The Extraordinary Business Book Club

Hosted by Alison Jones

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400

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Alison Jones, publisher and book coach, explores business books from both a writer's and a reader's perspective. Interviews with authors, publishers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, tech wizards, social media strategists, PR and marketing experts and others involved in helping businesses tell their story effectively.

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60 recent

June 15, 2026Episode 49726 min

Episode 497 - Going faster still with Ben Hunt-Davis & Harriet Beveridge

'We worked really hard to create "me too" moments rather than "so what" moments.' Will It Make The Boat Go Faster? is a phrase that has entered the business lexicon, not just as a book title and the name of a company but as a leadership philosophy. Ben Hunt-Davis and Harriet Beveridge self-published the first edition 15 years ago - Ben telling the inspiring story of how he and the British men's rowing Eight underwent radical transformation to win Gold at Sydney in 2000, and performance coach Harriet Beveridge highlighting the transferable strategies everyone can take from it. Now Penguin are releasing an updated third edition. The principles remain the same, but the strategies are even sharper and the stories brought right up to date, to equip a new generation of individuals and leaders with tried-and-tested strategies for everyday success. In this conversation, we talk about what it means to develop and refine one powerful idea over time, rather than chasing the next shiny thing, how the book and the business work together, and what it takes to sustain a creative partnership over many years and several editions. And there's some candid insight into the real work of writing a book, which begins after you've actual written the book...

June 8, 2026Episode 49632 min

Episode 496 - Likeable Badass with Alison Fragale

'The art of building your own status with your audience is to convey to as many people as you can, as often as you can, hey, I really care about people. And I'm also really capable.' Status is a funny thing. We want it, but because it's what other people think of us, we assume we can't control it. And we're pretty sure that we shouldn't be caring so much what other people think of us, anyway. But Alison Fragale, organizational psychologist, professor and author of Likeable Badass, is clear not only that status is a fundamental human need, but that you can influence it, once you understand how it works. She's also clear-eyed about the realities of writing a successful book: the importance of a well-thought-through proposal, the ruthlessness required to cut material that you as the author love but that doesn't serve the reader, and the unavoidable truth that nobody will ever sell more of your book than you will. A masterclass in making ideas accessible, embedding a book in a business, and sustaining the book promo for the long term.

June 1, 2026Episode 49525 min

Episode 495 - The streak effect

'Today is day one of whatever streak you choose to commit to.' Something a little bit different this week, as I celebrate an unusual milestone: eight years of running every single day. But this isn't really about running, it's about streaking (no, not that kind of streaking, do grow up) and why committing to one tiny daily action can be such a powerful way of moving yourself towards the person you want to be. Don't just take my word for it: writing productivity expert Bec Evans and daily blogger Seth Godin also share their thoughts on why consistency matters more than brilliance, why the practice matters more than the output, and why this might be exactly what you need to get your book written. One day every streak will end, and that's a tough thought to comptemplate. But today? Today, you get to choose.

May 25, 2026Episode 49458 min

Episode 494 - Incorruptible with Eric Ries

'The more successful an organization is, the more valuable it is as a target. So the more golden the goose, the more the temptation to butcher it. We actually create the conditions for our own failure by blindly pursuing success.' Eric Ries wrote the bible for many entrepreneurs: The Lean Startup. But in recent years, he's turned his attention to what happens to startups as they mature - having showed us how to create something worth protecting, he's now focusing on how we protect it once it's built. Why do so many founders who had such a positive vision for their new company, and who achieved such success with that approach, find themselves sidelined or overruled as it slides into mediocrity or even malignancy? The result of his quest to understand this seemingly inevitable, faceless force is a new book, Incorruptible: Why good companies go bad and how great companies stay great. As one of the leading thinkers and activists of our day, Eric discovered the surprisingly simple way to create the infrastructure necessary to reimagine value by founding the Long Term Stock Exchange. And as a tech entrepreneur himself, he has great advice on how to use AI effectively and ethically in the writing process. One of Eric's most fundamental lessons is that trust is the most valuable asset of all, and that applies to your book just as much as your business. NOT an episode to miss - trust me on this.

May 18, 2026Episode 49331 min

Episode 493 - The natural advantage

'Really paying attention to nature seems to shift something more fundamental... writing can begin to feel a little less effortful and a little more joyful.' You might think that being in nature and writing business books are two entirely unconnected activities. But the annual Write it Wild retreat keeps showing that the first benefits the second in more ways than even I had realised when I first came up with the idea. In this episode I talk to this year's participants about what they're noticing - the dynamic interplay between attention and perspective, between focus and freedom, between structure and flow, between solitude and community, and how all of that is impacting their writing and their state. You don't need to go off into the woods and examine a daisy through a magnifying glass or make fire with flint and steel every time you want to write a decent paragraph, but if you're feeling a bit stuck or a bit joyless, spending a little purposeful time in nature might just make all the difference. And writing that's easier and more joyful for you to write tends to be easier and more joyful for others to read, too.

