READING LIST

Motivation

10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make and How To Avoid Them: Simple and Sure Techniques for Gaining Greater Control of Your Life
By Arthur Freeman and Rose DeWolf

Now, Discover Your Strengths
By Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Phd

Secrets of Executive Success
By Mark Golin, Mark Bricklin, David Diamond

See You at the Top
By Zig Ziglar

Tapping Potential
By Kenneth J. Lodi

The 10-Day MBA
By Steven Silbiger

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
By Stephen R. Covey

The Magic of Thinking Big
By David J. Schwartz

Top Performance
By Zig Ziglar

Communication

50 One-Minute Tips to Better Communication
By Phillip Bozek

Effective Listening Skills
By Dennis M. Kratz

Effective Writing
By Dr. Steve Gladis

How to Be a Great Communicator
By Nido R. Qubein

How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less
By Milo O. Frank

How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People
By Les Giblin

How to Start a Conversation and Make Friends
By Don Gabor

How to Talk So People Will Listen
By Steve Brown

How to Win Friends & Influence People
By Dale Carnegie

Influence
By Robert B. Cialdini

Influencer
By Kerry Patterson

Language of Effective Listening
By Arthur Robertson

Listen to Win – A manager’s guide to effective listening
By Curt Bechler Ph.D and Richard L. Weaver II Ph.D

Leading Minds
By Howard Gardner

Listening: The forgotten skill
By Madelyn Burley-Allen

People Skills, How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts
By Robert Bolton

Political Savvy: Systemic Approaches to Leadership Behind the Scenes
By Joel R. Deluca

Proposal Writing: The Art of Friendly Persuasion
By William S. Pfeiffer

Reading People
By Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, Mark Mazzarella

Speed Reading in Business
By Joyce Turley

Story: Substance, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting
By Robert McKee

The Art of Communicating
By Bert Decker

The Art of Talking So That People Will Listen
By Paul W. Swets

The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas
By G. Richard Shell, Mario Moussa

The Business of Listening
By Diana Bonet

The Friendship Factor
By Alan Loy McGinnis

The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Arts & Discipline of Business Narrative
By Steve Denning

The Lost Art of Listening
By Michael P. Nichols

The Story Factor
By Annette Simmons

Management

13 Fatal Errors Manager Make and How You Can Avoid Them
By W. Steven Brown

Death by Meetings
By Patrick Lencioni

Delegating for Results
By Robert Maddux

Excellence in Management
By Rick Conlow

Excellence in Supervision
By Rick Conlow

Execution
By Larry Bossidy

Further Up the Organization
By Robert Townsend

How Managers Make Things Happen
By George S. Odiorne

How to Motivate and Persuade People
By Gabriel S. Carlin

Keeping the Best
By Martin Yate

Management Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices
By Peter F. Drucker

Managing Differences
By Geri H. McArdle

Managing Performance
By Marion E. Haynes

Managing Strategic Relationships
By Leonard Greenhalgh

Nobody’s Perfect How to Give Criticism and Get Results
By Dr. Hendrie Weisinger & Norman M. Lobsenz

Out of the Crisis
By W. Edwards Deming

Practice What You Preach
By David H. Maister

Professional Presence
By Susan Bixler

Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership
By Lee Bolman, Terrence Deal

Successful Manager’s Handbook
By B. Davis, C. Skube, L. Hellervik, S. Gebelein, J. Sheard

The 4-Dimensional Manager
By Julie Straw

The Deming Management Method
By Mary Walton

The Knowing-Doing Gap
By Jeffrey Pfeffer & Robert I. Sutton

The One-Minute Manager
By Kenneth Blanchard, Spencer Johnson

Thriving on Chaos
By Tom Peters

Unstuck: A Tool for Yourself, Your Team, and Your World
By Keith Yamashita, Sandra Spataro

Why Employees Don’t Do What They’re Supposed to Do and What to Do About It
By Ferdinand F. Fournies

