Ideally you want your people to all get along, and to share values like kindness, generosity, and friendliness. But sometimes competence trumps the ideal world. Sometimes you have to choose an asshole as your point-man, to get the job done. It will mess up your team dynamics, but if you don’t get the job done,…

Sometimes you get lucky and a client deposits a big whack of cash in your bank account. Payment in advance for a big project. Warning: If you’re not careful you’ll spend that money before you finish the product, and then you’re in trouble. It’s hard not to spend cash. You’re wired to feel optimistic when…

A crisis gives you cover for doing lots of stuff you’ve been putting off. Firing bad apples. Cutting costs. Writing off bad debts. It’s hard to do that stuff in good times. People don’t understand. But when a crisis hits, you can throw in lots of pain. Everyone knows it’s a crisis, so everyone is…

So, you called it right. All the critics are proven wrong. You’re a prophet. The temptation to gloat is strong. You don’t want anyone to forget that you in fact were right, and everyone else was wrong, nah nah na nah nah. And anyway, you deserve a moment in the sun, some credit. Don’t do…

In business, you will lie. It’s inevitable. You tell a little lie to close a deal, to avoid confrontation, to not hurt someone’s feelings, whatever. That’s the start of digging a hole. The longer the lie lasts, the deeper the hole gets. Eventually the hole is so deep you can’t see the sky. The stress…

When you’re confronted with bad news, or a crisis, it’s hard to resist knee-jerk reactions. There is an automatic instinct to instantly address the problem. To take action. To react. By all means, go for it. Just remember: reactions are not solutions. If you want to win, you must solve the crisis. Maybe your reaction…

Pitch to Win by Justin Cohen Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School by Mark McCormack Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy

The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holliday Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevellin Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb

Mindset by Carol Dweck Thinking Fast & Slow by Daniel Kahneman Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields How Champions Think by Bob Rotella Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley

The second bounce of the ball by Ronald Cohen Cyrus the Great by Larry Hedrick Zero to One by Peter Thiel David vs Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

The Hard thing about Hard things by Ben Horowitz Shoe Dog by Phil Knight Who is Michael Ovitz by Michael Ovitz Anton Rupert by Eben Dommisse

Business Brilliant by Lewis Schiff The Outsiders by William Thorndike Damn Right by Janet Lowe