Time to Get Tough: Michael Coles Gives Keys to Business Success
By Authors: Michael Coles & Catherine M. Lewis
If you want to be successful in business, then read “Time to Get Tough,” by Michael J. Coles and Catherine M. Lewis. It details Coles’ very varied business career. He did not go to college, but learned through experience. He made his financial success through the Great American Cookie Co., Caribou Coffee, Charter Bank, BrandBank, and the Georgia Film Commission.
Coles distilled his business approach down to four I’s: information, innovation, implementation and improvement. Get the appropriate information to understand the business, then be innovative to make the changes that will improve it. Change is never easy, and it is all about executing properly, and once that is done, it isn’t over. Change has to be continual and improvement has to be a constant.
Having been a success in so many endeavors, Coles’ book passes on his wisdom learned over a lifetime. It’s about taking risks, associating with people of integrity, learning from others and building relationships with customers. Also important is having a clear vision about your business and knowing how to deal with failure.
Coles will inspire you to take on your own challenges, to compete for the last five miles and to prepare for the next five. He will tell you that real wisdom comes when you realize through victory that the skills you used to finish your race are exactly the same ones you need to conquer the next five miles.
Coles and Lewis appear at the Book Festival 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15.
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