More Great Reads in Management and Leadership

Document imaging allows you to organize and store your documents, so you don’t have to spend so much time re-reading and re-sorting. Why not spend that extra time reading books that excite you and take your management skills to the next level? I’ve already told you that I’m a voracious reader, and shared a few of my favorite reads on business management. There are so many great books out there. It’s time for a new installment This week, let’s read by the numbers:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
It’s such a classic that it’s almost cliché, but this book is still one of the greats. Covey guides you through tried-and-true techniques to clarify what really matters to you in life, to create a road map towards your goals, and to keep yourself working on the tasks that accomplish the most and mean the most to you. It’s a classic, and it’s worth another look.

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

If you need a fresher, hipper roadmap to finding what you most want out of life, try this 2008 bestseller. Ferriss himself admits that he has no desire to work only four hours and slack off for the rest of the week. His actual goal is to reduce the amount of work that you feel you have to do to make a living, and free more of your time and energy for things you want to do—which may well be work that feels like play. Ferriss encourages his readers to question everyday assumptions, see their wildest dreams as possibilities, and shoot for the stars. The book is also full of specific advice on everything from outsourcing to search-engine optimization. If for nothing else, read this book to get yourself fired up about all the possibilities of the business world—and the world at large.

The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch

Koch explains that, instead of trying to get more done faster, we can eliminate a great many tasks that simply don’t need to be done. The Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto realized in 1906 that 80% of the peas from his garden came from 20% of the pea plants. Once he started to look for it, he saw this principle at work everywhere: in economics, in political power, in mathematics . . . Koch shows how you can apply the 80/20 principle to your business. The percentages won’t be exact, but chances are that about 80% of your sales come from about 20% of your clients, 80% of your results from 20% of the tasks you do, and so on. Once you see the pattern, you can eliminate the less-productive aspects of your business, and enjoy better results with less work. It’s an exciting idea, and in many applications, it works!

Getting Things Done by David Allen

If one types GTD or Getting Things Done in google…..look out.  The book has changed the lives of many, and has somewhat of a cult following.  Not to scare you, the book and methodology is fantastic.  As I have discussed in other posts, David’s way of organization makes sense.  One of the core concepts within GTD, is the way Allen groups tasks into contexts.  By doing so (call lists, email lists, things that need to be done at a computer) you are able to accomplish your tasks, when you have the proper tools.  This makes perfect sense, and the mind seems to “get” it.  Why look at a list of things to get at the grocery store, when you’re sitting @ your desk next to your phone?  We are move in and out of contexts throughout the day, so create a list for the context you’re in, and start getting things done.

Mastering the Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish

This one is a quick read on goals and plans.  This is a simple look at business success through the utilization of 3 habits.  As we all know, the cornerstones tend to be simple and straight forward.  Harnish reveals the winning recipe of Rockefeller – in under 180 pages!  Yes please!

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a classic and the other books above are bestsellers on their way to becoming classics. Do you agree they deserve this praise? What are your favorite management books? Lay ‘em on me and give me a reason to add them to my bookshelf.

Posted by: John Cushman on August 25th, 2010 // View Comments
Posted in: News
Tags: Leadership, Management, Reading Lists
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