Robert Smith’s book is an account of trading exotic financial instruments in exotic locations. His stories take the business adventure genre to new heights.

Some of the highlights include:
* Hunting down debts in El Salvador during a time when foreigners were getting shot
* Negotiating with unpredictable bondholders
* Chronicling the rise of an integrated global economy
* Working in Vietnam during the war and having his desk destroyed by a rocket
* The impact of psychology on currency values
* Dealing with the “Donald Trump of Istanbul”
* Managing billions of dollars of transactions in the corrupt and dangerous Nigeria of the 80’s
* Doing business in Russia in the age of the oligarchs
* Debt reconciliation in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime
* The future of the United States

This book is full of compelling stories of the author’s exciting experiences in international business.

RIck Smith was an average employee at Spencer Stuart who was encouraged to leave the company after not expressing enough passion for his day job. He then started a networking group called World50, which included a number of executives from the top companies in the world. When he first started the company, his friends and family were less than enthusiastic about the idea. Smith went on to vindicate his idea. With a membership fee of $50k coming in from each signup, the company became a profitable success.

This process led the author to ask himself:
“How could someone who avoided significant risk, who never changed who he was, and who succeeded in great part through the efforts of others, have experienced such an incredible life transition?”

The book explores that question and helps readers define their careers.

“The Leap” provides guidance on the following issues:
* escaping the status quo
* dealing with the myths that hold you back
* breaking away from the past
* focusing on your strengths
* how to motivate yourself
* creating big valuable ideas and putting them into action

In addition to these features, the book also has great stories and tips from other successful entrepreneurs.

Tom Searcy’s processes resulted in nearly $3 billion in sales for his company and clients. With results like that, it’s important to listen to what he has to say. His new book “RFPs Suck!” tackles the RFP and RFQ system and the most important issues to keep in mind when examining and responding to RFPs.

The book is made up of five sections:
I. Qualify the RFP – This part includes characteristics of winning RFP responses, signs of readiness to respond, and knowing when to avoid a RFP

II. Understand the RFP – This section discusses putting together the right team to compose your response, dealing with open meetings, easing the pain of buyers, understanding buyers’ criteria, using the language of big prospects, framing and gaining leverage

III. Write the RFP Response – An overview and step-by-step guide to the form and function of incredibly effective responses

IV. Evaluate the RFP Response – Understanding the psychology of potential RFP reviewers

V. Sample RFP Responses with Analyses – This section includes excellent examples of RFP responses along with the author’s suggestions based on his experiences

This book is very detailed, but also straightforward and easy to understand.