rewards of translating her research into a book, including the amount of fidgeting, procrastination and coffee-fetching involved in the early stages. She also introduced me to the 'pub test', which I am shamelessly stealing for all future writing...