Next Book for Splendid Book Club: Leadership Matters #readsplendid

The next book we'll be reading for the Splendid Book Club is Leadership Matters . . . The CEO Survival Manual: What It Takes To Reach the C-Suite and Stay There by Mike Myatt.

Don't let the full title description fool you -- this book is for small business owners and solo entrepreneurs as well. Everyone who owns a business has been given a leadership platform of some kind, but having the platform and being a good leader are two different things.

This book is a quick read, but full of practical wisdom and insight on leadership. As you can imagine, the word CEO shows up often in the pages. If it makes it easier or more relatable to your specific situation, just substitute the word "owner." You'll find everything still applies.

The original plan was to read one book every two months, but with this last book that proved to be a bit unrealistic, so we're stretching out the reading schedule this time around. It will still be a chapter per week (and shorter chapters), but there will be a little more buffer room for catching up if one week gets totally crazy. If you read quickly, feel free to read ahead. This book club is what you make of it and there are no hard and fast rules.

People from three cities organized in-person book club meet-ups for the last book (Chicago, Atlanta and New York). If you'd like to do one for this book, please post the info on Twitter with the hashtag #readsplendid so that others can join in as well.

We'll be starting officially on March 18th to give everyone some time to order the book. It's available on Kindle and in print (note: if you have an iPad, you can download the free Kindle app which will allow you to read Kindle books). Here is the full reading schedule:

Week of March 18th: Preface and Chapter 1
Week of March 24: Chapter 2
Week of March 31: Chapter 3
Week of April 7: Chapter 4
Week of April 14: Chapter 5
Week of April 21: Chapter 6
Week of April 28: Chapter 7
Week of May 5: Chapter 8
Week of May 12: Chapter 9 and Postscript
Week of May 19: Catch up if needed
Week of May 26: Catch up if needed

Don't forget to share insights that stand out to you on your blog or via Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #readsplendid.

You can order the book here (please note, there are several books with the title Leadership Matters, you want the one by Mike Myatt).

Splendid Book Club: Daring Greatly, Week 2 #readsplendid

We just wrapped the first official week of the Splendid Book Club. Thanks to everyone who has been participating! It has been fun to follow the Twitter and Instagram feeds and see what other people are gleaning from the book while we're reading together, yet in different parts of the world.

This last week was chapter one of Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead by Brené Brown, and this coming week we're reading chapter two. If you're new to this, you can follow all the Splendid Book Club posts at readsplendid.com and get the scoop on what it's all about here.

Also, the Atlanta wedding industry has already organized two in-person meet-ups to talk about the book. If you're in the area and would like to join and maybe meet some colleagues you haven't yet, here are the details:

Atlanta vendors who are doing the #readsplendid book club we have meet ups planned Feb 1 & Feb 28 at 10am to discuss book at @studiowedatl
— Michelle Gainey (@lemiga) January 8, 2013

If you're attending the Event Solutions conference in Vegas, the ladies at Scheme Events are looking at organizing a meet up:

Here's another stab: how many #readsplendid friends will be in Las Vegas for #eventsolutions?Let's get together, yeah yeah yeah!
— Scheme Events (@SchemeEvents) January 7, 2013

Here are some of the insights from the book people shared this past week:

"What we know matters, but who we are matters more." - Brene Brown #readsplendid
— Moya Minns | MM Ink (@MoyaMinns) January 6, 2013

"We are hard wired to connect with others; it's what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. Without it there is suffering." #readsplendid
— Stephanie Marie (@fetebysteph) January 8, 2013

We humans have a tendency to define things by what they are not. #readsplendid #mth2013
— Nikki Zawol (@NikkiZawol) January 9, 2013

I'd say the one thing we have in common is that we're sick of feeling afraid. We all want to be brave. We want to dare greatly.#readsplendid
— Catie Ronquillo (@CatieRonquillo) January 8, 2013

I wholeheartedly agree #readsplendid “Worrying about scarcity is our culture’s version of post-traumatic stress.” from itun.es/us/JIOIE.l
— Cassandra Santor (@cassandrasantor) January 8, 2013

From Heather Crabtree:

From Erica Stawick:

From Allison Howell:

From Lauren at Every Last Detail:

As you're reading this week, don't forget to share some of the concepts that stand out to you with the hashtag #readsplendid so we can all participate together!


First image, clockwise from top left: Stefanie, Catie, Trisha, Lynzy

Splendid Book Club: Daring Greatly, Week 1 #readsplendid

Today officially kicks off the first week of the Splendid Book Club! This coming week we're reading the Introduction and Chapter 1 of Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead by Brené Brown. If you don't have the book yet, you can purchase it here. The top left photo above is from a library, so you can also check yours to see if they have a copy available.

