Books Recommended by Leah Lizarondo

One of the most important things that sets people who are successful at being part of startup teams is how comfortable one is with uncertainty. I have heard people say even working at a big corporation is about dealing with uncertainty -- not the same. This is about incremental progress and establishing radical metrics that go beyond vanity. I have always hated long and laborious business plans that try to project too many years out -- the market moves too fast for that. The ability to act and iterate quickly (and being comfortable with that) is as important as setting the "strategy" for a company.

I am also reading The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Ben Horowitz. As 412 Food Rescue grows and I have more and more people on the team, it really becomes clear who will become successful at this organization. I think managing people is the hardest part about organizations and being honest with yourself and your staff about what it will take to be part of something is important. Striking a balance between being unapologetic about this and being sensitive is key. There are a lot of "hard things" about starting and growing something--I have so much respect for entrepreneurs, it truly takes something different to opt for this life.

People congratulate me all the time for "launching" 412 Food Rescue. My reaction is always to say -- wait till we scale. I don't think it is hard to launch things. It's fairly easy to launch something. And it's easy to get drawn in by all the media and excitement around launch. But pushing out bright shiny objects is a canard for achievement. Scaling is hard. I've had this book since it was released and it's one of the classics on my shelf.

Not sure about my career path specifically but truly to understand your own personal power--sure, read the success doctrine books to inspire you. But one book I give to people to balance out all those is So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport. The subtitle says it all "Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love" I think what is lost in many success books is the utter honesty that to be good at something, you really have to invest time and effort. The universe will not conspire in your favor unless you do so. You can't magically conjure up work that you love. Passion gets you to a certain place, then it's just old fashioned "work" that moves you forward. This is also a great book for entrepreneurs who have found their "passion" but there are days when you need more than that passion to keep going.

Given free time to do anything I would read fiction. This book took me out of a long dry spell because it is a collection of short stories that I could read while in the bath. Each story is written so beautifully, I still remember putting the book down from time to time, just to close my eyes and absorb what I just read.