From CA Library: the Holy Grail of growth
Whether it’s growing your skills, expanding your business or finding your purpose, these CA Library resources can help.
In Brief
- In “Future Proofing You”, Jay Samit defines success not as making money, but as finding purpose.
- Other titles build skills essential for business growth, from strategy to data visualisation and building your mind strength.
- All CA Library resources are free for CA ANZ members to borrow, excluding the costs of returning.
Reviews by Paul Robinson
Future Proofing You
By Jay Samit (Wiley), ebook and audiobook
In a time when innovation is king and disruption runs a close second, digital media whiz Jay Samit has become the go-to guru for major corporations such as Coca-Cola, Ford, Disney, Microsoft and LinkedIn. In Future Proofing You, the Fortune columnist lays out his step-by-step master plan to building a successful business.
Samit begins by shattering a few popular myths – particularly that the business world is a zero-sum game – that is, if I win, you lose. Samit rejects this. He defines success as way more than simply making money; it’s to actually realise what your purpose is.
That’s not to minimise the value of working harder than your competitors. “When you’re willing to work harder than most people, you’ll have a better life than most people,” he says. But you also have to work smarter.
Among the dozen ‘truths’ that Samit shares are the following: first, learn how to spot a good idea and pinpoint its potential market. Then it’s time to create a virtual company with minimal capital using the most up-to-date and, more importantly, free business management software.
Once the business is up and running, Samit advises “harnessing the three primary fears of others” – failure, humiliation, rejection – to pump up more sales.
As the business grows, it becomes about developing strategies to find the perfect mentors to accelerate your success. Finally, he recommends techniques to structure recurring revenue.
But Samit’s first truth is that you must have a growth mindset. From there you can learn the rest – leveraging obstacles, solving problems and persevering.
Future Proofing You is a handy reference manual for every wannabe entrepreneur aiming for a more secure financial future.
The Rejection That Changed My Life
By Jessica Bacal (Penguin Random House), ebook and audiobook
They don’t usually end up featuring on CVs, but most professionals aspiring to the next rung of the career ladder have endured a few humbling – perhaps even humiliating – knock-backs along the way.
Academic Jessica Bacal categorises a rejection as “data” – to be collated, evaluated and used to make you better at the application process, whether applying for a position or submitting a paper for publication.
She views your response to rejection as a “muscle” you need to strengthen, which in turn will allow you to cope with rejection more resiliently and even use it for inspiration to pivot and set out on a completely new path.
Bacal talks to women from a wide range of occupations, many of whom have used rejection as a catalyst for personal and professional growth. She pushes the mantra that rejection loses its power when normalised and discussed.
One interviewee, gender bias expert Andie Kramer, says you don’t have to be born with grit and resilience, but you can develop it. And you can play the game smarter. She uses the analogy of walking into a wall – instead of repeatedly banging your head, perhaps look for a door?
The Art of Going Global
By Olga E Annushkina and Alberto Regazzo (Springer), ebook
Expanding a business into foreign markets is a significant challenge; one that poses considerable risk for the ingenue. Even for substantial companies, a misstep can prove costly (Wesfarmers’ disastrous two-year adventure with Homebase in the UK, anyone?)
Internationalisation of a business requires a good strategic plan with clear, measurable objectives. Olga Annushkina and Alberto Regazzo just may have concocted a recipe for success.
The Art of Going Global delivers a practical decision-making toolkit that will help you get your senior management team on the right track in readiness for making that big growth move. It guides you in how to pick your market(s), adapt your business model, navigate international market uncertainties, manage people across cultures and, finally, assess the options for entering those markets.
Accompanied by case studies, insights and potential scenarios for every strategic move at the end of each chapter, this guide gives you the pros and cons of various choices, enabling effective risk assessment before you take the final plunge in your quest for the Holy Grail of growth.
Vision Code
By Oleg Konovalov (Wiley)
How does a business build and execute a strong vision? This ebook, also available as an audiobook, draws on interviews with 19 global visionaries to reveal why a vision is needed and how to implement and communicate one effectively.
Data Visualization with Excel Dashboards and Reports
By Dick Kusleika (Wiley)
Learn how to present and report data effectively with this popular Excel ebook. Both a technical manual and analytical guidebook, it shows Excel users how to go from reporting data with simple tables, to creating high-impact, meaningful reports and dashboards.
The Definitive Guide to Blockchain for Accounting and Business
By Saurav K Dutta (Emerald Publishing)
With its potential to record, store and verify economic transactions, blockchain is set to change the face of the accounting industry. This ebook turns an abstract technology into relatable experiences for business professionals and includes perspectives from accountants, auditors, CEOs and CTOs.
Watch
15 Shortcuts for Power Query
By Jon Acampora (Excel Campus)Run time: 12 minutes
This short tutorial offers shortcuts for Power Query to save time with common tasks.
Listen
The Mind Strength Method: Four steps to curb anxiety, conquer worry and build resistance
By Jodie Lowinger (Murdoch Books)
Clinical psychologist Lowinger offers a practical method to overcome anxiety and fear-driven behaviours to build a resilient, high-performance mindset. Also an ebook.
Read more:
CA Library
A wealth of information in a single location
Did you know the CA Library offers services and on-demand resources to members at no charge?
The titles featured here are available to download directly from the library catalogue along with technical and soft-skill ebooks, audiobooks, articles and online resources.
Members can also access the online database that includes journals such as Harvard Business Review and newspapers including The Australian Financial Review.
Need help finding resources? Simply get in touch with the Library’s research librarians with your query and they will provide a list of relevant resources.
EMAIL: [email protected]
