05-04-2023

With all the challenges of finding, hiring, and keeping the right employees these days, it is important that you provide them an opportunity to develop a career path in your company and keep them engaged in and passionate about their work. This means walking in their shoes and looking at things from their point of view. What would engage employees? What would make them enthusiastic about their work? What kind of company mission would inspire them?

04-27-2023

We’ve all hired the wrong person at one time or another. It’s a mistake that, if left uncorrected, can keep on giving for a long time. It reminds me of the adage, “Hire slow, fire fast.” In their book 'Who: The ‘A’ Method for Hiring', Geoff Smart and Randy Street share the best ways to hedge your bets in hiring and improve your selecting and hiring techniques. You will probably get rid of your hiring headaches and mistakes, which are often caused by putting more emphasis on who we hire than on why we hire.

03-24-2023

Have we been doing it wrong all these years? Did looking for the perfect person for our company not mean looking for the perfect resume? Author George Anders is rightfully confirming that theory. His advice: Look for candidates with a “jagged resume,” explaining that this is the resume where the background appears to teeter on the edge between success and failure.

02-02-2023

“Customers do hate you.” That’s the way this book starts—with the hard truth. Customers enter a relationship with you, the seller, with a huge chip on their shoulders; they are often expecting the worst. Nicholas Webb writes that when they buy from you, customers assume that they are getting the second-best product or service. This is because the “ideal” product or service is something that exists only in their heads, and nothing can compare to that. Read on.

01-27-2023

I am not unique in saying that John Maxwell is one of my favorite business authors—there are about 34 million people who share that opinion. Of all the Maxwell books I have read over the years, "Leading in Tough Times" is one of my favorites. This timely little book is focused on what a leader needs to do when things get tough. It’s almost an understatement to say that, right now, things are tougher than they have been in years.

01-19-2023

We’ve heard from everyone else—from Santa Claus and Teddy Roosevelt to Atilla the Hun—so why not the world’s greatest wizard? That’s right, now Harry Potter has gotten into the act. To be honest, this is a clever and entertaining little book, especially if you are a reader of the Harry Potter books. But don’t worry if you’re not (I am not), the book is still fun and informative and helpful.

12-22-2022

Like everyone else, I have been subjected to a lot of pointless meetings in my day. You know what I’m talking about: meetings where some blowhard pontificates for an hour, reveling in the sound of his own voice while the rest of us are stuck sitting there, silently praying for release. Meetings where everyone is so busy positioning themselves favorably in the eyes of the boss that nothing gets done. Meetings that start 20 minutes late and go on for hours. Meetings where everyone is so busy looking at their devices that they act like the meeting is an interruption.

12-08-2022

Prices for everything are on the rise. Inflation is getting worse. This means many companies will be or are facing the challenging need to raise prices. It’s a daunting task for companies—especially their salespeople. This new book by Jeb Blount is a true “must have” for anyone who must face telling their customers that prices are about to rise. In this review, I'll share the author's five-step approach to raising prices while still maintaining the value of your company.

11-24-2022

If you are uncomfortable with change, or you know change is coming, this is the book for you. My advice is to read it and keep it right by your desk for easy access and constant reference. "Real Change Now" is all about leading change in your company or organization. Author Daren Martin takes us through the different types of change—from intended to unintended, creeping to cataclysmic, and forecast to constant—and how to handle each in a steady and calm way, no matter what the changes and how they are occurring.

11-04-2022

How do you promote an engaged workforce? How do make people feel excited about coming to work? How to you create an atmosphere of respect and cooperation in your company so you achieve “Worvana?” Keep reading to find out what I mean.

08-23-2022

No one is perfect and this book by Michael Kurland talks about what we can do when we discover that we are not. Most of us have a difficult time acknowledging when we are not operating on all eight cylinders. When we feel ourselves slipping a bit in our leadership role it’s not easy to admit it, and harder to decide to make changes, hopefully improvements. While we are all so quick to judge and advise others, it is much more difficult to make those judgments and then improvements on ourselves. Now you don’t have to go it alone.

07-27-2022

I like this book because gratitude is something in which I have always believed. So, it was fun for me to find a book, a very good book I might add, that said the same thing. I have always been confused and surprised by leaders who do not like to say thanks. I have never understood it. All I can think of is that they are afraid that if they show too much gratitude the person, they are thanking will ask for a raise. Or maybe they are reserving the right to lay that person of someday, so they don’t feel comfortable telling her she is doing a good job.