Strategic Planning

Corporate Strategic Analysis
By Marcus C. Gogue III, Elwood S. Buffa

Creating Strategic Leverage
By Milind M. Lele

Developing Strategic Thought
By Bob Garratt

Strategic Planning in Emerging Companies
By Steven C. Brandt

Strategic Planning: What Every Manager Must Know
By George A. Steiner

Strategy Pure & Simple
By Michel Robert

The Art of War
By Samuel B. Griffith

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning
By Henry Mintzberg

Sales and Marketing

5 Paths to Persuasion: The Art of Selling Your Message
By Gary Williams, Alden Hayashi, Robert Miller

Beyond Selling Value
By Mark Shonka, Dan Kosch

Building and Closing the Sale
By Virden J. Thornton

Effective Presentation Skills
By Steve Mandel

From Selling to Managing
By Ronald Brown

How to Get Clients
By Jeff Slutsky

Let’s Put Some Lipstick on This Pig
By Mark McGlinchey

Little Red Book of Selling
By Jeffrey Gitomer

Modern Persuasion Strategies
By Donald J. Moine & John H. Herd

Sales Negotiating Strategies Building the Win/Win Customer Relationship
By Mack Hanan, James Cribbin, & Howard Berrian

Successful Cold Call Selling
By Lee Boyan

Successful Personal Selling Through TA
By Maurice F. Villere & Claude P. Duet

Successful Telemarketing
By Bob Stone, John Wyman

Telemarketing
By Stephan Schiffman

The 25 Sales Strategies That Will Boost Your Sales Today!
By Stephan Schiffman

The Greatest Salesman in the World
By Og Mandino

The New Strategic Selling
By Robert B. Miller, Stephen E. Heinman

The Ten Greatest Sales-Persons
By Robert L. Shook

Value-Added Selling: How to Sell More Profitably, Confidently, and Professionally by Competing on VALUE, Not Price
By Tom Reilly

Word of Mouth Marketing
By Jerry R. Wilson

Marketing Your Consulting or Professional Services
By Dick Connor, Jeff Davidson

Prospecting: The Key to Sales Success
By Virden J. Thornton

Same Game New Rules
By Bill Caskey

Visionary Selling
By Barbara Geraghty

The Little Red Book of Sales Answers
By Jeffrey Gitomer

Manufacturing

Dudick on Manufacturing Cost Controls
By Thomas S. Dudick

Lean Thinking
By James P. Womack & Daniel T. Jones

Making Manufacturing Cells Work
By Lee R. Nyman

Manufacturing Plant Layout
By Edward J. Phillips

The Just-in-Time Breakthrough
By Edward J. Hay

The Six Sigma Way
By Peter Pande, Robert Neuman, Roland R Cavanagh

World-Class Manufacturing
By Richard J. Schonberger

World-Class Manufacturing: The Next Decade
By Richard J. Schonberger

Quality Control

Quality Circles
By Philip C. Thompson

Quality is Free
By Philip B. Crosby

The Deming Route to Quality and Productivity
By William W. Scherkenbach

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
By Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox 

Customer Service

Customer Satisfaction
By Mack Hanan, Peter Karp

Customer Service Operations
By Warren Blanding

Customers for Life, How to Turn that One-Time Customer into a Lifetime Customer
By Carl Sewell, Paul B. Brown

Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service
By Kristin Anderson, Ron Zemke

Delivering Quality Service
By Valarie A. Zeithaml, A. Parasuraman, Leonard L. Berry

It’s Not My Department, How to Get the Service You Want
By Peter Glen

Keep the Customer
By Robert L. Desatnick

Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service
By Chip R. Bell, Ron Zemke

Managing Service as a Strategic Profit Center
By Donald F. Blumberg

Service America! Doing Business in the New Economy
By Karl Albrecht, Ron Zemke

Sustaining Knock Your Socks Off Service
By Thomas K. Connellan, Ron Zemke

The Customer is Key
By Milind M. Lele, Jagdish N. Sheth

Total Customer Service, The Ultimate Weapon
By William H. Davidow, Bro Uttal

Self-Improvement

Compassion and Self-Hate
By Theodore I Rubin MD

Developing Positive Assertiveness
By Sam R. Lloyd

Effective Writing
By Dr. Steve Gladis

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
By Dale Carnegie

The Introvert Advantage: Making the Most of Your Inner Strengths
By Marti Olsen Laney, Psy.D.

