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Suggested Reading List

The following is a list of reading recommendations.
After reviewing the list, please let me know if you have additional titles. Just send an email to [email protected] with the title, author, and a short note indicating what impressed you about the book.

Leadership:

  • The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner
  • On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis
  • Excellence by Design: Leadership by John Spence
  • Primal Leadership by Goleman et al
  • Leader to Leader by Hesselbin et al (from the Drucker Foundation)
  • The Leader of the Future by Hesselbin et al (from the Drucker Foundation)
  • Flight of the Buffalo by James Belasco
  • Servant Leadership by Greenleaf
  • Leading People by Rosen and Brown
  • Authentic Leadership by Bill George
  • Instant Turnaround by Harry Paul and Ross Reck

General Business Knowledge:

  • Good to Great by Jim Collins
  • Built to Last by Jim Collins
  • Results Rule! by Randy Pennington
  • Think Big Act Small by Jason Jennings
  • Great Places to Work by Levering
  • What the Best CEO’s Know by Krames
  • In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters
  • A Passion for Excellence by Tom Peters
  • Liberation Management by Tom Peters
  • The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack
  • Teaching the Elephant to Dance by James Belasco
  • The Knowing-Doing-Gap by Pfeffer and Sutton
  • The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

Customer Service:

  • At America’s Service by Karl Albrecht
  • Service America by Karl Albrecht
  • Customers for Life by Carl Sewell
  • Quality is Free by Philip Crosby
  • Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service by Bell & Zemke
  • Unleashing Excellence: The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service by Dennis Snow & Teri Yanovitch
  • Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service by Bell & Zemke
  • The Customer Driven Company by Richard Whiteley
  • The Nordstrom Way: The Inside Story of America’s #1 Customer Service Company by Robert Spector & Patrick McCarthy

Team Building:

  • The Wisdom of Teams by Katzenbach and Smith
  • The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Lencioni

Conflict Resolution:

  • Crucial Conversations by Patterson et al.
  • Difficult Conversations by Stone et al.
  • Crucial Confrontations by Patterson et al.
  • Effective Communication Skills for Scientific and Technical Professionals by Chambers
  • The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense by Elgin

Career Development:

  • What Color is Your Parachute 2009 by Richard Nelson Bolles
  • Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It by Barbara Sher
  • Do What you Are by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger
  • Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters: 400 Unconventional Tips, Tricks, and Tactics for Landing Your Dream Job by Jay Conrad Levinson and David Perry
  • Job Hunting Tips for People With Not-So-Hot Backgrounds: 101 Smart Tips That Can Change Your Life (Career Savvy) by Ron Krannich
  • Sweaty Palms: The Neglected Art of Being Interviewed by H. Anthony Medley
  • Knock ’em Dead, 2009: The Ultimate Job Search Guide by Martin Yate

Life balance, Self-motivation, Happiness and/or Success:

  • A Strategy for Daily Living by Ari Kiev
  • Quantum Leap Thinking by James Mapes
  • Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders
  • Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
  • Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins
  • Learned Optimism by Dr. Martin Seligman
  • Taking Responsibility by Nathaniel Brandon
  • You Can Be Happy No Matter What by Richard Carlson
  • Getting Things Done by David Allen

Business Biographies:

  • Nuts (about Southwest Airlines) by Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Frieberg
  • Pour Your Heart into It (about Starbucks) by Howard Schultz
  • Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance by Lou Gerstner
  • Moments of Truth by Jan Carlson
  • Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove
  • Augustine’s Laws by Norm Augustine