The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life

Product Information

I was speaking with a colleague of mine and Steven Bartlett's name came up. She explained she follows his podcast religiously and loves the words of wisdom he imparts. Having read this book, I am also a convert. Sometimes, making an experience worse makes your customers want your products more. For example, energy drinks taste like medicine, but people buy them because they assume their chemicals are powerful. This is the case because humans are irrational in their decision-making. The product you create can be successful even if it doesn’t make sense. Law 15: The Frame Matters More than the Picture A successful person never shies away from having uncomfortable conversations. Law 26: Your Skills Are Worthless, But Your Context Is Valuable These fundamental laws underpinned my meteoric rise, and they will fuel yours too, whether you want to build something great or become someone great. The laws are rooted in psychology and behavioral science, in my own experiences, and those of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, entertainers, artists, writers, and athletes, who I've interviewed on my podcast. In his seminal book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg introduced the idea of habit loops. A habit loop has three main elements. The cue is the trigger that leads to an act or conduct. The routine is the behavior itself. Finally, the reward is the result of performing said action. Instead of fighting a habit, replace a harmful reward with something less harmful.

Steven Bartlett - Entrepreneur, Speaker, Investor, BBC Dragon

Bartlett shares a “three bars” framework. For every employee, he asks: If everyone on your team had the same values, attitude, and talent, would the standards be raised, maintained, or lowered? Bar lowerers must be fired, bar raisers need to be promoted, and bar maintainers need to be trained. Law 31: Leverage the power of progress There are parts of the book I'll take away and use and other parts not so much, the laws are broken down to their absolute basic form and are not particularly detailed in evidence but do have a story of their application. Note that cults are unsustainable in the long term. Law 30: The Three Bars for Building Great Teams Cultures and values determine the success of a group and they’re embodied by the leader. Creating a sense of strength and unity leads to success. No one person is bigger than the team. All members must embrace its culture and values and if they don’t, that means they’re not a right fit. The leader has to make bold decisions and these often come in the form of hiring the right people and firing toxic people. Keeping bad people can ruin your culture. Our beliefs are based on experiences and biases. The problem is that we often accept something as true, even if that’s not the case. In fact, we don’t have evidence for many of our beliefs. We often rely on our senses to determine the veracity of a given belief. You’d think that for someone to change their mind, they would have to get first-party evidence, but even then, they might reject it.When we think of great work, we only think geniuses can achieve it. In reality, anyone willing to improve a little bit better every day will get there. Also, success sometimes requires you to deviate from the main path. This means things will get worse before they get better. Law 21: You Must Out-Fail the Competition Certain insights were so thought-provoking that I started following him on LinkedIn. His anecdotes, while logically sound, provided a refreshing perspective, especially for seasoned managers who've faced similar challenges.

The Diary of a CEO Radio review: The Moral Maze, Off Menu, and The Diary of a CEO

Time is one of our most precious resources. Use death not as a depressing moment, but as something that motivates you to be the best version of yourself. At the very heart of all the success and failure I've been exposed to - both my own entrepreneurial journey and through the thousands of interviews I’ve conducted on my chart-topping podcast - are a set of principles that ensure excellence. As a young entrepreneur and founder of my own startup company, I've often found myself seeking guidance and inspiration from various sources. One such source that has recently left a significant impact on my journey is "Diary of A CEO". This book is nothing short of vital for entrepreneurs, offering a wealth of life knowledge that extends far beyond the confines of the business world. Develop a contingency plan: Once you’ve identified the potential challenges, you come up with strategies to avoid the dangers ahead. As a success coach, I'm always on the lookout for resources that offer insights and practical wisdom to benefit my clients and myself. Steven’s book did not disappoint.

I'm sorry... but that's not something I ever want to read. Also, the author has a chapter named "p*ssing people off." When you tell a story to people, the first five seconds are important. You must captivate and surprise people through your stories. The first five seconds of your story represent “the hook” and it must be clear, compelling, and promising. If you can’t do this, people will tune out. The most common mistake is to introduce yourself or overexplain. The Moral Maze is to be commended for keeping its cool. This was a topic that it could not dodge, even though the tools at its disposal are — at this stage in the narrative of the conflict — wholly inadequate. Indeed, on one thing all seemed to agree: that enemies are constructed rather than inevitable. But, it turns out, this platitude gets us not very far at all. Sunk-cost fallacy bias: This is when we stand by a decision because we’ve spent time and money on it. Moving on implies losing the time and money we’ve invested in it.