While the reading schedule starts today, some people have already begun sharing some of their insights from the book. Here are a few shared via Twitter and Amazon Kindle with the #readsplendid hashtag:

@tayloredphoto That part stood out to me too! Isn't it crazy how top of mind our perceived shortcomings are!?!? #readsplendid
— Robin Nathan (@robinnphoto) January 6, 2013

Perfect and bulletproof are seductive, but they don't exist in the human experience. #readsplendid
— Envelopments Holly (@envelopments) January 5, 2013

We can't fix people by cutting them down to size and reminding folks of their inadequacies - #readsplendid
— Envelopments Holly (@envelopments) January 5, 2013

@tayloredphoto theres some great stuff so far! "the opposite of scarcity is enough" love it. #readsplendid
— CherryTree Occasions (@CallandraC) January 5, 2013

From Heather:

From Sarah:

Jessika also shares why she decided to join on her blog.

Want to join us? It's not too late! The Splendid Book Club is informal, free and fun! Here's what you need to know to get started, as well as the reading schedule for Daring Greatly (a chapter each week, doable for even the craziest of schedules).

As you're reading this week, please share some of your insights on your blog or via Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #readsplendid -- you may just see them show up here in next Sunday's post!



Instagram photos, clockwise from top left: Catie, Chelle, Callandra, Melissa

Splendid Book Club: Reading Guide for Daring Greatly #readsplendid

If you're participating in the Splendid Book Club and want a little more structure to your reading, you're in luck! Brené Brown, the author of our first book Daring Greatly, has developed a study guide to go along with it.

The study guide is perfect for people who like pre-set questions and prompts to mull over while they're reading. You can download it as a free PDF here.

I've set up readsplendid.com as an easy-to-remember direct link to all the Splendid Book Club posts on here. Don't forget to share your own insights with the hashtag #readsplendid or on your own blog!

Introducing the Splendid Book Club

Yesterday I posted a photo on Instagram of a book I had recently read and recommend. Nancy Ray commented we should start a book club (I recently had read another book on a recommendation from her). Kari Crowe mentioned that she would join too. So with those two prompts, I decided to create one. Or at least my version of one.

I have a lot of dreams for 2013 and an over-arching goal for each new year is to always be a better person by this time next year. To make use of the untapped potential that exists in me. A big part of that comes from reading. It is simply a practice that cannot be replaced by anything else. Sure, you can learn from other platforms, but none of them have the impact or power to change your mind and worldview that books do. Books carry ideas and good ideas have the power to change our minds, change our hearts and when put into action, change the world.

This is, more or less, how the Splendid Book Club will work:

1. We'll read one book every two months. This allows for a reading pace that is doable for most schedules. This also allows time to read whichever books are on your personal reading lists. I'll post the next book a month prior so that everyone has time to purchase it or put their name on a wait list at the library. If it's a book you've already read, read it again! You might discover something you missed the first time around.

2. The books will be related to being more splendid in some way. More splendid in business, in life, in how we approach problems, etc. There will be no Twilight, Hunger Games, 50 Shades, etc. Not that the flavor of the month books can't be splendid, but they don't really fit into what this book club is about.

3. At the beginning of the month, I'll post a reading outline for the next two months. This is meant as a guideline and you can obviously read as slow or as quickly as you'd like. Because these aren't fiction books, I'm not particularly concerned about spoilers.

4. Feel free to Tweet or Instagram parts that stand out to you with the hashtag #readsplendid. Write blog posts that share your insights from the books and what you're learning so that others can learn from your take on things. If you're really ambitious, you can organize Splendid in-person group meet-ups to talk about the books. If you do this last one though, please have snacks. In person book clubs that don't have snacks are not splendid. The point is, this can look however you'd like it to, but it won't work if we all just read the book and don't share the ideas that we're taking away from it.

So without further ado, here is the first book for 2013: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead by Brené Brown.

I am choosing to kick off 2013 with this book because 'faux authenticity' is all the rage right now. It is popular to use social media and other platforms to tell a story that may sound nice, but isn't exactly your story and doesn't actually belong to you. This is damaging on so many levels. It is time to get back to being real rather than merely pretending to be real.

Brené is a qualitative researcher at the University of Houston. Her books are all about how to be yourself and live a more authentic life, free from the fear of what others may think of you. Unlike most books that spring from academia, hers are not dry. They are thought-provoking and funny and hold ideas that matter. If you're not already familiar with Brené and her work, I recommend watching her TEDxHouston talk (the best out of her TED talks, in my opinion) first:

Daring Greatly is her latest book, and we'll read it in January and February, wrapping up on February 28th. Here is the reading outline:

Week 1 (week of January 6) - Intro and Chapter 1
Week 2 (week of January 13) - Chapter 2
Week 3 (week of January 20) - Chapter 3
Week 4 (week of January 27) - Chapter 4
Week 5 (week of February 3) - Chapter 5
Week 6 (week of February 10) - Chapter 6
Week 7 (week of February 17) - Chapter 7
Week 8 (week of February 24) - Catch up if life got crazy and you got off schedule

You can order Daring Greatly here. It also comes as an audio book, so if you'd rather listen as you design a project, edit photos, workout, or drive all over town, you can do that, too.

Please don't forget to use the hashtag #readsplendid if you post about the books. This will allow the larger community to follow along with your insights and empower us to learn from each other.



PS: It was Brené's insights that pinpointed why I don't like the word "creatives." Sometimes you have an idea or gut reaction about something and can't quite articulate it, but someone else comes along and says what you've been feeling in an exact way.