May 11, 2026Episode 49224 min

Episode 492 - Writing is resistance

'Unlike the washing up, which I'm perfectly happy to delegate to a machine... I don't WANT to delegate my writing, because that's how I think.' Technology is great at making life easier. But sometimes, easy isn't what we really need. It's hard to resist the siren call of AI as you stare at a blank document: 'Let me write that email/post/book, I can do it really quick and it'll sound super professional.' Or, as it's more likely to put it: 'It's not cheating. It's optimizing for efficiency.' In this episode, I make the case for engaging with the mental heavy lifting of writing in a world determined to lift it for us. Doing the hard things builds capacity and it also, weirdly, makes us happier. Resistance is NOT futile. But it's going to take a bit of work.

May 4, 2026Episode 49129 min

Episode 491 - Future-Fit Innovation with Barbara Salopek

' Being creative means having a deep knowledge about anything that you do, because this helps you then to connect those things into new things.' Innovation. You can't sit through a corporate meeting without hearing the word. Everyone thinks they know what they mean by it, and most people are confident that it's someone else's responsibility. There's a department for that, right? In fact, Barbara Salopek argues, innovation is a responsibility for every employee, whether they like it or not, because the deep knowledge required is distributed throughout the business; the 'innovation muscle' has to be built both top down and bottom up throughout all three levels – individuals, teams and the entire organization. She also makes the case that innovation is far broader than most people think: not just shiny new product development (expensive) but also incremental internal process improvements (efficient). Building that kind of innovation culture takes long-term commitment, and it also demands that leaders pay attention to building psychological safety, not just brainstorming. And if you're grappling with your own business book, you need to hear about Barbara's structured approach to conquering what can seem like an insurmountable task.

April 27, 2026Episode 49043 min

Episode 490 - Asking the wrong questions

'...The very human tendency to focus on the thing that we think is the problem but isn't actually the thing that needs our attention.' In writing, as in life and work, we often focus on the question that looks obvious: How do I write this quickly? How do I find the time? How do I tell my story? How do I get feedback? But very often, there's a better question behind the one we're asking. In this Best Bits episode I look at some of the most common wrong-question traps that authors fall into, and explore the deeper, more useful questions behind them that can transform not just the book, but the author too. Hear from: Kevin Anderson on why AI is a terrible answer to the 'how can I write my book quickly' question Chris Lovett on 'finding' [sic] time to write Amy Cantin on writing to make readers feel capable, not impressed Ian Pettigrew on telling your story without making it the point of your book Paolo Gaudiano on starting with what your reader cares about (rather than what you want to tell them) Helen Beedham on testing your argument rather than simply strengthening it Becky Westwood on what to do with feedback once you have it Alison Jones on why, for business book authors, it's not just about the book. Luckily, writing is itself a great way to find better questions...

April 20, 2026Episode 48927 min

Episode 489 - Books and learning with Amy Cantin

'Readers don't finish books that make them feel impressed by someone with a lot of experience or success. They finish books that make them feel capable.' Does the book still have a place in next-generation corporate learning platforms? You bet. Amy Cantin of Skillsoft talks me through the evolution of organizational learning, and the ways in which business books underpin the various summaries, webinars, AI simulations and social learning opportunities they offer their corporate clients to ensure not only that every employee keeps learning, but that they are able to learn in the way that suits them best. There are great tips here on how to write a book that's truly transformational for professional development, and a reminder that while the learning landscape has evolved, books remain the fullest expression of the ideas that shape work-life, and authors are still central to the learner's experience.

April 13, 2026Episode 48833 min

Episode 488 - The 10th birthday podcast party

'If there's one thing that this podcast has reinforced for me over the last 10 years, it is that books and the people who write them matter.' It's almost a decade to the day since I first pressed 'record' and launched this podcast into the world (and you might be amused to find out the real reason behind it). In this 10th birthday episode I'm taking a moment to look back on the ambition and anxiety behind that moment, and reflect on how much has changed, and what hasn't, for writers and readers of business books. I've also put together 10 super-practical lessons I've learned over that time, for anyone grappling with their own ambition and anxiety in the face of starting something new. I welcome back my very first guest and have a moment with 2016 Alison, as we look forward to whatever the next 10 years will bring. Whether you've been listening since that first episode or just discovered The Extraordinary Business Book Club, you're part of something really special, and a way of being and thinking that's taken on existential meaning for us over the last decade - as individuals and as a society.