Read These For Greater Understanding

From time to time, I use books as part of the coaching process. This is particularly true with six month or longer engagements. This way, we take greater advantage of the time between the face-to-face coaching sessions. Also, most of my clients travel and an appropriate book or magazine article is the perfect travel companion. I always read the material in advance, highlight the areas that I want the client to focus in on and then we discuss the content at our next session. Books that I have found particularly helpful include the following:

1. Coaching, Mentoring, and Managing. Niki Holliday. Strategies for building winning teams for those new to this role. Coaching is a role that many managers are not familiar with.
2. Why Smart Executives Fail. Sydney Finkelstein. What you can learn from the mistakes of other executives. What better laboratory than learning from others mistakes before you fall into the same trap?
3. How To Become A Great Boss. Jeffrey J. Fox. Getting and Keeping the Best Employees. Improving your status from good to great.
4. Guerrilla Marketing. Jay Conrad Levinson. Tips on how to reach the fastest growing market. Primarily for small businessmen.
5. Tuesdays With Morrie. Mitch Albom. Old man, young man, and life's greatest lesson. This book places mentoring in perspective. Making the highest quality of life regardless of the hand that has been dealt you is what really matters. It is also a lesson for those feeling sorry for themselves. Stop and remember Morrie and all of a sudden life does not look so bad.
6. What The CEO Wants You to Know. Ram Charan. Understanding how your business really works. This also works for those reporting to the top executive at a site. CEO's think differently than you and I. Find out what matters most to them.
7. Communicate With Confidence. Dianne Booher. How to say it right the first time. This is one of the best on speaking, listening, and overcoming communication concerns. I have used this one over and over for one of the top developmental needs---effective communication.
8. Smart Work. Marshall and Freedman. The syntax guide for mutual understanding in the workforce. I especially like the section on "generous listening."
9. The Portable MBA in Strategy. Tactics used by successful businesses to innovate and create wealth in continuously evolving markets. Good for those without an MBA. There is also a similar book on The Portable MBA. Both are good for leaders who have a non-business educational background.
10. Simplicity. Bill Jensen. The new competitive advantage in a world of more, better, faster. Sharpen your actions on things that are really important. Eliminate the fluff and non-essential.
11. Business Leaders and Success. William J. O'Neil. Fifty-five top leaders and how they achieved greatness. Learn from those at the top of their game.
12. What Clients Love. Harry Beckwith. A field guide to growing your business. For anyone desiring to improve their relations with clients.
13. Things a Man Should Know About Style. Esquire's Omelianuk and Allen. Tongue in cheek look at style and fashion for the male executive. Look your best at all times. You are being watched.
14. Iacocca. Lee Iacocca. Learn from one of the masters during his prime.
15. Executive Charisma. D. A. Benton. Six steps to mastering the art of leadership. Use this if the executive wants to improve on his/her executive presence.
16. Leadership. Rudolph Guiliani. One of the best example's of leadership during a time of crisis.
17. Leadership Through The Ages. Rudolph Guiliani forward. 250 inspiring quotations from Churchill to Will Rogers. Great for supplementing your speeches.
18. On Becoming A Leader. Warren Bennis. Good material for top middle manager or a new senior leader. Warren Bennis is one of the best writers on leadership.
19. American English Proverbs. Harry Collis. For foreign nationals who need to understand American sayings such as, why curosity killed the cat or don't bite the hand that feeds you. We use them all the time and our foreign employees or visitors probably do not have a clue what we mean.
20. The Five People You Meet In Heaven. Mitch Albom. The same author as Tuesdays with Morrie. This book teaches you the connectivity of life. When you get to the top of the hill, you want to make sure that when you turn around, your troops are behind you.
21. Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson. A simple classic book on change and resistance to change.
22. 1000 Places To See Before You Die. Patricia Schultz. Dream a little. Take advantage of your international travels and stop by some of these places when you are in the neighborhood.
23. Rites of Passage for Executives Over 100k. John Lucht. Just in case you find yourself on the job market. This may be the only book that you need for the hunt.

Other books and magazine articles are also recommended as the situation warrants. For the most part, I try to avoid the trendy book or topic of the day. I prefer the time honored material.