Summer is the perfect time for catching up on your reading.
Today, Eric discusses seven books he read recently that have left a lasting impression on him. Stay tuned as he shares why these books stood out to him, what he learned from each one, and why he feels they are worth adding to your reading list.
It’s All About Relationships: Mastering the Art of Relational Leadership – Eddie Arriola
Eric started reading this book because he knows Eddie Arriola and wanted to support him, but he found it truly fascinating. Drawing on Eddie’s experience of starting a bank from scratch, building an amazing culture, and later selling the business, the book is filled with leadership lessons, anecdotes, and stories. Whether you’re in business or not, Eric highly recommends this book.
How Big Things Get Done – Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner
The stories in this book are so captivating that Eric read it like a novel. The book focuses on teams, preparation, and project management. It brings lessons to life through stories, making complex ideas engaging and memorable.
Suicidal Empathy – Gad Saad
This book presents examples of events that have taken place in the UK, Canada, and the US, focusing on society, academia, and politics. Eric describes it as frightening and eye-opening. He notes that it is not recommended for people who are easily offended or closely aligned with woke ideology, but believes it is a book everyone should read.
Unhinged Habits: A Counterintuitive Guide for Humans to Have More by Doing Less – Jonathan Goodman
The book combines philosophy, life lessons, and practical ideas that can be applied in both life and business. Drawing on examples from Jonathan Goodman’s own life, it encourages readers to stop waiting for “one day” and start living the life they want. Eric describes it as an inspiring book that makes you think about the choices you are making in life.
Crushing It! – Gary Vaynerchuk
This book shares real examples of entrepreneurs who have implemented the ideas from Crush It to build their businesses and influence. Each story demonstrates how those ideas were successfully put into practice while offering practical takeaways that readers can apply themselves. Eric found each story truly inspiring.
Out of Touch: The Elite 1% and the Battle for America’s Soul – Scott Rasmussen
This book explores how a small group of politically active elites hijacked America’s institutions, shattered national trust, and turned citizens against one another, while examining what the rest of us can do about it. Drawing on extensive survey data, the book is packed with data and examples that truly make you think.
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work – Shawn Achor
This book challenges the belief that success leads to happiness, arguing instead that happier people become more successful. Through practical examples, it explains how cultivating happiness first can fuel greater success and performance at work. Eric says it is not “woo woo” at all, but a highly practical book that he highly recommends.
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Resources
It’s All About Relationships: Mastering the Art of Relational Leadership – Eddie Ariola
How Big Things Get Done – Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner
Unhinged Habits: A Counterintuitive Guide for Humans to Have More by Doing Less – Jonathan Goodman
Crushing It! – Gary Vaynerchuk
Out of Touch: The Elite 1% and the Battle for America’s Soul – Scott Rasmussen
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“A lot of people, including myself, used to think that the day I’m successful, I would be happy. And actually it’s completely upside down: the more people are happy, the more they’re successful.”
Eric Rozenberg
Full transcript of episode 335 of The Business of Meetings podcast, a solo episode with Eric Rozenberg. Lightly edited for readability.
Hello and welcome to a new episode of The Business of Meetings podcast. Today I would like to share with you seven books that I read recently. It’s the summer, so it’s the perfect time to read, although I love to read all year long. It goes from business to geopolitics and a little bit more of philosophy of life.
And so, without further ado, let’s start with the very first one, from my friend Eddie Arriola, who recently published It’s All About Relationships: Mastering the Art of Relational Leadership. Eddie is a fabulous entrepreneur who started a bank from scratch before selling it years later, and developed an amazing culture. And he’s written this book. Honestly, I just started reading it because I know the author, and I thought, you know what, I want to support him. And it’s absolutely fascinating. It’s a great lesson in leadership. It’s full of anecdotes, stories. This is a book that I highly recommend for anyone, whether you’re in business or not. It’s All About Relationships, from Eddie Arriola.
The second book that I’ve read recently, which is absolutely phenomenal, is called How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine, I don’t know in English, the fate of every project, from home renovations to space exploration and everything in between, from Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner. How Big Things Get Done. It goes from renovating the kitchen in a townhouse in the center of New York, to building the Pentagon, to the museum in, where is it? Not in Lisbon. In Portugal, I think. The Frank Gehry museum. It’s really fascinating. It’s all about teams, all about preparation, all about project management. The stories are absolutely fascinating. I read it really like a novel. How Big Things Get Done, from Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner. I think you have more chances with the name of the book rather than the names of the authors, which I’m unfortunately mispronouncing.
