Opinion: Business authors encourage flip-flopping minds

Brave political candidates are donning their armor for the U.S. presidential campaign. Anything and everything that can be, will be dragged from the bottom of their personal history barrels and exposed to the light of broadcast media. We’ll hear about who smoked what, slept with whom and hid from us. What will be the worst accusation – the one that, when trotted out, spells career doom for the accused?

He (or she) is a “flip-flopper.”

Heaven forbid that you should ever change your mind about something.

It may make good sense to change your mind about something when presented with new or previously unknown information. Sometimes a challenging life event impacts your view on things. Sometimes a book will illuminate another side of a situation. One of the great things about reading is that it helps engage, expand and change your mind.

Welcome to the latest edition of Ellen’s Book Club. Here are a couple of books that have changed my mind about love and business.

• “The Magician’s Assistant,” by Ann Patchett

A friend of mine was involved in a relationship that struck me as one-sided. My friend was clearly in love with someone who was not in love with her. I shared my concerns that she was giving more than she was getting from the relationship – emotionally and financially. Exasperated, I stopped calling her because I was so upset that she would allow herself to be so abused. At least, that’s how I perceived the situation.

Then I read “The Magician’s Assistant.” The title character is deeply in love with her employer, the magician. She chooses to marry him, knowing that he doesn’t love her and cannot love her as she loves him. It is a beautiful story that suggests love can be imperfect and still worth the risk. Once in a while, a book sticks with me after I read the last pages. This one did, and it perched on my shoulder until I called my friend to apologize for my arrogant disapproval of her relationship. It felt terrific to just drop my judgment and express my love and acceptance.

• “A Billion Bootstraps,” by Phil Smith and Eric Thurman

Have you ever been unemployed? Have you ever been laid off? Have you ever just run out of money? Money buys options. If you have ever suffered through a financial crisis, you might use words like drowning or suffocating to describe it. If you have learned how to make money, you enjoy a freedom that touches every aspect of your life in a positive way.

“A Billion Bootstraps” cemented my belief that business is empowering. Good business helps people create financial independence. Good business promotes healthy societies – people exchanging goods and services with each another. Authors Smith and Thurman take turns sharing their experiences with micro-credit programs. Micro-credit refers to small business loans – as little as $10 constitutes startup capital in some countries – offered to entrepreneurs with no access to conventional loans. Micro-credit programs have surprisingly strong pay-back percentages and are proving to be a major force for eliminating poverty across the globe.

This book changed my mind about philanthropy. The authors claim that Americans contribute more than $900 billion a year to charitable organizations. For the most part, these organizations are not accountable for how they spend these dollars.

I have often scratched my head at my own philanthropic efforts. Is there any money in the cure? Or are many organizations committed to an endless inflow of your contributions? The authors maintain that traditional charitable programs often exacerbate the problems that they intend to solve. Micro-credit programs are a “teach-a-man-to-fish” hand up – not a hand out.

This book gives you concrete ways to get involved in the micro-credit movement as well as inspiring stories of entrepreneurs who have dramatically improved their lives and communities.

We shouldn’t be afraid to rethink our commitments and make sure they align with our values. We should embrace an expanding life experience. These books have helped change my mind.

Call me a “flip-flopper.”

Ellen Rohr is an author and business consultant who offers systems for getting focused and organized, making money and having fun in business. Her latest book is “The Bare Bones Biz Plan.” She can be reached at ellen@barebonesbiz.com.[[In-content Ad]]