Books about Management

Smart Choices

John S. Hammond

Making choices is a fundamental life skill, yet few people learn or know how to make ‘smart’ choices This book provides an easy to understand process designed to improve the way you make business decisions, family decisions and personal decisions. Practical guide to user friendly techniques to make ‘smarter’ decisions.

Harvard Business Review on Decision Making

Essays from Harvard Business Review magazine; titles of chapters include:

• The Effective Decision by Peter Drucker
• How to Analyze that Problem by Perrin Stryker
• The Hidden Traps In Decision Making by John Hammond
• When to Trust From the Gut by Alden Hayashi

Harvard Business School Publishing

Great Series — Buy them all and benefit from your readings. Short, sweet and powerful books

• ManageMentor on Leading a Team
• ManageMentor on Managing Your Time
• ManageMentor on Running a Meeting
• ManageMentor on Giving and Receiving Feedback
• ManageMentor on Project Management
• ManageMentor on Leading and Motivating

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Finance and Accounting

Michael Muckian

If you know “NOTHING” about finance and accounting, buy this book. It will give you a guide to reading financial statements, understanding basic accounting practices, and a step-by-step set up of developing your own accounting systems for your business.

The Path of Least Resistance for Managers

Robert Fritz

Results matter to organizations! But, to get the results there has to be a plan, a strategy to get those results. The emphasis is on helping organizations move toward their targets with purpose and direction. To do this, the strategy must be managed carefully and wisely to get to the desired the future: RESULTS!

First, Break All the Rules

Marcus Buckingham

Gallop interviewed thousands of people and asked, “What do you need in order to succeed in your work?” The answer now has become known as the Gallop 12. Many organizations manage their relationships to their people around these answers that have now become principles of good management. Interested the top 12 needs of employees? Read the book! This is a MUST READ FOR ALL MANAGERS!!!

Managing for Dummies

Bob Nelson

Want the basics of good management? This book is fundamental to all beginning managers. Principles such as organization, delegation, decision making, tough employees, inspiring others’ motivation.

Systematic Problem Solving and Decision Making

Sandy Pokras

(Crisp Publication Workbook)
If you want a workbook style approach to learning these skills and then having a format to teach it to others, this book is for you!

Hire the Best and Avoid the Rest

Michael W. Mercer

Everyone wants to hire the best, but how do you know if you have? This books provides tools to enable you to better predict. It will show you how interview, test candidates, and check references with at a higher level of effectiveness.

Coaching that Counts

Dianna Anderson and Merrill Anderson

The book is divided into three parts: The first section describes a proven client-centered approach to coaching. The second section describes how to effectively manage coaching as a business initiative. The third second provides knowledge, ideas and tools to effectively evaluate the intangible value of coaching.

PeopleSmart

Mel Silberman

One of the better books on skill development on all levels for managers. It’s primary focus is to help managers develop their interpersonal intelligence by becoming more “PeopleSmart.” The first step in this process is to understand people; next, learn how to express yourself more clearly… etc. Take a closer look at the book and you will find it to be very helpful.

Appreciative Inquiry (The Thin Book of)

Sue Hammond

In our age it seems to be easy to look at the 2-10% that doesn’t work. This little book is a new thinking process that says, “Identify what works and do more of it. Talk more about what you want to be.” This books reminds us that we can do more and be more if we concentrate on what works instead of being obsessed with our mistakes.

The One Thing You Need to Know

Marcus Buckingham

Three areas of focus:

• Great managing
• Great leading
• Career Success

What is the one thing you need to know in each of these three categories? Read the book and get a clear focus on what you will need to do in each area to improve your role as a professional in any field. Success in any area of development comes when you focus on the core. The author will point out the CORE INSIGHT in each of these areas.

Managing Differences

Daniel Dana

One of the factors of Emotional Intelligence is building better relationships. This books discusses the reality that world will continue to become more diverse. What are we going to do about this? We must learn how to manage these difference or we will spend too much time and energy around conflict. There are skills that are needed to make this work. This book points the reader in the direction of learning techniques of how to handle conflict, differences and diversity.

The Wisdom of Teams

John Katzenbach

A classic book about teams. Three areas of importance are covered in this book:

• Understanding teams
• Becoming a team
• Exploring your team’s potential.

This is a book that is easy to understand and follow. Very basic!

The Team Building Tool Kit

Deborah Harrington-Mackin

The formula for this book is a ‘reference guide’ to teams. It is an easy read and spells out easy to grasp tips and tactics for both team leaders and team members. It shows how to manage the human factor of teams as well as the nitty-gritty details necessary for teams to be successful.

The Great Cross Over

Dan Sullivan

We are living in a new age! This means that we must live differently! To live differently requires new strategies. This books provides some interesting and worthwhile strategies to live in this present world.

The Dynamics of Diversity

Odette Pollar

(Crisp Publication)
A workbook to work your way through the complex issue of diversity. It is worth a look and if applicable, good for use with a team who is confronting these types of issues.

Handling the Difficult Employee

Marty Brounstein

(Crisp Publication)
Not every employee is a breeze to be around; there are some who are ‘challenges’. This workbook takes a look at the various types of ‘challenges’ in the workplace, such as the new employee; the inconsistent employee; the mediocre employee; the intolerable employee.

Listening to Conflict

Erik J. Van Slyke

Sometimes the most effective means to solve a conflict is through learning how to listen better. To ‘really’ listen means to become more active in the relationship through being more empathetic. To begin the process of listening to another’s motivation and objectives is the foundation for constructive steps toward resolution. This book is strongly related to the importance of emotional intelligence; you cannot truly listen if you are not self aware!

Getting to Yes

Roger Fisher and William Ury

This is a classic! Well known research on how to get to a ‘yes’. This is a concise step by step, proven strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. The book and its process is based on the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals continually with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution from domestic to business to international. Key to the process is learn how to separate people from the problem and to focus on interests, not positions.

Magic of Conflict

Thomas F. Crum

Conflict is normal so don’t try to avoid it, look at it for what it is — A difference that exists between two people! The approach to conflict is a bit different but very useful; the approach is based on Aiki — a uniquely effective New Age stress-reduction strategy to embrace that which comes your way, don’t reject and fight it off. Learn from it and see it as an opportunity for growth and change.

Difficult Conversations

Douglas Stone and Bruce Paton

It is so easy to avoid that which is difficult! And many events in life that are difficult are ones that should be embraced and discussed. This book is based on fifteen years of research at the Harvard Negotiation Project. It is a step by step approach of how to have those tough conversations with less stress and more success. The first step is to learn how to decipher the underlying structure of your conversation and then learn to hear what is being said by eliminating your erroneous and deeply held assumptions.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Patrick Lencioni

What makes a team work? If you are interested in make your team work better, this book will help! The five factors that makes team fail are:

1. Absence of trust
2. Fear of conflict
3. Lack of commitment
4. Avoidance of accountability
5. Inattentiveness to results.

Measuring your team against these liabilities will show where attention needs to be made to lift your team to the next level.

Developing the Leaders Around You

John Maxwell

The focus is on coaching or mentoring others that work with you or for you. It begins with the importance of creating the right climate with the person you choose to mentor. The book is full of common but forgotten wisdom on how to enable others to reach their potential.