Lifelong learning is paramount to running a successful and thriving small business. The “Strategies for Increased Learning for Owners and Staff” post emphasizes how constant learning can help teams stay more engaged, likely become more productive, acquire new skills to use on the job, and even see cognitive benefits. It’s also crucial to ensure that you, as a leader or owner, are always growing, from enhancing your business know-how to nurturing your soft skills. These are both necessary to see results and increase your chances of success. Audiobooks can be a great resource to ensure you’re always learning and growing, even amid a busy schedule.
Why audiobooks?
As a small business leader, it isn’t easy to find time to sit down and read a book. Audiobooks make the experience easier thanks to the convenient audio format, allowing you to read wherever and whenever. You can tune in during your commute, while on your lunch break, doing chores, and many more. You aren’t limited to one at a time, either. Digital audiobook platforms offer diverse titles and categories to explore; you’re sure to find something for your niche. For example, the business audiobooks on Everand showcase how varied the selection is, with reads like The 360 Degree Leader by John C. Maxwell and Cynthia Montgomery’s The Strategist. There are many audiobooks you can learn from to help you grow as a small business leader; here are a few to start with:
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter F. Drucker
Being a small business leader comes with immense pressure and responsibility. Your work can make or break your company’s success, so ensuring you work effectively is paramount to keeping things running smoothly. Consultant and educator Peter F. Drucker’s The Effective Executive is the ideal guide to help business leaders improve their work habits and get the right things done. It identifies five essential practices to run a more effective business: managing time, choosing what to contribute to the organization, knowing where and how to mobilize strength for the best effect, setting the right priorities, and combining all of them with effective decision-making. These skills can help you address things people often overlook or avoid unproductive habits and tasks, ensuring your qualities as an executive are harnessed to their full potential to yield results.
How To Win Friends and Influence People: Updated for the Next Generation of Leaders by Dale Carnegie and Donna Dale Carnegie
You may have all the knowledge you need to run an effective business, but how you communicate and capture people’s attention can make all the difference in your leadership. As such, Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People has remained one of the most impactful motivational reads of all time, even after almost a century. Though it isn’t strictly a business-related read, many executives and CEOs still swear by its guidance to help improve their professional and personal lives. While most of Dale Carnegie’s advice has remained timeless, the ever-evolving business world may require more insights suited for today’s society and culture. How To Win Friends and Influence People: Updated For the Next Generation of Leaders builds upon his rock-solid guidance and makes it more applicable for the new generation of leaders. This updated version of a classic, created with the help of the original author’s daughter, can teach small business leaders to communicate effectively, increase their ability to get things done, navigate any social situation, and become more efficient leaders. These social and personal skills are just as important as your business know-how; you can carry them with you at all stages of your career and life.
Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
Small businesses can struggle to stand out and attract customers in a saturated industry, but Will Guidara’s advice is always to give more than what people expect. His audiobook, Unreasonable Hospitality, showcases the power of radical reinvention and memorable, over-the-top hospitality. Through these principles, he took the struggling Eleven Madison Park brasserie and transformed it into the best restaurant in the world—literally—eleven years later. He transformed traditional dining experiences and turned them into extraordinary moments for each customer and encouraged his team to deliver praise and criticism with intention. Whether in the hospitality industry or not, your small business can take cues from it, ensuring that your customers are catered to beyond their expectations. By giving more, you can attract and keep loyal customers who will always come back for more. You can also spot this book and Will Guidara himself in action on the hit series The Bear, which is streaming on Hulu.
