Does reading about successful people really work?

[Ashley_Price]

As someone who has a lot of business biographies (Alan Sugar, Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Ted Turner, Felix Dennis, etc.) and subscribing to Fortune magazine, plus picking up a copy of Forbes when I'm somewhere that sells copies, this is something I've been thinking about for a while.

We can read these books, articles, etc., as a form of entertainment, but can we truly learn from them?

Okay, if you're planning to start an electronics company, sell records, be a property developer, start a cable news company, or get into publishing, then the above mentioned people are definitely good to follow, but what if you're in a different sector completely, say, oh, I don't know, how about a transcription service?

I guess we can get tips on how to do things better, or how to avoid some of the traps that happened to these successful people and companies, but I am wondering whether reading them and following their advice would make us truly successful.

I am not saying they have an in-born talent, and it's a case of "if you don't have it, you can't learn it", because I don't believe in this, but I am wondering whether reading these is actually worthwhile from an improving your own business point of view, or if it's nothing more than "entertainment value".

I mean has anyone ever read in a successful person's biography, that they learnt a lot from reading another person's book? I can't think of a single case.

Is the only way to become truly successful is to spend the time you would be reading these biographies or articles, working hard and diligently at your business?

 

[businessfunding]

I would say it's far more about mindset than sector

If you are driven to achieve, then you might benefit from these books to support your drive

Most of s dream of super-wealth but actually set our goals at far more modest levels - in which case these books are little more than interest and entertainment

There might be the odd convert, but ultimately you are either a super achiever you you aren't.

 

[Twoscoops]

I just find them inspirational from a motivational standpoint. If I'm reading about successful people, or listening to thier podcasts, it motivates me more than if I'm not. Someone on here the other day suggested Nigel Botterill, and I'm now reading his (free) e book which is fascinating.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Most of s dream of super-wealth but actually set our goals at far more modest levels

Well, there's another thing. You read in a lot of motivational books, and books on how to have the life you want, about setting goals for yourself, and not just everyday goals, but what you truly want from life.

Yet, again, in all the biographies I've read, I don't think there's been a single person who has said they did this. Again they were just working on their businesses.

The one thing I have learned from all I've read is:

Work hard! VERY HARD! And stay focused

Put in hours that other people wouldn't even consider. We all know about Bill Gates and his colleagues taking sleeping bags to the office, so they could sleep under their desks in the early years of Microsoft.

But also someone like Ted Turner (founder of CNN, the first 24 hour news channel) , had a flat above his office, so he could get up and go straight to work. Then at the end of the day, he could collapse into bed.

Felix Dennis talks frankly about the friends that he lost and relationships that went sour because he was so focused on his business.

So it seems to me that the only reason we're not successful is because we're not willing to put in the time and effort to make our businesses super successful. I guess I am a perfect example of this, because aside from the business I have four other "hats" that I have to wear, all of which at different times, take a lot of my time in the evenings or weekends - time I could spend making the business successful.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Wow!! How is that for coincidence?!

I finished typing the above, went back to the transcript of an interview I am typing and the person has literally just said "...in order to be excellent at something, not just mediocre and good, you have to be obsessed with what you're doing, like you have to be 100% obsessed and in order to be obsessed with something, no outside forces can interfere."

This is a direct quote from one of the UK's top cage fighters (transcribing interviews with these guys has been a real eye-opener. They look scary and all brawn & no brain, but often are very articulate.)

 

[sirearl]

I suspect most people want a tad more from life than just making money.

I mean after the first billion it would seem a bit pointless to me.

Time is the most valuable thing we have and I suspect the go getters live half a life.

As for reading other peoples success stories most would seem pretty ordinary and certainly not the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

 

[Ashley_Price]

I suspect most people want a tad more from life than just making money.

I mean after the first billion it would seem a bit pointless to me.

Time is the most valuable thing we have and I suspect the go getters live half a life.

As for reading other peoples success stories most would seem pretty ordinary and certainly not the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Yes, completely agree. At the end of his book Felix Dennis says he would give up all his wealth to have his life again (he's 66).

But then there is also the phrase I like "Work the hours most people won't so that, in five years you can have the life most people can't."

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I think this site can attract to much waffle and I always wonder how many business people are put of by it . Its simple
You buy something or supply something
So sell that service or product for more than you purchased it for or paid out on

That's it !!! no looking into the mind of others no reading books
Who gets out in the morning and says I want to be Richard Branson ..
Who stands in the mirror and pretends to be a tiger (Yes alright you lot do but most people don't )

I don't do this because I read a book Im here because no F@@@@@R would ever employ me down here in the wild west we have to make our own way !!! I have no choice !!

