The Personal MBA^TM

Being “touched by divinity” is not required for business success.

Warren Buffett. Jack Welch. Bill Gates. Steve Jobs. JP Morgan. John D. Rockefeller. Seth Godin. David Allen. Tim Ferriss. Guy Kawasaki. Dan Kennedy. Jay Abraham. Chet Holmes. Michael Masterson. Dale Carnegie. Michael Porter. Jim Collins. Peter Drucker. Gods and Demi-Gods in the pantheon of business success, capable of wielding super-human powers of profit creation, productivity, insight, and decision-making. Extremely rare geniuses who have more potential in their shoelaces than normal people can muster in a lifetime, right? Wrong.

For me, one of the unexpected benefits of developing the Personal MBA has been the realization / internalization of the fact that successful businesspeople (and business book authors) are normal people, just like you and me. Their work is mundane, not magical - they’ve simply identified a need or opportunity, developed their knowledge and skills, and created something of value that satisfies the demand.

It’s easy to deify these figures because they seem so exceptional and (many times) far removed from your current state. Unless you have the opportunity to meet them in person or take a few minutes to write them a letter, they remain enshrined in a place of honor on your bookshelf, encased in a throne of paper, ink, and glue. It’s only after you come in close contact with one of these notable people that you realize there’s really nothing magical about them at all.

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If you're new to the Personal MBA, you'll want to check out the manifesto and recommended reading list to see what we're all about.

Also, be sure to become a PMBA Insider (it's free), as well as subscribe to the RSS feed to be notified when new posts are published. Thanks for visiting!

A snapshot of a printed version of the new reading list…

I’m hard at work preparing the 2008 edition of the PMBA Recommended Reading List for publication. I’m very excited about this new edition - I think you’ll find it a significant improvement over the 2007 edition.

Here’s what you can expect when the new list is published:

1. 77 books, including 14 new recommendations and 2 new editions.
2. Expanded, more comprehensive coverage of important subjects like Marketing, Sales, Leadership, Analysis, and Innovation.
3. A new user-friendly design.
4. Updated options to purchase the entire library of books. (If you’re thinking about purchasing the Motherlode, you should hold off until the new list is published.)
5. Guidance on what to read first, based on your personal situation and goals.

PMBA Insiders will have first-look access to the new recommendations, so if you’re not yet a member, take a moment and sign up today!

As some of you may have noticed, this site was down from approximately 8:00pm to 5:00am EST. I’ve been busy working on the site in preparation for publishing the 2008 edition of the PMBA Recommended Reading List, and I inadvertently changed a few settings that obviously don’t like to be messed with.

Seems like this self-educated server admin still has a few things to learn! Apologies to all for the unexpected downtime.