NFIB

The Value of Reading Business Autobiographies
03/ 25/ 2002

Anyone serious about growing their small company knows the value of gaining business knowledge, either through formal business classes or informally through seminars, books and magazines. Some of the greatest resources for acquiring advanced business acumen are autobiographies, many of which are written by the most successful and dynamic personalities in the international business community. In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses discusses a recent example.

Sumner Redstone's book, A Passion To Win (Simon & Schuster, 2001, 322 pages, about $25 in hardcover), is an excellent example of the modern business autobiography. Mr. Redstone certainly has a story to tell. He is the founder and CEO of Viacom, which owns such companies as MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, CBS, Simon & Schuster, Paramount Pictures, Showtime, Blockbuster and others. His book describes some of the key moments during the development of Viacom's empire and his thoughts and plans at every step.

Redstone seldom gives straight advice in his book, but a key paragraph in an early chapter describes what he looks for in an executive. He writes, "A passionate commitment to your goal, the courage to dream and to take risks, and the moral and intellectual character to realize the dreams worth pursuing and the best route to take to achieve them. Commitment, courage, character; a powerful combination of qualities that I believe you will find in every truly accomplished person."

Words like these, written by one of the most successful and admired executives of our time, are a valuable contribution to the development of the world's business thought and can be inspiring for oneÆs personal development.

Successful businesspeople like Redstone often share their most hard-won, useful secrets when writing their personal autobiographies, which is invaluable for every businessperson.

In addition to specific tips and how-to information, business autobiographies always contain a wealth of stories relating to the author's life. These stories illustrate how to successfully execute a business plan, how to make crucial decisions and how business relationships are forged. Such stories show how a successful person transacts day-to-day activities and often provide first-hand experiences from which attentive readers can extract vital knowledge about the mechanics of business.

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