Leaders Read#114

👋 Hello everyone,

Dan Brown said, "Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire."

Here are a few resources you might have missed:

• Book notes: Look Again by Tali Sharot & Cass R. Sunstein

• Book notes: Story Telling for Business by Philipp Humm

• All 203 Book notes for your enjoyment

• Catch-up: #1 - #113 Leaders Read Newsletters

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📚 Book Summary:

This week's book is "Influence" by Robert B. Cialdini.

You should read this book if you want to understand the hidden patterns behind human decision-making—those automatic “click-run” responses that marketers have exploited for decades.

One of my favorite takeaways from the book is this:

"In the world of business, research has found that managers weigh potential losses more heavily than potential gains in their decisions. The same is true in professional sports, where decision-makers deliberate longer in situations involving possible losses than in those involving possible gains; as a result, golfers on the PGA tour spend more time and effort on putts designed to prevent losing a shot to par (avoiding bogies) than on those designed to gain a shot to par (getting birdies)."

✅ Actionable advice:

Seth Godin calls it the lizard brain—that primal instinct that whispers fear when uncertainty enters the room. Effective leaders don’t fight the fear of loss aversion with frantic action. They fight it with identity. That begins by identifying your core values. When you tell yourself, “I am the kind of leader who stands my ground with confidence,” or “I lead with integrity, not just urgency,” you create a compass. It’s the difference between saying, “I’m going to lose 20 pounds by jogging,” and saying, “I am a runner.” One is a task. The other is a truth.

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Have a great week!