2024 the best books ever written review
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(as of Dec 10, 2024 00:39:09 UTC - Details)
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Honesty in thought leadership matters. And so does seeing the light.
Honesty, in its purest form, is a key characteristic of all thought leaders, so I’m going to hit you with the truth. Many business books today are written for the purpose of winning more business for an author, or acquiring new speaking gigs, and anyone who fits into that camp is A-OK with me. It’s a smart move. But after more than four decades in sales and marketing, I’m beyond those goals. Frankly, it feels great that I’m not anchored to those intentions anymore. I have only one intent in The Second-Best Business Book Ever Written, and that’s to teach the ins and outs of thought leadership to as many people as possible because that’s how corporations, and the individuals who run them, succeed.
There’s a process to becoming a thought leader; it’s methodical, detailed, and rewarding. After all, where’s the amusement in being a price-chopper? Or even a technology leader where the tenure is as short as my nephew’s attention span? The greatest thought leaders started sharing their thinking 2,500 years ago through the teachings of my four favorites: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Aspasia.
I’m going to travel with you down the thought leadership road, known as the Via Egnatia, from the foothills that rise above Athens to the skyscrapers that tower above Madison Avenue. And along the way, I’m going to show you how I did it for Fortune 500 companies, and for small and midsize businesses, with a few wild detours along the way.
By all accounts, the Green Bay Packers future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers was born with a rock-solid throwing arm and an annoying chip on his shoulder. I’m no Rodgers fan; after all, I was born and raised in inner-city Chicago and have been a Bears fan since birth, but I recognize greatness, and Aaron Rodgers is a great football player. Some of his other qualities? Not so much.
But these aren’t lessons about tackle football. They’re insights about leadership; about what happens off the football field, and on a more important playing field; about greatness in sales, marketing, and business; and about thought leadership, the single most important differentiator in the business playbook.
Or, as Plato not so recently said, obviously unaware of Aaron Rodgers’s famous retreat into darkness, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
I’d like to shed some light on what’s required in business, but frequently misunderstood. What every salesperson needs to know, but doesn’t always know how to achieve it. And what every marketing expert wishes they had in their bag of tricks. To simply say that thought leadership is an essential part of the disciplines of market leaders is like saying a stick is an essential part of a Popsicle. Well, it is, assuming you’re not interested in taste, color, packaging, name, price, quality, and the beat goes on.
Tom Marks survived forty-seven years in the advertising business and has lived to write about it. He’s the founder of TMA+Peritus, one of the leading marketing, thought leadership, and corporate ethics firms in North America and has won more than sixty-five American Advertising Awards for his writing. He spent many years on the professional speakers circuit and survived that, too. His thought leadership workshops for Fortune 500 companies have brought him national acclaim and has made him a favorite among the nation’s CEOs.
From the Publisher
Publisher : An Inc. Original (July 10, 2024)
Language : English
Paperback : 296 pages
ISBN-10 : 163909038X
ISBN-13 : 978-1639090389
Item Weight : 15.3 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.74 x 9 inches
Reviewer: HDTAVOIAN
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Insightful & witty & grounded
Review: Anyone who has something to say needs to read this book! Many of my clients are entrepreneurs â bringing something novel into the world or something tried & true but in a new way. Often they feel like they are shouting into the void. I can give them data, tools, and content to move confidently into the space, but in my experience what cuts through the noise is when they have genuine thought leadership fire in their bellies. ð¥If this is you, or someone in your life, buy this book. Like, now. Tom has grounded a critical, elusive life/business skill in actionable directives, lifted by voices of 2,500-year-old thought leaders, alongside stories from his work with companies ranging from Fortune 500s to homegrown startups.Iâm honored to be a part of Tomâs team. He is insightful, funny, and pulls zero punches. He is the kind of mentor and friend who inspires you to level up your game and believe in your work. Youâll experience a piece of that when you read The Second Best Business Book Ever Written. I hear his voice in every word.
Reviewer: Christoph Halverson
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Self-indulgent mess!
Review: Tom Marksâ The Second-Best Business Book Ever Written is a self-indulgent mess that pretends to be a guide to thought leadership but instead reads like a lengthy therapy session for the author. If youâre looking for practical insights into business, look elsewhere; this book is a convoluted ramble filled with name-dropping, irrelevant anecdotes, and a misguided sense of grandeur.Marks claims to transcend the typical business author, but he spends far too much time patting himself on the back for his decades in the industry. The meandering comparisons to ancient philosophers and football players feel forced and lack any meaningful connection to the lessons he purports to share. Itâs as if he believes that quoting Socrates will lend credibility to his scattered thoughtsâspoiler alert: it doesnât.The writing style is dense and pretentious, bogged down with convoluted metaphors and overly complicated language that distracts from any real message. The repeated assertions of how âmethodicalâ and ârewardingâ thought leadership is quickly become tiresome. Instead of actionable advice, readers are subjected to endless anecdotes that feel more like self-promotion than useful information.Moreover, the obsession with thought leadership as the ultimate business strategy feels misplaced. Marks treats it as a panacea for all corporate woes, ignoring the more pressing and practical realities of running a business. The disjointed structure makes it hard to follow any coherent train of thought, and the attempts at humor fall flat, leaving you more frustrated than entertained.In short, The Second-Best Business Book Ever Written is an overhyped, underwhelming read that adds little value to anyone seeking genuine insights into sales and marketing. Save your time and moneyâthis book is best left on the shelf, collecting dust like the authorâs overinflated ego.
Reviewer: Sunny Jim.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Well written and provoking.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the style and substance Mr. Marks uses to bring his thought leadership process to life.