Immunity to Change from Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey is a brilliant book that uncovers the hidden dynamic of inertia preventing change within individuals and organizations. Why do we resist even when we want to make a change? This book presents a potent yet practical way to develop self-transforming mindsets so that new win-win behaviors can result.

Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life by Alan Deutschman, senior writer at Fast Company, examines why behavior is to hard to change even when one’s life is at stake. He points to three critical keys—relate, repeat, and reframe—to help us make important positive changes in our lives and understand what will be needed for lasting societal change.

Richard Barrett’s book Liberating the Corporate Soul: Building a Visionary Organization breaks new ground in helping business leaders take responsibility for the whole. He shows how to make intangibles such as the values which drive behaviors measurable and thus changeable within an organization.

Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright offers a brilliant framework for the evolution of organizations from barely functioning to thriving in a way fulfills the triple bottom line. This is a must-read for any business leader or member of a collective group effort.

Nolo Press offers the Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business. It covers numerous topics including taxes, liability, and contracts. It will help you decide, for example, between forming a sole proprietorship, corporation or a Limited Liability Company (LLC).

Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers was developed by 470 “Business Model Canvas” practitioners from 45 countries. It uses a colorful layout to show you step-by-step how to create a business plan “dashboard” with all the well-researched summary information you and potential investors need at a glance. To get started more quickly, see the explanatory YouTube video and canvas-building tool immediately below.

Business Model Canvas Explained is a 2-minute overview of the Business Model Canvas and a great introduction to the method.

Strategyzer Business Model Canvas provides a hands-on tool to generate Business Model Canvas dashboards. It outlines nine segments which form the building blocks for the business model in a nice one-page canvas. You can experiment with their 30-day free account.

Preparing Effective Business Plans is the most complex business plan book. It was designed to be a university textbook, and has a wonderful amount of detail. It covers not only how to write every section of a business plan, but also gives you tips for brainstorming business ideas, teaches you how to do a thorough feasibility analysis up front and shows you how to present your plan effectively using a pitch deck. NOTE: If Amazon is out of stock, you can check other sources.

Business Plan in a Day is a thorough yet user-friendly guide to create a written business plan by Rhonda Abrams, a top-selling small business author and columnist. A series of questions guide you in filling out each section of your plan. One of the benefits of this book is a section with advice from angel investors, a banker and a venture capitalist.

Develop a simple business plan-at-a-glance with an easy step-by-step brainstorming process using one of the following One Page Business Plan workbooks by Jim Horan:

• … for the Creative Entrepreneur
• … for the Professional Consultant
• … Financial Services Edition
• … for Non-Profit Organizations

All of the designers below come highly recommended – either we’ve worked with them personally or one of our trusted colleagues has experienced their work. While every designer can adapt to your guidance in terms of style, the most effective way to choose the right designer is to find someone whose artwork naturally resonates with your taste — be sure that you like most examples in their portfolio.

Most web developers also offer hosting packages.

Stewart Snyder does web design. His focus is on the three criteria for a successful collaboration: great work, on time (actually, amazingly responsive), and easy to work with (he’s just plain fun). His IT background gives him a precision and can-do attitude that are very refreshing. Couple that with his own entrepreneurial experience and you’ve got a partner that will provide more than you imagine at an extraordinary value – and a process you’ll truly enjoy. Any time you need work on your website, put Stu on your shortlist. www.webdesignwithstu.com

Since 2000, Blue Marble Creative has focused on working with people committed to making a difference in social and environmental issues, by helping their mission-critical services, products and ideas have greater impact. Blue Marble Creative helps their clients clarify and organize their message, then create communication tools to connect, align and inspire their audience into action. Their areas of specialization include: brand positioning and communications strategy, website design and development, infographics and content development, publication design and layout and presentation slides and handouts.

Jennifer Hautman of Big Blue Design creates unique compelling designs. She’s a delight to work with and brings a fine arts detail approach to her designs.

Jo Anne Smith and Evangeline Welch are extraordinary facilitators and designers who founded Intuitive Leaps Creative Services. Its mission is to help people and organizations clarify and express the essence of who they are and what they offer. They will collaborate with you to articulate your mission, ignite your message and connect more effectively with your audience. Services include branding, website development, writing and editing, art direction and graphic design, and group facilitation.

The National Do-Not-Call Registry allows you to opt out of receiving telemarketing calls for 5 years. You can register online or call 1.888.382.1222. However, surveys and businesses who have known you as a customer are exempt from this registry.

Opt out of preapproved credit card offers by visiting optoutprescreen.com, which is run by the consumer credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion. You can opt out for 5 years at a time online, or mail a printed document for permanent removal.

Check your credit status at annualcreditreport.com, offered by Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Since each agency is required to give you a free credit report each year, you can check your credit every four months by spacing out your requests to each agency.

Minimize the number of paper catalogs in your mailbox by opting out of the Abacus Database, which is used by most product catalogs.

Start using an aggressive free spam-filtering program by downloading SpamAssassin.

The Direct Marketing Association provides a Consumer Assistance Site with numerous resources for getting removed from lists, avoiding scams, and general internet security.