07-14-2022

Interesting fact: Out of 31.5 million small- to mid-size business in this country, 25 million list one employee—the owner. The next 5.3 million business in the group have two to 15 employees, and get this, only the last 600,000 business have more than 15 employees. Frankly, I was shocked by these statistics, enough to make me buy and read the book. I’m glad I did. In this book, author Natalie Dawson talks about how to grow a team and what it takes to scale that team to success by using various methods of employee engagement.

07-07-2022

This is a book we all must read right now. I have had it with people ignorantly and blindly attacking millennials. We should be trying to understand them rather than just blindly knocking them. It is in our own self-interest to give them a break. We are going to have to work with these folks. And as we boomers age out, we will be turning the reins over to them.

06-02-2022

This one’s going to blow your mind. It’s the past, present, and future all rolled into one. It is about exactly what the title indicates—finding ways to connect with customers by creating bonds between your company and your customers. The message is likely antithetical to what you've always believed. I know it was for me.

05-19-2022

In some ways, the work-from-home situation works out fine, but in other ways, it's really not working. For many of us, we haven't seen our co-workers in person for over two years. While technology has done well to connect us, often we're still not "connecting." Author Dan Schawbel looks at the current landscape and offers some advice.

12-30-2021

I am a customer service fanatic. I am nuts about great customer service, customer service stories, and most of all, good books about customer service—how to train people to deliver it and how it helps companies surpass their competition. This is an especially appropriate book because we are in the time of very poor customer service. I am sure this is because of the labor shortage which is certainly causing a dip in customer service. And then, of course, there are the people who are coming to work untrained. But being the glass-half-full guy that I am, I see this as an opportunity, especially in our business. What better time to improve your customer service while everyone else’s is terrible?

12-22-2021

The basis of this interesting book is that we are all better together. If we can look out for each other, and we keep one another’s interest at heart, we will all succeed in the end. Sure, some of you will think that this a good basic premise for doing business, but realistically this message needs to be said repeatedly because some companies just don’t get it. If business is always between people, then the need for caring for those people we do business with is a true prerequisite for doing business.

12-10-2021

If you could only buy and read one book on customer service, this would be the one. Filled with easy to read, understandable concepts for delivering great customer service this book would make an excellent primer for training your own customer service and inside salespeople. But it is much more than that. Among his nuggets of knowledge: The customer is not always right. Get this book.

12-02-2021

Shall we talk about the epitome of a “woulda, shoulda, coulda” story? This is the real deal. "Built To Fail: The Inside Story of Blockbuster’s Inevitable Bust" takes us on a fascinating reverse fortune adventure illustrating how things should not be done in business. How the world’s leading movie rental business literally overlooked opportunity after opportunity only to find that straight path to failure.

11-19-2021

David Pogue is one of my favorite reporters on CBS Sunday Morning, one of my favorite programs. He is also the technology reporter for the New York Times. And he is the opposite of what you’d expect for a tech reporter for the “Old Gray Lady.” His Techno Santa features every December are not to be missed, and Pogue will be the keynote speaker at IPC APEX EXPO this year.

11-05-2021

This is another worthy title by the great Seth Godin. I am often asked why I am so enamored of this writer. And my answer is always the same: He writes the best and most common-sense books on sales, marketing, and strategy, and everybody knows, I love common sense. First, let’s get this out of way. The Icarus Deception is actually about the fear of success, of flying on waxed wings like Icarus, too close to the sun. The heat of the sun melts the wings and Icarus goes tumbling down. In this book, Godin urges us to dare to make art. And to Mr. Godin, we are all capable of making art, even our own art that no one understands.

10-29-2021

Here is the simple truth of leadership from one of the most concise books on leadership I’ve ever read. This is actually the 10th anniversary edition and marks over half a million copies sold. So, I guess I’m not the only one who appreciates this one. Of all the books on leadership, this is by far the very best. It is the gold standard of leadership books.

10-22-2021

You can read all of the business books on strategy that you want, but if you really want to cut to the chase when it comes to creative ideas for setting your business direction there are no better books than those on advertising by people in advertising. This is one of my favorites.

10-01-2021

Experts Never Chase: The Hassle-Free Guide for Expert-Based Entrepreneurs takes us to the next level of selling. The authors demonstrate from their own experience how to get close to clients on a more valuable and personal way than “selling them.”

09-23-2021

Take some cues from this serial entrepreneur whose ideas are refreshingly creative, even if they aren't all successful. Find lessons of inspiration in a way you've never heard before.