Most business owners are doing every job this morning I got covered in crap changing a Vauxhall Combo clutch cable Tomorrow I might meet a big wig from somewhere but I expect this afternoon I will sweep up and deal with customers and I think this is the lot of most small business people. So all the books and celebrity business people are light years away from our real world

 

[Excel Expert]

I dont get on with biographical books; I think the only way I read all the way through was Theo Pathitis' and that was only because it was an ok story. I didnt get any inspiration from it but I did enjoy the read.

Personally I find more inspiration in guide books like the 4 Hour Working Week and anything on Guerilla Marketing. Most of what I read in those books cant be directly applied to my business but by gaining an understanding of why it works for others it helps me challenge the way I do things in my own business.

My business means I'm sat in my home office for months on end with no outside contact. I don't need to visit clients and all my work is done remotely. This as you can guess can be fairly soul destroying, so I have a number of business vlogs I watch or listen to in the background as I work. Again these are not directly connected to my business by subject but they help me to keep thinking about my business and how to change it.

 

[Ashley_Price]

guide books like the 4 Hour Working Week

The problem with this book, I think, is that the advice and tips wouldn't work for a brand new business. Just by reading the back cover, you discover that originally he was working an 80 hour week. So he had to get his business to a level, by working those sorts of hours, so he could then step back.

Plus, as you say, there's only certain businesses it would work for.

 

[columbo]

Candid business biographies are a huge influence.

Some of the words Felix Dennis wrote in "How to get Rich" are still stuck in my head. His advice I still think about when running my own business. These are books written by people who have "been there done that". They have not been written by some hack who is good at writing books but has never actually run a scaled-up business. It is insightful just to get a glimpse into their mindsets.

My business means I'm sat in my home office for months on end with no outside contact. I don't need to visit clients and all my work is done remotely. This as you can guess can be fairly soul destroying,

With all the gloss about entrepreneurship in the media - this is the part they rarely talk about.
Great point.

 

[Excel Expert]

@Ashley_Price It is not a book you can lift the exact methods from and use in your own business, but that is no the point of that particular book. It challenges how you run your business and how to automate as much as possible. In a lot of ways it is an ideal book for a start up. Its one of those books that challenges how you plan and manage things rather than giving you exact methods. (Got to agree the title totally miss-sells the point of the book)

 

[garyk]

One thing I realised last year was that you make money creating content not consuming it. I had historically spent sooo much time on the net and reading which of course is not a complete waste of time but you have to actually do/make something.

 

[Ashley_Price]

One thing I realised last year was that you make money creating content not consuming it. I had historically spent sooo much time on the net...

Says the man with over 4500 posts on UKBF!

 

[cjd]

You should bear in mind that the people whose biographies you are reading did what they did without reading a 'how I made it' book.

A large chunk of their books are self publicity, PR spin and 20:20 hindsight - not what actually happened. If they published what actually happened, they get sued by half the people that ever did business with them... plus the tax man.

I think most people setting out in business would do a lot better reading books about finance and bookkeeping, practical marketing, employment, company and contract law and so on so that they can learn the nuts and bolts of how businesses actually operate rather than dreaming of becoming business celebrity billionaires.

 

[APOS Recruitment]

I've read two James Caan books recently as he started off with a recruitment company. Which is the industry of choice for me, hence I chose them. Now they are very good books, but for my start up company I could have may be done with stopping at how he made it work in that industry rather than going into the ins and outs of Private equity companies later in the book.

Currently reading Luke Johnson - Start It Up. He recommends books along the way, but I guess you may be well pass this stage by now

 

[Excel Expert]

BTW, am I the only who gets most of his books in audio book format? I never found I had time to read books so I started to get them in audio format. I listen to them when working and travelling about. Good ones I will listen to several times and let things sink in through repetition.

Another source of inspiration are vlogs and podcasts. The one's that I get the most inspiration from are those that look at the way other people market themselves and the ones that look at new businesses and the problems they are trying to solve.

 

[Ashley_Price]

BTW, am I the only who gets most of his books in audio book format? I never found I had time to read books so I started to get them in audio format. I listen to them when working and travelling about. Good ones I will listen to several times and let things sink in through repetition.

I usually have business/non fiction books on my Kobo e-reader. As I don't drive, I find it useful to have all my reference books with me when I go on public transport, etc. As I spend my working day with headphones on, I give my ears a rest.

 

[Excel Expert]

I have a lot of my programming and reference books on an old first generation Kindle - so much easier than carrying a load of books around.

I'm also a non-driver, so I listen to audio books on train journeys and when I'm long walks. It is some how easier to absorb what the content as I'm away from the office, family and other distractions. That is when the content goes in to my ageing brain easier. When I listen in the office it is over the speakers and it is no different to listening to a radio show while I work; however the content doesnt get absorbed so well.

Coming from a call centre background I can also appreciate the need to give the ears a rest after wearing a head set all day.