Author William Ury is a world-famous master of negotiation who helped resolve conflict and design treaties in ethnic wars in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as settings such as coal mine strikes. His book The Power of a Positive No is far and above other books on the theme of setting boundaries. The best-seller Getting to Yes, which he co-authored with Roger Fisher, is a brilliant approach to the art of negotiation.

Lee Glickstein’s Speaking Circles® work has changed the way we approach public speaking, and he’s transformed the entire industry. He is founder of Speaking Circles International, with facilitators around the globe offering his method.

Speaking Circle programs teach you how to compel rapt attention in your listeners by focusing on the essential first step missing in conventional public speaking trainings – attunement between speaker and listeners. Create a “field of belonging” in a group by holding the calm center, use your natural storytelling abilities to inspire your listeners, and develop Teleseminar Presence to create a welcoming transformational space for an audience that cannot see you.

Doreen Hamilton is a psychologist and the Training Director of Speaking Circles International. Her book Essential Speaking: The 7-Step Guide to Finding Your Real Voice shows you a simple and elegant process to understand your fears, normalize them, and transform them. This step-by-step method will take you beyond that inner critic in your head with compassion and patience. You will discover a new place within where your speaking voice is free to express the essential you.

We’ve been meeting the first Wednesday of every month since Fall 2012 in a virtual, interactive, open-hearth circle to build a sense of shared community and offer opportunities for learning, dialogue, resources, personal and business growth and purposeful impact in the world.

Samplers of Past Speakers and Topics in our extensive collection from the Gathering Archives:

• Todd Hoskins – “Facilitating Change: Your Role in Co-creating a Better World”
• Martin Rutte – “Living Heaven on Earth”
• Keith Merron: “The Art of Transforming Paradigms”
• Wasundhara Joshi – “The Shadow: Doorway to Embrace Humanity’s Divine Potential?”
• Beth Scanzani – “Paradigms & Parts; Mapping a Path for Compassion, Harmony and Purposeful Transformation”
• Tim Kelley – “Paradigms, Paradigms – What’s a Change Agent to Do?”
• Kawtar El Alaoui – “Co-creating more peace in the world by focusing first, on inner peace”

Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom is a brilliant yet easy to read book by neuropsychologist and Buddhist teacher Rick Hanson, PhD with neurologist Rick Mendius, M.D. Solidly grounded in the latest research, it combines neurology, psychology and authentic spiritual inquiry. Learn the amazing shortcuts available for inner work and behavioral change.

Check out Dr. Rick Hanson’s second book Hardwiring Happiness as well. Gain a deep understanding of how your brain works rather than trying to push against its natural tendencies so you can foster states of deep inner happiness. It’s one of Audrey’s favorite books.

Resilient is another brilliant offering from Rick Hanson, PhD, including the additional wisdom of his son Forrest as coauthor. These days it’s hard to count on the world outside. So it’s vital to grow strengths inside like grit, gratitude, and compassion—the key to resilience, and to lasting well-being in a changing world. Learn how to grow an unshakable core of calm, strength and happiness by developing 12 vital inner strengths.

Neurodharma by Rick Hanson, PhD not only explores the new neuroscience of awakening but also shares seven practices for strengthening the neural circuitry of inner peace. This book shows you how to apply these principles to cultivate unshakable presence of mind, a courageous heart, and serenity in a changing world.

Embracing Our Selves: The Voice Dialogue Manual by Jungian analysts Hal and Sidra Stone, inventors of the Voice Dialogue process, is a fabulous introduction to the various voices or parts within our psyche. You will learn how to identify and improve your relationship with parts that may be interfering with the fulfillment of your life purpose and business objectives. Another one of Audrey’s favorite books — highly recommended! You can also read a brief overview article Embracing All Our Selves on their website.

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry by Buddhist psychologist and founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center Jack Kornfield takes a humorous and authentic look at the identities and roles that still trip us up even after moments of illumination and enlightenment. This book is rich with firsthand stories of spiritual leaders and dedicated practitioners from the Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Sufi traditions. For example, imagine a Zen master handling a rebellious teenage son, or the Christian mystic visiting her parents over the holidays, and you’ll know what fun is in store for you.

Elements of the Real in Man (Diamond Heart, Book 1) by A. H. Almaas, founder of the Ridhwan School Diamond Approach to self-realization, offers a brilliant introduction to the timeless questions of our true nature as well as the identities and reactions that confuse us on the path to discovering our underlying essence. This rich material is collected from a series of talks given to his students. Each talk is not only informational but also designed to evoke certain states of being.

Rick Foster and Greg Hicks traveled the world to research the question of what makes people happy. By interviewing members of local communities who were identified as the happiest in town, they discovered a pattern of nine specific choices that happy people consistently make. Learn these simple and profound principles in their wonderful book How We Choose to Be Happy.

Predictably Irrational is a fascinating read by Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. He shows us in an entertaining way that we do not act in fundamentally rational ways. We consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. At the same time, our irrationality is systematic and predictable – learn how to predict behavior with the wonderful studies and insights shared in this book.

Disengage from the judge within using an in-depth experiential process developed by Byron Brown in Soul Without Shame. This book alternates between explanation and very practical exercises that will enable you to not only recognize when the inner critic is operating, but also to start shifting your relationship to it.