Read and Carry On Feb Edition

Read and Carry On: All About Relationships

In this edition of Read and Carry On, I feature books that address some of the different relationships we have. These include spouses, family, community, customers, business and professional relationships.

Business and Professional Relationships

How to Be a Power Connector: The 5+50+100 Rule for Turning Your Business Network into Profits ( Judy Robinett)

High Value Strategic Connections/Relationships are crucial for your personal success. These connections should be diverse and is described by the author as “wide, deep and robust”. Categorizing your relationships using the 5+50+100 rule helps you to lay the foundation for growing your high value strategic connections.

Read this book to get deeper into how to build your social capital and maintain your strategic connections.

Also take a listen to Paul Brunson sharing how to create worthwhile and meaningful connections.

Be Our Guest

Client/Customer Relationships

Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service (Disney Institute Book, A) (The Disney Institute and Theodore Kinni)

Focuses on the legendary service of Disney. This book details how Disney ensures that everything the company does is designed to deliver an exceptional experience for every guest. This includes understanding the guests needs and delivering the service to meet those needs. This book is a great primer on how to maintain a high level a customer service that exceed expectations at all times.

His Needs Her Needs

Marriage

His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage (by Willard F. Jr. Harley)

This classic international best-selling book helps couples discover and then learn to meet each other’s most important emotional needs. As I was reading this book, it felt like it was the precursor to the 5 Love Languages. .

My husband and I read this book as part of our church’s marriage ministry book discussion. While the book, is written from a Christian perspective, the author was pointed and told very realistic stories about how the smallest seemingly inconsequential behaviors lead to serious issues in a marriage. The book along with the accompanying study session videos offered insightful views that led to lively discussions. My husband walked away with additional tools to support a healthy marriage. This book is a must read for all married couples and engaged couples.

Family, Community & Cultural Relationships

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Trevor Noah)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even though Trevor was talking about his experiences in South Africa, he could’ve very well spoken about life in Montego Bay Jamaica. Of course I had to listen to the book via audible because come on – it’s being narrated by Trevor and on that alone I knew I was in for a treat.

There were so many parts where we’d say in Jamaica – “sometimes you affi tek serious tings Mek joke”. The stories were laughable the way he told it but it was serious stuff (like being throughout the car)

I had to savor the book. I normally would’ve binged listened but I needed to savor the stories and reflect on my own especially in light of the recent death of my grandmother – where memories of life with her both in Jamaica and here in the U.S. offered some soothing consolation from the fact that she’s no longer living.

How is it that Trevor and I who are years apart in age and continents apart in distance experienced similar situations in life with family? Perhaps it’s the shared experiences of colonization, humanity, being poor and a universal language of survival.

Well there you have it friends, until next time, Read and Carry On…

Kerry-Ann

Kerry-Ann Reid-Brown is Founder & host of Carry On Friends one of the first podcasts dedicated to the Caribbean American Experience. She is leading the way for Caribbean Podcast as the founder of Breadfruit Media, the first Caribbean podcast production company; and founder of the Caribbean Podcast Directory a place to discover podcasts by people of Caribbean Heritage.