Q&A With Fauzia Burke, President Of FSB Associates

Fauzia Burke

Many of the leadership books I read and sometimes review on my blog I first learn about from FSB Associates, a digital publicity and marketing firm specializing in creating awareness for books and authors.

Fauzia Burke is the Founder and President of FSB Associates, and because she's marketed leadership books for 20 years, she was a natural for me to ask her the following questions about:

trends in leadership books
the leadership books that excite her the most
why books in print are still relevant

But, first a little more about Burke:

1. What is your title?

Burke: I am the President of FSB Associates, and have worked in book marketing and publicity for all of my professional life. I started in the marketing departments of John Wiley & Sons and Henry Holt.

2. How long have you worked at FSB Associates, Inc.?

Burke: In 1995, I founded FSB Associates, one of the first firms to specialize in Internet publicity and marketing for publishers and authors.

3. What are your primary duties at work?

Burke: Everything. (Kidding). As President, I am involved in all aspects of running the business but a great percentage of my time is spent working closely with my clients to develop a strategy, shape a consistent message, work with our media relationships, and create exposure for our clients. I lead my team to help build digital platforms, online brands, and launch books on the web. We call our process Social Publicity, because it integrates social media and online publicity in a fundamental way. It's a unique and proprietary model of publicity. As a result of influential social media tools, the responsibility of a publicist is moving and growing, creating a very robust and exciting time for the industry. I also speak nationally, consult, and write for national publications.

4. How long have you been promoting books about leadership?

Burke: We have worked on leadership titles since FSB Associates began.

5. What are the recent trends in leadership books?

Burke:

Trend 1: Millennials in the workplace.

I think the millennials in the workplace is a trending story, specifically millennials in leadership roles. I have worked with young CEOs (sometimes under 30), and it changes the dynamics of the workforce. Millennials are tech savvy and want their work to be meaningful and make an impact. Millennials want more inclusion (more team-oriented than top-down companies), diversity and transparency in the workplace.

Trend 2: Transparency.

Transparency is an important area and I think changes the way leaders interact with employees as well as customers. Leaders today are more apt to train, teach and engage with their teams informally. Businesses that establish a mission statement and proactively establish a culture for their business is another aspect of transparency that we are seeing more of today. People become part of a company's culture and position their strengths to make a business successful because they feel like they have more of a stake in the business.

Trend 3: Women Taking Lead.

As we see from the success of Sheryl Sandberg's book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead there is more talk about getting women into power positions, specifically getting a larger percentage of women to the top of their industries and breaking through that glass ceiling. We are seeing more of a push for women to go after what they want and claim their power. As Sheryl Sandberg says, "Real change will come when powerful women are less of an exception." Or, as she says, when women are known as "leaders" not "women leaders."

6. How best should today's leadership book authors compete with the vast array of other non-book leadership advice options on the Internet?

Burke: Leadership books are no different than all the other non-fiction categories. There is a lot of information available for free, and although people are reading more, the rate of reading online is steadily increasing. However, it is also true that we are all drowning in content. Sit to watch something on Netflix and 20 minutes go by before you find something of value. Start to look for information on the web and you can spend hours chasing down valuable information. Which is why, I think, curation is more valuable than ever. We don't have time to waste, so if an author has built trust with their readers by providing valuable information, readers, specifically business leaders, would rather spend the money than spend the time looking for what they need from an overwhelming amount of mediocre information. Good content is valuable content and content is always king.  

7. What new leadership books are you most excited about and why?

Burke: I am a big fan of my clients' books, of course. There is a really interesting book coming from Robbie Bach who was the President of Xbox and worked at Microsoft for 22 years. Robbie's book, Xbox Revisited is part memoir, part strategy, part inspirational call to action. Robbie's book works because he's really honest about his own challenges. He even put in his resignation letter to his boss. I don't think I have ever read that in a book. His book challenges every citizen to become a civic engineer, addressing the challenges we face in our communities and across the country.

Tom Rath, a leadership expert and former senior scientist at Gallup, is another client of ours who recently released a book called Are You Fully Charged? The Three Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life. This fall, he is actually releasing a documentary about the important information in his book about how we can how to help people identify their natural strengths and gifts, live their potential, and shift from a pursuit of happiness to a life of meaning. He reveals that the foundation of living your best life is to put your own health first.