 

[Fred_the_frog]

I have read some books and I like reading them. However I think a lot of people take them as bibles - 'If I do what he did i'll achieve what he did'. So many people are focused on what the 'right kind of person is/personality traits of an entrepreneur' that they read these books then try to change themselves to become more of an 'entrepreneur'. And now every man and his dog calls themselves an entrepreneur.

The one thing I have learned from all I've read is:

Work hard! VERY HARD! And stay focused

Depends what work you're doing. You could spend weeks and weeks perfecting your new business, working every day and night to make sure your website is perfect and calculating your break even points and other ratio stuff but that's not going to make you succeed.

 

[columbo]

I have read some books and I like reading them. However I think a lot of people take them as bibles - 'If I do what he did i'll achieve what he did'. So many people are focused on what the 'right kind of person is/personality traits of an entrepreneur' that they read these books then try to change themselves to become more of an 'entrepreneur'. And now every man and his dog calls themselves an entrepreneur.


Depends what work you're doing. You could spend weeks and weeks perfecting your new business, working every day and night to make sure your website is perfect and calculating your break even points and other ratio stuff but that's not going to make you succeed.

Yes, You can be a busy fool.

Never equate "busyness" with a healthy business that is going to be still generating good profits
5 years from now.

 

[CKG]

I've read a lot of business Marketing hack/guru type books over the years and I think the time in my life I was reading them and attempting to applying the logic was my least productive time in business. I guess I was looking for that magic bullet and missing the point about what business is entirely.

I then somehow ended up with a copy of 'The Snowball' a biography on Warren Buffett. I can say that reading about Warrens approach to business turned things on its head for me and I got a bit obsessed with the running of PLCs and the question of how to build value in a business and value a business.

A couple of years after reading it I'd gone from a muddy booted contractor up to my neck in the banking meltdown to selling out for a nice pay day and being invited to sit on a couple of BoDs.

It's crazy where my work life has taken me since reading that one book.

 

[BelindaChong]

Can anyone recommend any good books about basic book keeping?

 

[columbo]

Go to Amazon.

"Frank Wood" + "Business Accounting"

Frank Wood's books has been the de facto accounting / book-keeping texts for business courses for the last 20 years.

 

[Eina26]

I don't think it's the only way but it helps. It helps you get inspired and be motivated to reach your goals for your business.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Depends what work you're doing. You could spend weeks and weeks perfecting your new business, working every day and night to make sure your website is perfect and calculating your break even points and other ratio stuff but that's not going to make you succeed.

Oh of course, that is very true, it needs to be a holistic approach, working hard on just one area won't work. You could have the best designed website in the world, but if your customer service is no good, you're not going to get the sales.

 

[maxine]

I'm just reading Duncan Bannatyne's book at the moment and agree with what someone else said about Mindset.

I treat it as a light read, but also a pick-me-up / motivational prod, and while I'm reading it, it will spark ideas of things that I should think of doing or explore further. Even if that's on a teeny scale by comparison to the thing I am reading it then it's one more idea than I had yesterday

I like the feel of entrepreneur personality traits, what they believe are the reasons they have been successful and any lessons they can pass on.

 

[Hillyer]

I do a lot of sport - at a reasonably high level. Lots of sportsmen and women continue on after their sporting careers to talk about motivation and the links between high level sport and business. When I read some of the above autobiographies (my most recent has been Arnold Schwarzenegger's!) I take it as inspiration, lessons and motivation more than a recipe for success.

 

[GodOfSEO]

I'd say definitely not.

It's a lot better to spend your time reading actual case studies and tutorials and guides from people who are successful of the back of those creations (e.g. they write a case study and somehow make money of it such as getting clients for their own business or selling an affiliate product during)

 

[Excel Expert]

Does inspiration equal profit in the long run though?

No doubt these books are inspirational and after reading them we may well be motivated for a week or two to try harder, that in turn may lead to a few extra sales. Surely that is temporary at best?

A book that challenges you to reassess the way you work and update your working practices must have a far longer positive impact on your business?

Books like the 4 Hour Work Week and books on Guerrilla Marketing dont give you a step by step guide on how to do things. They take the case studies that GodOfSEO talked about and breaks them down so you can understand why worked for those companies. Through this understanding you should be inspired to make changes in your own business.

 

[SillyJokes]

We were inspired to start our business by a book and it did become an obsession which would have been a lot easier without 4 kids. Then we went through a phase of not being so focussed and now I am much more focused again although I wonder if I'll ever be so obsessed again? I just feel too old to start working 16 hours a day again.

Edit to say that reading books like this is probably a good thing because you begin to align yourself with success. What harm could that possibly do?

 

[columbo]

What was the book SJ?

