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I recently finished reading an early copy of Tony Morgan’s new book, Killing Cockroaches.

Here are 10 reasons you should read this book…….

1) The book contains lots of Top 10 lists

A few of my favorites…..10 Stupidest Leadership Mistakes I’ve Made, 10 Signs Your Not Ready For Change, & 10 Easy Ways to Make Church Services More Boring

2) Andy Stanley wouldn’t write the foreward for a bad book

3) The foreword is sandwiched between ‘Enter at Your Own Risk’ and ‘Prepare for an Adventure’

4) The book actually contains 4 easy steps for killing cockroaches

5) Tony is not your ordinary pastor

Tony rejects the status quo and takes an innovative, creative, and cutting-edge approach to ministry.  Naturally, that makes some in the church world a little uncomfortable.  Seth Godin might even call him a “heretic”.  Fortunately, in today’s world “heretics” have popular blogs and get their books published.

6) Tony’s church is not your ordinary church

Newspring Church, led by Senior Pastor Perry Noble, exists for one simple mission:  To make Jesus famous, one life at a time.  Perry and Tony have a passionate and strategic laser-focus on that mission and, as a result, Newspring Church is making a big impact in Anderson, SC and beyond.

7) All of the 100+ blog post-like chapters are in alphabetical order

How did he do that?  Also, many of the chapters are creatively titled.  The titles make you want to read more.  A few of my favorite titles…….Actions Speak Louder Than Advertising, Christians Sound Different, Giant Inflatable Blue Monkeys, How Would Apple Do Church?, and I’m Just Not That Interested In God

8) Tony has a great blog.  This book reads like a series of blog posts.  That makes for a great book.

9) This book has lots of great interviews

A few of my favorites……..Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Penelope Trunk, Mark Batterson, Steven Furtick, and Craig Groeschel

10) This book is not just for church leaders

Tony is in the church world, but he keeps a close eye on the strategies, marketing, branding, communications, and innovation of America’s businesses.  I’m in the business world, but I keep a close eye on what is happening in the church.  I believe the business world and the church world still have lots to learn from each other.  The “scattered musings on leadership” contained in this book are for leaders of all types.

Get your copy of Killing Cockroaches here.  Also available on the Kindle here.

Yesterday, I posted a quick recap of some of the books I read in 2008.

Here is a list of some of the books on my wishlist that I plan to read in 2009.

Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition // Guy Kawasaki

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies // Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff

The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God // Dallas Willard

The Dip: What Winners Know About Quitting // Seth Godin

Wide Awake: Start Dreaming with Your Eyes Open // Erwin Raphael McManus

The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family: A Leadership Fable…About Restoring Sanity To The Most Important Organization In Your Life // Patrick Lencioni

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism // Timothy Keller

Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future // Andy Stanley

Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal Vision // Andy Stanley

1776 // David McCullough

What books are on your wishlist for 2009?

I spent the evening listening to Guy Kawasaki at the Houston Technology Center.

He touched on topics from his book The Art of The Start.

Very entertaining. Very informative. And I want to go start my own company soon…like tomorrow.

My key take aways from tonight:

• Startups aren’t just for others. I can do this.
• A business that exists just to make money won’t do well.
• Get going. What am I waiting for?

Here are the rest of my notes:

1) Make Meaning

• Change the World
• Do things 10x better

2) Make a Mantra

• 2 or 3 words that explain why you exist

3) Get Going

• Think different
• Polarize people (Some people should love what you are doing, some people should hate what you are doing.)
• Find a few soul mates

4) Define a business model

• Be specific
• Keep it simple (I like simple)
• Ask women (interesting)

5) Weave a MAT

• Milestones
• Assumptions
• Tasks

6) Niche Thyself

• Only you do it
• And it is very valuable

7) Follow the 10/20/30 rule

• 10 slides
• 20 minutes
• 30 pt font

8) Hire infected people (cool..wordpress turns my #8 into a smiley face)

• Hire people who love what you do
• Ignore the irrelevant
• Hire better than yourself
• Apply the shopping center test ( ?? should have taken better notes on that one)

9) Lower barrier to adoption

• Flatten the learning curve
• Don’t ask people to do something that you yourself would not do
• Embrace your evangelists

10) Seed the Clouds

• “Sales Fixes Everything”
• Let a hundred flowers blossom
• Enable test drives
• Find the influencers

11) Don’t let the bozos grind you down

I just signed up to hear Guy Kawasaki speak at the Houston Technology Center on April 23rd

Thanks to Entrepreneur In Training for pointing out that Guy is coming to Houston

Here are the details

I will try to take some notes and post them here around on the 23rd or 24th