Black MBA - Winter 2007/2008 - (Page 103) LIFESTYLE | Holiday Books Ring in the New Year Right Books to Renew Your Mind, Body and Soul By Nicole Allen YO U K N OW T H E time of year – when your suitcase is stuffed with holiday treasures and your waistline has expanded from too many homecooked meals. You’ve given plenty of time, affection and gifts to everyone you love, and now it’s time to check off that most pressing item on your holiday to-do list: giving something to yourself. This holiday season, put yourself in a different place with an enlightening, renewing book. Some of the selections here will give you a personal boost that will spill over and create better results in the office. Others will prime your mind with ideas that could push you from a cubicle to a corner office. It’s easy to ring in the new year the right way. Mental, physical and spiritual renewal are only a read away. FOR BUSINESS Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes Mark J. Penn with E. Kinney Zalesne Nonfiction Twelve; $25.99 To remain on top, it’s not enough to stay current; you have to predict the future. If you’re lacking a crystal ball, you may want to read Microtrends. The book was written by a Washington, D.C., insider who helped President Clinton with his 1996 campaign by identifying a key subset of the American population known as “soccer moms.” This group turned out to be a swing group of voters that changed the landscape of the 1996 elections. Through careful research and consideration, Mark J. Penn identifies 75 “under-the-radar” groups that may be small, but may well emerge to shift the way we think and live. The book identifies groups such as the “New Luddites,” a growing group of people who have access and opportunities to use technology, but flat-out refuse to have technology encroach on their lives; or the “Ardent Amazons,” women in America who are increasingly choosing to work in fields that demand real physical strength. For people who want to keep an edge on the world by learning about these shifting demographics, Microtrends is a worthwhile read. For people working in marketing, advertising or sales, it’s a required read. Note that Penn doesn’t make unsubstantiated claims; a stellar research source list is included for each chapter. Microtrends is highly recommended to help anyone start out 2008 a step ahead of the pack. Click: Ten Truths for Building Extraordinary Relationships George C. Fraser Nonfiction McGraw Hill; $24.95 In Click: Ten Truths for Building Extraordinary Relationships, George C. Fraser, chairman and CEO of FraserNet Inc. and popular radio and television speaker, redefines the idea of networking. Rather than making acquaintances with other people for the sake of getting ahead, Fraser says, start building real connections with other people and, in doing so, enrich your own career and the careers of others. A great read for young professionals first starting out in the corporate world, Click also can help well- seasoned Black professionals, as it is never too late to improve the quality of your work and home relationships. A little more than 250 pages long, Click is a rewarding and relatively light read, as Fraser writes in a style that is both powerful and entertaining. Minority Rules: Turn Your Ethnicity into a Competitive Edge Kenneth Arroyo Roldan and Gary M. Stern Nonfiction Collins; $22.95 You may have mentors and an MBA, but if you want the edge on how BlackMBA • Winter 2007/2008 103
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.