 

[SillyJokes]

Oh, gawd, something ancient like "How to get rich sooner than you think.". It told you how to run a mail order business using small ads in magazines. We applied it to the new fangled internet and boom, we were one of the first online joke and party stores. We started last century just as Boo.com went bust so you can imagine what the parents thought.

 

[beasty]

I am not reading the whole thread but my 2p

You buy a book and many buy these books to COPY a formula, the problem is the formula is better learned through proper education in business, marketing, finance etc

These people are all successful as they found a market for what they had, you and I will never be that person nor should we aspire to be the reason being they found a market by being, different, new or better so any which way, do not copy them as they have already done it!

It is all attitude and your desire to succeed *of course what you actually do is going to limit you sweet shop owners spring to mind! If you are doing something that is not scalable then reading about someone that has gone this route with their business is not going to change the opportunity you have.

I know SOME did not have a great formal education, but most of these guys quickly employed someone who did!

 

[Ashley_Price]

I know SOME did not have a great formal education, but most of these guys quickly employed someone who did!

I didn't have a great formal education, I didn't take exams at school and actually left when I was 15. I've employed people who have had much better formal education than me. But then I believe your "real life" experience (if you learn from it) will beat a formal education nearly every time.

And before someone else says it, of course there are industries I'd never get into because I have no formal qualifications - but then I don't intend to get into those industries.

 

[Excel Expert]

If anyone picks up a business book and expects to find a step by step to getting rich, they will always be disappointed. Unfortunately that is what most start ups want and as a result that is how most business books are sold. I had shelves full of books before that penny dropped for me.

On the subject of inspirational characters that people follow, what happens if that person turns out to be a bad apple. I used to follow every word Donald Trump and Alan Sugar would say, but now I find them both to be irritating and full of BS and not the people they pretend to be. So now I avoid every word they say. That in my mind has kind of undone any inspiration I had from them in the past.

 

[columbo]

On the subject of inspirational characters that people follow, what happens if that person turns out to be a bad apple. I used to follow every word Donald Trump and Alan Sugar would say, but now I find them both to be irritating and full of BS and not the people they pretend to be. So now I avoid every word they say. That in my mind has kind of undone any inspiration I had from them in the past.

Donald Trumps books are actually quite good - no fluffy feel-good padding - a lot of his stories relate to how business is really done.

I read Sugar's second book "The Way I See it" and after reading it - I lost a lot of respect for the man. Its full of stories that make him sound very petty. Then there fatuous monologues in the book and that could have just as easily been written by Alan Partridge.

 

[Excel Expert]

I though his books were great as well, but over the coming year I kept coming across more and more stories that showed him in a very different light.

I have a serious problem in thinking that a billionaire like Trump actually sat down to write or dictate a book. Does he really need the money from the book sales? He could pick the phone up and make more money from one call so I very much doubt it. Is he doing it out of the goodness of his heart? Hearing about some of his business practices, I very much doubt it. He is well known for farming out work and trading on just his name (his fake university being a prime example). I personally suspect he has hardly read his books let alone written them.

In my eyes he has become the Lance Armstrong of the business world

With Sugar I lost all faith in him when he became the business advisor to the government. He seemed to lose the plot at that point. He kept complaining that small businesses were complaining that business loans and grants were hard to come by. My recollection of that period is that we were all just getting on with it, it was the press that was moaning. He then went on to make a series of statements that just showed how disconnected from small business (the people he was supposed to be representing) he was.

 

[columbo]

I though his books were great as well, but over the coming year I kept coming across more and more stories that showed him in a very different light.

I have a serious problem in thinking that a billionaire like Trump actually sat down to write or dictate a book. Does he really need the money from the book sales?
In my eyes he has become the Lance Armstrong of the business world

With Sugar I lost all faith in him when he became the business advisor to the government. He seemed to lose the plot at that point. He kept complaining that small businesses were complaining that business loans and grants were hard to come by. My recollection of that period is that we were all just getting on with it, it was the press that was moaning. He then went on to make a series of statements that just showed how disconnected from small business (the people he was supposed to be representing) he was.

The reason why Trump wrote so many books is that its all part of his "brand Trump" portfolio...the man has put the Trump brand on everything from massive building developments to boxer-shorts.

And yes when everybody calls you "Sur" Alan - the man is bound to loose touch. I am sure if we went in disguise to a meeting of small business people he would hear a totally different set of opinions.

 

[Excel Expert]

Totally agree with you on the why he would want a book out there, the man is a branding genius. What I don't believe is he spent hundreds of hours writing books. He has ways of increasing of his brand that takes up far less of his personal time. He only has to speak and he is all over the news. This week he has been dropping hints he may run for President or being New York's Governor (something he has done before every election going) and he has wall to wall coverage.

If he has had someone in to write it in his name, then the book is based on a falsity. Does that remove its inspirationalness? I'm not sure, it does for me because I have to question how honest the contents are.