Learned Optimism
Martin E Seligman PhD

Neurosis and Human Growth
By Karen Horney MD

Never Good Enough
By Monica Ramirez

Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future
By Joel Barker

Perfectionism: What’s Bad About Being Too Good
By Miriam Adderholdt and Jan Goldberg

Proposal Writing, The Art of Friendly Persuasion
By William S. Pfeiffer

Self-Esteem
By Matthew McKay and Patrick Fanning

Shyness: A Bold New Approach
By Bernardo J Carducci PhD

Shyness: What It Is and What to Do About It
By Philip G Zimbardo

Speed Reading in Business
By Joyce Turley

Streetwise Time Management
By Marshall Cook

Take Back Your Time
By John DeGraff

The Intuition Workbook
By Marcia Emery

Triggers: Creating Behavior that Lasts – Becoming the Person You Want to Be
By Marshall Goldsmith, Mark Reiter, et al

When Your Best is Not Good Enough
By Kevin Leman

Working Smart
By Michael LeBoeuf

Worry: Hope and Help for a Common Condition
By Edward M Hallowell MD

Your Perfect Right: Assertiveness and Equality in Your Life and Relationships
By Robert E. Alberti, Michael L. Emmons

Expanding Your Mind

About Learning
By Bernice McCarthy

Emotional Intelligence
By Daniel Goleman

Lateral Thinking Skills
By Paul Sloane

Mindmapping: Your Personal Guide to Exploring Creativity and Problem-Solving
By Joyce Wycoff

Six Thinking Hats
By Edward De Bono

Teach Yourself to Think
By Edward De Bono

Think on Your Feet
By Keith Spicer, PhD

Conflict Management

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
By Kerry Peterson

Managing Differences
By Geri H. McArdle (Crisp Publication)

Managing Strategic Relationships
By Leonard Greenhalgh

Verbal Judo, The Gentle Art of Persuasion
By George J. Thompson and Jerry B. Jenkins

Coaching and Mentoring

Coaching for Commitment
By Dennis C. Kinlaw

Coaching for Leadership
By Marshall Goldsmith, Laurence Lyons, Alyssa Freas

Effective Coaching
By Myles Downey

Everyone’s A Coach
By Ken Blanchard and Don Shula

Making Mentoring Happen
By Kathy Lacey

Masterful Coaching
By Robert Hargrove

Masterful Coaching Field Book
By Robert Hargrove

The Art of Mentoring: Lead, Follow and Get Out Of the Way
By Shirley Peddy

The Portable Coach
By Thomas J. Leonard

Sales Management / Coaching

Leadership

A Passion for Excellence
By Tom Peters and Nancy Austin

Beneath the Armor: How Leaders of Small to Midsize Businesses Stand Tall in a Turbulent Global Economy
By Ole Carlson

For Your Improvement
By Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger

Leadership and Self-Deception
By The Arbinger Institute

Leadership on the Line
By Ronald A Heifetz and Marty Linsky

Leadership Skills
By Peter Barron Stark & Jane Flaherty

Leaders- Lessons of the Navy Seals
By Jeff Cannon and Lt Cmdr. John Cannon

On Becoming a Leader: The Workbook
By Bennis & Goldsmith

Patton on Leadership Strategic Lessons For Corporate Warfare
By Alan Axelrod

Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
By Daniel Goleman

Results-Based Leadership
By Dave Ulrich, Jack Zenger, & Norm Smallwood

Silos, Politics and Turf Wars
By Patrick Lencioni

The Accountability Revolution
By Mark Samuel

The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development
By Cynthia d. McCauley & Russ S. Moxley

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
By Patrick Lencioni

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
By Patrick Lencioni

The Five Temptations of a CEO
By Patrick Lencioni

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive
By Patrick Lencioni

The Leadership Engine
By Noel M Tichy

The New Strategists
By Stephen Wall, Shannon Rye Wall

Business Development

After the Merger
By Price Pritchett

Break- Through Process Redesign
By Charlene B. Adair, Bruce A. Murray

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
By Jim Collins

Business Process Improvement
By H. James Harrington

Good to Great
By Jim Collins

How to Manage a Turnaround
By Stanley J. Goodman

Keeping Score
By Mark Graham Brown

Making Mergers Work A Guide to Managing Mergers and Acquisitions
By Price Pritchett

Managing a Successful Business Turnaround
By John Stewart Jr.