The third book, and I don’t have it with me because I already lent it, is an absolutely phenomenal book called Suicidal Empathy, from Gad Saad. Dying to be kind. Definitely not recommended if you are quickly offended, or if you are more in line with the woke ideology. And it’s full of real examples, of facts, of things that have happened in the UK, in Canada, in the US. Gad was born Lebanese, immigrated to Canada, and is now moving to the US. And all the examples that he is sharing within Suicidal Empathy are real examples. It’s frightening, and it’s eye-opening. And it’s really something that I recommend that everyone should be reading. Obviously, it’s not about business, but it’s about our society, the world in which we are living, as well as what’s going on in academia and in politics in those different countries. So, Suicidal Empathy, from Gad Saad.
The fourth book that I want to recommend is like a journal, a philosophy of life. It’s called Unhinged Habits: A Counterintuitive Guide for Humans to Have More by Doing Less, from Jonathan Goodman. Jonathan is a digital nomad, I don’t know if we can call it like that, but he’s living with his family several months abroad every year or every two years. Originally from Canada. It’s an amazing book, an inspiring book. He’s talking about his life. He’s talking about examples of what makes him think. It’s a mix between philosophy, life lessons, and also good ideas that one can implement in their business. And quite frankly, it makes you think about the choices we’re making in life. You know, we always say, one day I will, one day I will. Well, Jonathan and his family, they’re actually doing it. They’re living their life. And he is absolutely amazing. Unhinged Habits, from Jonathan Goodman.
Book number four, not a new book, but very actual in its content, from somebody I like very much, Gary V, Gary Vaynerchuk, who wrote Crush It. And now it was the following book, with examples of people that had read Crush It and had implemented the ideas in Crush It. And it’s called Crushing It: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence, and How You Can, Too. Crushing It. Again, what I like: it’s full of real, concrete examples. People that Gary V had inspired and had met afterwards, and how they’ve been implementing the ideas. Every story is an inspiration. In every story there’s an idea you can implement. Crushing It, from Gary Vaynerchuk.
Book number six. A very recent book, although nothing to do with business. It’s called Out of Touch: The Elite 1% and the Battle for America’s Soul, from Scott Rasmussen. Scott is the founder of ESPN, and he is passionate about surveys, and has been conducting many, many surveys in his life. And it’s full of them. And basically his thesis is the following: there are 10% of right extremists in America, there are 10% of left extremists in America, and there’s 80% of us who are more in the middle. And the book, it says, is a data-driven indictment of how a tiny class of politically active elites hijacked America’s institutions, shattered national trust, and turned citizens against one another, and what the rest of us can do about it. Very, very interesting book. Loved reading it. And again, it’s full of data, it’s full of examples, and it makes you think. Out of Touch, from Scott Rasmussen.
And last but certainly not least, again, it’s not the most recent book. I think it was published in 2010 or 2011. I’m going to check that immediately. It is 2010. And very actual as well. It’s from Shawn Achor, A-C-H-O-R. He is teaching the happiness course to companies worldwide, but also at Harvard. He is a student of the world-famous Tal Ben-Shahar, who created that course at Harvard. And the book is called The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work. And basically the thesis of the book, again full of examples, and I love that, but the thesis is: a lot of people, including myself, used to think that the day I’m successful, I would be happy. And actually it’s completely upside down. It’s the more people are happy, the more they’re successful. And so, looking for happiness first, and when you have the happiness, then it will lead to success. It’s not a woo-woo book at all. It’s very concrete, with examples of what you can do in your life. Highly recommended.
So those are my seven books for this summer: The Happiness Advantage from Shawn Achor, Out of Touch from Scott Rasmussen, Crushing It from Gary Vaynerchuk, Unhinged Habits from Jonathan Goodman, Suicidal Empathy from Gad Saad, How Big Things Get Done from Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, and It’s All About Relationships from Eddie Arriola.
Let me know if you have any other books to recommend. Let me know when, or if, you’ve read one or all of the books. And I look forward to meeting you at an industry conference. Until then, I’ll see you in the episode of The Business of Meetings podcast next week. Thank you.
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