One of the things I love most about traveling is that it gives me a chance to read.  I love to read but don’t take the time to do so when I’m at home but there are A LOT of books that I want to get through.  While traveling for CES last week I had the chance to read a few books.

This book was written by Barry Libert, chairman and Rick Faulk, CEO of Mzinga.  Barack, Inc is a quick and easy read that packs a punch by providing business lessons from the Obama campaign.  The way in which Obama led this nearly flawless campaign is a case study which everyone in business can learn something from.  These lessons are presented throughout the book along with actionable information that the business reader can take back and use in their organization.  The book is organized into 4 parts which summarize how the campaign was run so successfully:   Success You Can Believe In, Be Cool, Be Social, and Be the Change.  Though I have read and watched a lot about the Obama campaign, I was surprised at some of the stories which are presented in the book.  It was very interesting to read how hands-on Obama was and how effectively he developed a strong team that helped him to raise tens of thousands volunteers to help in the effort.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone involved in business who are looking for some tips on how they can be a better leader, especially during tough times.

As Twitter continues to become more mainstream, there are more and more people inquiring into how to use Twitter, and other forms of microblogging, “properly”.  There are a lot of different strategies depending on what your goals are and how you want to use the service.  Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Onlineby Deborah Micek and Warren Whitlock serves just this purpose.  It is aimed at the user who is considering signing up for the service or is at a beginner level with using it.  The authors do an excellent job of providing lists of resources, suggestions directly from the Twitter community, and tips to help you advance your learning curve with the service quickly.  Even as an advanced user of the platform, I found the book reminding of little things that I’ve been meaning to do.  Due to how fast the service, and resources around Twitter, are changing, the authors are constantly updating their online portal for the book, twitterhandbook.com.

Saving the World at Work is an interesting read by Tim Sanders on what companies and individuals should and can be doing to make a difference in other ways besides just the bottom line.  The book is filled with remarkable stories of how just one person helped someone else out or saved the environment from hundreds of millions of pounds of waste.  As Sanders tells these stories, he provides the reader with information on how they can make a difference in their organization or communities.  What I like so much about this book is that what Sanders suggests doesn’t take a lot of money to do, it doesn’t even take a lot of time necessarily…it just takes someone stepping up with the want and will to make a difference.  As the inside cover states: “Every one of us, regardless of title or position, can inspire our comapnies to change the way they do business, helping them to become a positive force for enriching people, communities, and the environment.”

I am really looking forward to 2009 as I will be traveling more than I ever have before.  Not only will this give me the chance to meet tons of awesome people, it will give me the opportunity to read a lot of books.  If you have a book coming out, I’d love to read it.  Ping me or leave a comment below

What are your “must reads” right now?

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