Unreasonable Hospitality | Will Guidara

I saw this book Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara in the book list that Ozan Varol shared and then I also noticed it in the bestseller list of Amazon when I was very close to finishing the book. It is a great book that every business people can find things to apply in their business life. Although Will Guidara has a profession that I am not familiar with, the method he uses will probably fit into almost all businesses.

Will Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world. How did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. Let’s see what I highlighted from Will’s book.

In the rise of digital communication and increased demand for remote work, we are left feeling lonelier and more apart than at any other time in recent history. Yet our intense desire to feel a sense of belonging remains—it’s an innate human need. That’s where Unreasonable Hospitality comes.

The greatest restaurants in the world became great by challenging the way we think about food: sourcing, preparation, presentation and, of course, taste. But when Will Guidara set out to make Eleven Madison Park the best restaurant in the world, he had a crazy idea about how to do it: “What would happen if we approached hospitality with the same passion, attention to detail, and rigor that we bring to our food?”

Your Next Five Moves | Patrick Bet-David

If I would need to share the best book I read in 2023, it is "Your Next Five Moves" by Patrick Bet-David. I found this book from the best sellers in Amazon business books list and I read it during a time where I need to answer some key questions in my career and set a new strategy for the upcoming performance review cycles. 

Let's leave the personal things and focus on this great book and its author.  According to Patrick Bet-David, "The only thing separating us from greatness is a vision and a plan for achieving greatness. When you’re fighting for a cause, a dream, something greater than yourself, you will find the enthusiasm, passion, and joy that make life a great adventure. The key is identifying your cause and knowing who you want to be." Who am I? A short question but the answer needs a long thinking. 

From my point of view, Patrick Bet-David's "Your Next Five Moves" has 2 main take-aways. First, get into the habit of thinking five moves ahead in everything you do in business.  Just working to try and do that will lift your game and lead to greater success. Second, in every industry, 80 percent of the players will be actors, and only 20 percent will be doers. The key to positioning yourself firmly in the doers camp is to be continually investing in learning and growth. Invest in yourself. Think five moves ahead.

The Culture Code | Daniel Coyle

Honestly, "The Culture Code" is not one of those books that I will recommend someone to read but it has well chosed quotes that I wanted to carry to my blog. Anyway, I respect to the authoe Daniel Coyle's effort. So here you may find them: 

Individual skills are not what matters. What matters is the interaction.

They are not competing for status. They stand shoulder to shoulder and work energetically together. They move quickly, spotting problems and offering help. They experiment, take risks, and notice outcomes, which guides them toward effective solutions.

They are tapping into a simple and powerful method in which a group of ordinary people can create a performance far beyond the sum of their parts.

I Will Teach You to Be Rich | Ramit Sethi

I am a fan of personal finance books and I do like to read this kind of books that I found in the best seller list of Amazon. This time, the list brought me the book: "I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S." This New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller is written by Ramit Sethi.

There were some generic recommendations which do not fit to the realities of today, at least for my country Turkiye. Anyway, it is a good piece of work who want to have a mindset about where to start for personal finance. Let's continue with my highlights from the book:

People love to argue minor points, partially because they feel it absolves them from actually having to do anything. You know what? Let the fools debate the details. I decided to learn about money by taking small steps to manage my own spending. Just as you don’t have to be a certified nutritionist to lose weight or an automotive engineer to drive a car, you don’t have to know everything about personal finance to be rich. I’ll repeat myself: You don’t have to be an expert to get rich. You do have to know how to cut through all the information and get started—which, incidentally, also helps reduce the guilt.

Investing early is the best thing you can do.

The best time to start investing was ten years ago. The second best time is today.

Decisive | Chip Heath and Dan Heath

In Decisive, Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Made to Stick and Switch, tackle the thorny problem of how to overcome our natural biases and irrational thinking to make better decisions, about our work, lives, companies and careers.

When it comes to decision making, our brains are flawed instruments. But given that we are biologically hard-wired to act foolishly and behave irrationally at times, how can we do better? A number of recent bestsellers have identified how irrational our decision making can be. But being aware of a bias doesn't correct it, just as knowing that you are nearsighted doesn't help you to see better. In Decisive, the Heath brothers, draw on extensive studies and stories...

Zero Negativity | Ant Middleton

This book will not tell you who to be, where you should live, or what job you should do. That’s up to you. What this book is for, however, is to give you the tools you need to become the best possible version of yourself, to own who and what you are, and to live your life with Zero Negativity. Here is a good read with great insights and mindsets to follow from Ant Middleton. Interesting to have his wife's input on this one as well and goes to show that it's not all for the book, the man completely lives by what he writes. Here are my key take-aways:

Trillion Dollar Coach | Bill Campbell

Based on interviews with over eighty people who knew and loved Bill Campbell, Trillion Dollar Coach explains the Coach’s principles and illustrates them with stories from the many great people and companies with which he worked. The result is a blueprint for forward-thinking business leaders and managers that will help them create higher performing and faster moving cultures, teams, and companies.

Bill Campbell played an instrumental role in the growth of several prominent companies, such as Google, Apple, and Intuit, fostering deep relationships with Silicon Valley visionaries, including Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt. In addition, this business genius mentored dozens of other important leaders on both coasts, from entrepreneurs to venture capitalists to educators to football players, leaving behind a legacy of growing companies, successful people, respect, friendship, and love after his death in 2016.