Project Change Management: Applying Change Management To Improvement Projects
By Daryl R Conner and Nicholas F. Horney

Revenue Management
By Robert G. Cross

The Fifth Discipline
By Peter M. Senge

Negotiation Skills

Getting to YES, Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
By Roger Fisher, William Ury, & Bruce Patton

How to Argue and Win Every Time
By Gerry Spence

Negotiate to Close
By Gary Karrass

Negotiating for Dummies
By Michael C. Donaldson, Mimi Donaldson

The Art of Negotiating
By Gerard I. Nierenberg

Sales Negotiation Strategies
By Patrick Henry Hansen

The Art of Closing the Sale
By Brian Tracy

Finance and Business Controls

Cost Reduction and Profit Improvement
By Harry E. Figgie, Jr.

Creative Cost Improvement for Managers
By Louis E. Tagliaferri

Cutting Costs, An Executive’s Guide to Increased Profits
By Harry E. Figgie, Jr.

Financial Analysis
By James O. Gill and Maira Chatton

How to Read a Financial Report
By John A. Tracy

The Complete Guide to Finance & Accounting For Non Financial Managers
By Steven A. Finkler

Understanding Financial Statements
By James O. Gill and Maira Chatton

Up Your Cash Flow
By Harvey A. Goldstein

Human Resources

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Growth usually takes on one of two very distinct pathways: a linear path and an exponential one. The latter sounds great, right? Just pull a few levers and watch your organization reap the benefits of exponential growth, making all of your dreams come true. Wait till that next quarterly review, you’ll show them you mean business!

Except that isn’t the entire story, and consistent leadership development results are better than exponential growth that isn’t sustainable.

So why talk about exponential growth in the domain of creating better leaders in the workplace? Well, because it never hurts to have something to aspire to. It never hurts to see what can indeed happen when consistent action is scaled out. That’s the key to making leadership development a potent component in today’s fast paced business environment.

What does feedback really mean? We talk about feedback, but we know that not all feedback is created equal. Feedback should begin with empathy, which is truly understanding the other person's perspective. From there, we want to come forward with evidence that backs up the statements we're going to make to that person. Direct, professional, and straightforward is the name of the game here.

Feedback and accountability go hand in hand within the world of strategically assessing leadership strengths and weaknesses.

What Comprehensive Feedback Isn't

Sometimes it's important to highlight what something isn't before we can really start visualizing what it is constructively. If you want to build or even transform current feedback and accountability processes, here's what to avoid most:

  • Relying on one assessment. There is no perfect assessment, and it's critical to avoid idolizing any assessment as the One True Measure of performance

  • Keeping resources too narrow. This isn't about trying to use as few resources as possible. Pull out all of the tools and see what's reasonable in terms of the specific leader being refined for greater opportunities (the ultimate goal)

  • Don't settle for just covering strengths and weaknesses in terms of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Full insight requires full analysis; KPIs are just a shortcut.

Collecting quantitative data is important, but don’t skip the opportunities to collect qualitative data along the way as well. For example,

Breaking Down Strategic Leadership Assessment - The Best Path Forward for Growth

In order to get the growth needed to stay competitive, it's time to go back to the drawing board. What does strategic leadership assessment look like in action? Well, the important point is that it begins with realizing the end goal: you're getting insight into an individual's makeup and identifying what their true strengths and weaknesses are. We're going back to the 3D Leadership model as one of the key foundational points of this plan.

Staying the Course

Motivation is a big topic in the business world because we're used to watching people quit. Why do people quit before they've reached the finish line? Sometimes it's a matter of not being able to visualize the end. Or perhaps it's not having enough milestones to reflect upon as they move deeper into their journey. Not everyone will finish their leadership development plan, or approach it with enthusiasm.

Reassurance isn't a bad thing, and it can help bolster morale to the point where employees buy back in. For entry-level employees, leadership development can feel impossible because they're starting their journey with a lot to cover. For the more seasoned leader, development often takes a "been there, done that" feeling.

Dive Deeper Into Refinement With Developing World Class Leaders: The Ultimate Guide to Leadership Development

Digging into the roots of better leadership development isn’t an easy journey. Yet it is absolutely essential for companies of all sizes.

Did you miss the deep dive on assessments? Check out the Strategic View of Hiring podcast episode, Exploring the World of Assessments.

Check out the book store and order a copy of Developing World Class Leaders: The Ultimate Guide to Leadership Development today.

To receive a copy of our Leadership Competency Inventory, complete with 64 competencies, just send an email.