Another interesting book we are representing is Endless Encores: Repeating Success Through People, Products, and Profits. This little parable by Ken Goldstein is the story of a man who has accomplished much, but now fears exposure as a fraud and the woman, who, as a CEO with multiple successes for her credit, shows him the secret to consistent achievement.

Another important and empowering title we represent is Leading Women: 20 Influential Women Share Their Secrets to Leadership, Business, and Life by Dr. Nancy O'Reilly. Her book encourages women to claim their power and respect, conquer internal barriers, and change the world by helping other women do the same. This book has stories from 21 women business leaders such as New York Times bestselling author Marci Shimoff and advocacy leader Gloria Feldt. It's incredibly inspiring.

8. If you could recommend only one best book about leadership so far this year, what would it be and why?

Burke: Early this year I read Driven to Distraction at Work by Ned Hallowell, and found it very helpful. Dealing with distraction at work and life has been a big theme for me for several years so this book resonated with me. I wrote a blog several years ago called Looking for Balance in a 24/7 World and just came back from a week's vacation where I was able to unplug from email, blogs and social media. It was a bit of an effort at first, but totally worth it.

9. Why are books in print still relevant?

Burke: I am a big fan of ebooks, although format of books is less interesting to me. How we read (or listen) to books is less important than the fact that we read good books with curated information. None of us have time to waste, so books that provide content of high value are more important than ever. For many people who love to read, print books will be the only type of book they will ever love. I don't think this is likely to change. Printed books often have more substance to the reader; there is something about smelling a book, holding it in your hand, having it remind you of libraries, or just being able to physically collect books on your shelf. There is something about owning a book in physical form (not just the access to read it.) Really, ebooks and print books are apples and oranges -- two entirely different experiences and one doesn't have to replace the other. People can freely choose when and what type of book to read. As long as they are reading!

Burke is a nationally-recognized speaker and digital branding expert. She writes regularly for Huffington Post, MariaShriver.com and MindBodyGreen. To talk with Fauzia and ask your online publicity questions, please reach her on Twitter and Facebook.

Comments

How To Be A Generous Leader

Speaking about his book, The Generous Leader , author Joe Davis says, “This book is about the ways in which you can become a generous leader to be part of something bigger than yourself .” He adds that the old model for a leader – a top-down, unilateral, single-focus boss, isn’t effective in today’s workplace. “That old model no longer attracts talent, invites collaboration, or gets the best results from the team. That leader’s time is passed. Today, there is a need for a more human-centered, bighearted, authentic way to lead,” adds Davis. To help you become a generous leader, Davis introduces you to seven essential elements that he believes will develop you into a leader for the future . The seven elements are: Generous Communication : Be real to build deep connections. Be available to connect with the person, and not just the person in their role to make them feel seen. Generous Listening : Be sincerely curious about another...

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability . They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

How to Be a Leader – 9 Principles from Dale Carnegie

Today, I welcome thought-leader Nathan Magnuson as guest blogger... Nathan writes : This is it, your first day in a formal leadership role. You’ve worked hard as an individual contributor at one or possibly several organizations. Now management has finally seen fit to promote you into a position as one of their own: a supervisor. You don’t care if your new team is only one person or ten, you’re just excited that now – finally – you will be in charge! Unfortunately the euphoria is short-lived. Almost immediately, you are not only overwhelmed with the responsibilities of a team, but you quickly find that your team members are not as experienced or adroit as you. Some aren’t even as committed. You find yourself having to repeat yourself, send their work back for corrections, and staying late to fill the gap. If something doesn’t change soon, you might just run yourself into the ground. How did something that looked so easy ...

10 Quotes From The 5 Levels Of Leadership -- John C. Maxwell

Soon I'll post my full review of John C. Maxwell's latest book, The 5 Levels of Leadership . In the meantime, here are some of my favorites quotes from the book that I believe should become a must-read book by any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust. The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes. In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter. In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catal...

