Be Inspired!

Where do some of the most successful business people get their inspiration from, and where does yours come from?

Tarek Ben Halim, founder and Trustee, Arab Learning Initiative
The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination, the J.K. Rowling Harvard University Commencement Address (June 2008)
"It is difficult to be specific about how a speech impacted me other than to say these sort of things stick in your head and over time somehow impact one's behaviour. For example, Rowling's focus on lessons learned from failure is quite an interesting and unusual angle that I am sure will, over time, somehow impact my behaviour."

Professor Charles Handy, Management writer
The Mystery of Capital by Hernando De Soto (2000)
"De Soto's book shows that there is an enormous amount of untapped wealth among the poor, the problem is that they cannot leverage it in the way richer people do because their assets - land, buildings, or businesses - do not have proper legal titles. So obvious but so unnoticed, until now."


Richard Charkin, Executive Director, Bloomsbury Publishing
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)
"I first read it aged fifteen when I still thought the world might be rational. It helped me recognise the absurdity of organisations, structures, rules and strategies!"


Sir David Varney, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury
I've been to the mountain top speech by Martin Luther King (3 April, 1968)
"Delivered the night before Dr. King was murdered. Dr. King retells the parable of The Good Samaritan. He explained that the priest and the Levite passed by lest they be attacked. The Good Samaritan asked himself what would happen to the injured man if he didn't stop."

Here's the full list of recommendations

Or why not take a look at "Holiday reading to challenge your perspectives" - suggestions made by a range of people on Common Purpose Chief Executive Julia Middleton's blog.