Two highlights from the Blogenberg B-school:

One of my favorite business phrases is fast becoming, “I feel for you, but I don’t care.” I recently used it when I was told by a vendor that a key member of their team got injured and is in need of surgery. I used it just the other day when I called in a subcontractor to discuss a trend line of declining responsiveness. Every time I use it I am sincere. I do feel for everybody I deal with. But what I care about is simple — the Rosenberg Communications’ bottom line. I feel for lots of things, but in business, I care about only one thing. If you are in business, feel but don’t care, unless you’re talking about your bottom line.

You should read a lot, if you’re an entrepreneur. But don’t waste your time on business books. Most are trees killed for no good reason (my brother the Stanford MBA echoes my sentiment). Instead, read biographies of people who have done great things. My readings include biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr., Lyndon Johnson, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, John Adams, and, my current reading and — I think — the best, a two-volume set by Edmund Morris about Theodore Roosevelt. I learn how people who have done great things did those great things. I learn how personality — healthy and dysfunctional — is both harnessed and overcome to tackle imposing obstacles. I get inspired about how to care about my bottom line.

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