29 People Who Taught Us Life Lessons In Courage, Integrity And Leadership

The 29 profiles you will read in Robert L. Dilenschneider’s new book, Character , are about people who are exceptional exemplars of character. They’re inspirational because they used their abilities at their highest levels to work for causes they believed in. Because of character, they influenced the world for good. The dictionary defines “character” as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, the distinctive nature of something, the quality of being individual in an interesting or unusual way, strength and originality in a person’s nature, and a person’s good reputation. “But beyond these definitions, we know that character is manifested in leadership, innovation, resilience, change, courage, loyalty, breaking barriers, and more,” explains Robert (Bob), “Character drives the best traits in our society, such as honesty, integrity, leadership, and transparency, and it drives others to exhibit those qualities.” Profiled in the book ar...

70 New Year's Resolutions For Leaders

With 2026 fast approaching, it's a good time to identify your New Year's Resolutions for next year. To get you started, how about selecting one or more of the following 70 New Year's resolutions for leaders? Perhaps write down five to ten and then between now and January 1, think about which couple you want to work on during 2026. Don't micromanage Don't be a bottleneck Focus on outcomes, not minutiae Build trust with your colleagues before a crisis comes Assess your company's strengths and weaknesses at all times Conduct annual risk reviews Be courageous, quick and fair Talk more about values more than rules Reward how a performance is achieved and not only the performance Constantly challenge your team to do better Celebrate your employees' successes, not your own Err on the side of taking action Communicate clearly and often Be visible Eliminate the cause of a mistake View every problem as an opportunity to grow Summarize group consensus after each deci...

The Top 20 Leadership Books: What To Give First To A New Manager

Eighteen months ago, I posted the question “ What’s The First Leadership Book You Would Give To a New Manager ?” within the discussion forum for the LinkedIn group Linked 2 Leadership . That question generated 603 comments and 690 recommendations. Some people suggested more than one book. Some during the course of the 18 months made the same book recommendations a couple times. And, the group discussion continues to be one of the most active still today. In early November 2011, group member Len White graciously culled through the comments using his company’s Symphony Content Analysis Software that assists with the organization, analysis, and reporting of themes contained in text data. And here are the results : · 412 different/unique books were recommended · The Top 20 recommended books, collectively, received 250 of the total recommendations · Two authors – S...

Honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day On January 19 By Volunteering

As the nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 19, volunteer or make the decision to volunteer in your community. King routinely asked “ What are you doing for others ,” and January 19th is the ideal day to ask yourself that question. The federal holiday was first observed in 1994 when Congress designated it as a National Day of Service, inspired by King’s words, “everybody can be great because anybody can serve.” You can turn to Idealist (.org)* and similar types of websites to find volunteer opportunities right in your neighborhood or nearby surrounding area. Visit the web site, type in your zip code/city, and you will be presented with a variety of organizations seeking volunteers. And, if you are a leader in the workplace, encourage your team members to volunteer in the community as individuals. Or organize team volunteer afternoons or evenings for your employees. *VolunteerMatch merged with Idealist in January 2025.

Leadership Lessons From A Serial Entrepreneur

Brad Jacobs’ new book provides you a treasure trove of leadership lessons from a man with more than four decades of CEO and serial entrepreneur experience. So, even if you don’t envision yourself wanting to earn a billion dollars, don’t pass up reading Jacob’s, How To Make A Few Billion Dollars . In the book, Jacobs defines the mindset that drives his remarkable success in corporate America – and distills a lifetime of business brilliance into a tactical road map. And he shares his techniques for: Turning a healthy fear of failure to your advantage. Building an outrageously talented team. Catalyzing electric meetings. Transforming a company into a superorganism that beats the competition. “This book is about what I’ve learned from my blunders, and how you can replicate our successes,” says Jacobs. He shares his candid account of the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. Jacobs has founded seven billion-dollar or multibillion-dollar businesse...

The Ideal Company Culture

Fortunately, most of my career I’ve worked in effective corporate cultures. If I put together the best of each, here is what made those environments effective: • Leaders led by example on a consistent basis and were willing to roll up their sleeves, particularly during tight deadlines or challenging times. • Employees clearly understood how what they did made a difference and how their contributions made the organization more profitable and/or more effective. • The workforce included a blend of long-term employees with a rich company, product/service and customer history; employees who had been at the company for five to seven years;and then new hires with a fresh perspective and keen sense of new technologies and techniques. That blend worked best when the mix included virtually all A-players. • Top managers had a clear, realistic and strategic vision for how the company would grow and comp...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog