Book Recommendations
from Bret L. Simmons

From Bret's review: "Despite its flaws, it is a good book. It will make the list of optional readings for my MBA class this fall because I think it will have an impact on the students that read it. The book is very well written with excellent organization and a very conversational style. The best thing about the book is the numerous excellent examples Liz gives to support her points, coming from her years of experience as a top executive and consultant."

Order now from Amazon!

From Bret's review: "Guy defines enchantment as 'the process of delighting people with a product, service, organization, or idea. The outcome of enchantment is voluntary and long-lasting support that is mutually beneficial.' I like that a lot. People that are delighted behave entirely differently than those that are simply satisfied. For me, the last seven chapters were better than the first six, but I think the entire book is worth your time and effort."

Order now from Amazon!

Give Yourself Permission To Do Something Different

October 14, 2009 by Bret L. Simmons · Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Personal Branding, Video

Last week I spoke at the Sparks Chamber of Commerce 2009 Business Forum. One of my MBA students, Alicia Gardner, was on hand and recorded some of my presentation. What I am speaking about here is a combination of what I have written about previously in my articles “Give Yourself Permission,” “Excellence is a Form of Deviance,” and “Become Part of the Conversation,” so what I had to say was inspired by Tina Seelig, Robert Quinn, and Seth Godin.

Thanks, Alicia!

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Tags: Excellence, responsibility, seth godin
Posted in Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Personal Branding, Video

4 Responses to “Give Yourself Permission To Do Something Different”

Tom Glover says:

October 14, 2009 at 12:48 pm

Bret,

I think this is a great message. Three times in my work life (I don’t actually call it my career anymore) I have given myself permission to do something different in a big way. After working as a banker for 13 years and becoming bored with it, I gave myself permission to become a non-profit executive. After doing that for 7 years, I had found my new passion in higher ed.

I have great credit for anyone who is able to give themselves permission to do something different, either on the grand scale that I’ve done previously or on a smaller scale of trying a new marketing technique that others in the field aren’t.

When we stick to the same old, same old we get stale. Giving ourselves permission to do something different keeps life fresh!

[Reply]
Bret L. Simmons Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
And NOW is a great time to act! These really are times of tremendous opportunity. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience, Tom! Bret

[Reply]
Ajo Cherian says:

October 14, 2009 at 3:47 pm

Hi Bret. Congrats on your recent presentation to promote change. A career and geography change is something that brought me to the b-school at Nevada. It was a big change and one of the best things I’ve done but I’m still relatively young. Something that I’ve thought about is would it be harder for someone, say over 50, and lots of years of education and experience to drop all that to pursue a passion in a totally different field? Can you really start from square one the older you get?

[Reply]
Bret L. Simmons Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Hi Ajo, the good news is you can start ANYTIME at any point in your life! But if you don’t experience this when you are young, it get’s harder to believe you can do it. Fortunately for me I learned at a very young age to quit jobs I hated and change directions. I would still do the same today if it ever gets to that point. One reason why I am so big on personal branding. thanks for the question! Bret

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