Who’d heard of Zoom, Teams or GoToMeeting before March 2020? I think that most people in business have now heard of them and probably use them regularly. They’ve become a must have communication tool for a lot of organisations.
A national club, of which I am a member, is using Zoom for committee meetings and can see now that it’s not necessary for committee members to spend time and fuel travelling to their regular meetings. I’m certain, that in the future, many meetings will be held remotely. Some international companies are realising that they don’t need to bring people together from all over the world to one location when it can be done so conveniently with a few clicks of the mouse.
On TV pretty much everyone is being interviewed over an online tool. It’s very interesting to me to see how many interviewees sit in front of their library. I often find myself switching off from the subject in hand and looking at the books on the shelves! I’m sure that many of them arrange their book collection to look good on TV. It’s a way to demonstrate their political allegiance, show off their expertise or highlight personal interests.
I also find it fascinating to see the state of the shelves. Some are arranged immaculately, some are completely higgledy-piggledy while others are everything in between. If you looked at mine, you’d see books by Bernard Cornwell, those about the First World War and those about Scouting! And my collection of DK Eyewitness travel guides.
Finding myself more often at home, I’ve been listening to business related podcasts. It’s surprised me how many of the presenters refer to books that they’ve read, which have inspired them, or helped in their business. I must say that, as winter approaches, this could be the ideal opportunity to read a few more inspiring books; interspersed obviously with reading the last couple of Bernard Cornwell’s books in the Last Kingdom series.
There must be thousands upon thousands of business-related books. So how to do you choose which are the best for you? I guess Mr. Google will help, as will friends and colleagues. Perhaps any titled ‘How to become a millionaire in two weeks’ might not be the best though!
Suggested reading
If you’d like some suggestions, these come with no recommendation or guarantee, but they are on my list:
Resilience – 10 habits to thrive in life and work by Jo Owen
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World by Jeff Goodell
Grinding it Out: The making of McDonald’s by Ray Kroc
The Magic of Thinking Big: Acquire the Secrets of Success and Achieve Everything You’ve Always Wanted by Dr. Schwartz
If you do decide to read any of these, please let me know how it went. You can contact me on 01473 833411 or [email protected]
Peter is the Guild’s accountant.This article is designed for the information of readers. Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy, information contained in this article may not be comprehensive and recipients should not act upon it without seeking professional advice. “MHA Larking Gowen” is the trading name of Larking Gowen LLP, which is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (LLP number OC419486). Where we use the word partner it refers to a member of Larking Gowen LLP. © MHA Larking Gowen.
