This book was first suggested to me by the General Manager of Shaw Lumber. John said it was not only the best book on delegation he'd ever seen, but the most useful book any manager could ever read!

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't
by James C. Collins
PURCHASE

Synopsis: Although Collins wrote this book after he coauthored Built to Last, I strongly recommend you start with this one and find out the results of Collins' research into what it takes to make a good company a great company. If you've heard the phrase "get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and then get everyone in their right seat," that came from this book. My favorite single idea was Collins' point that the biggest enemy of greatness is being good.

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras
PURCHASE

Synopsis: This book is the result of Collins' and Porras' research into companies that started out great and stayed that way. What had them be "built to last?" If you've heard the terms BHAG (Bee-HAG) for big hairy audacious goal, or "Hedgehog concept," they originated here.

The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable
by Patrick Lencioni
PURCHASE

Synopsis: Thisis one of those "story" books that is so easy to read you'll probably knock it off in a single sitting. In this story, make that fable, there is an unexpected meeting between troubled CEO Andrew O'Brien and a mysterious old man named Charlie. Their conversations explore a series of common traps that can unwittingly ensnare any executive. Lencioni's five "temptations" are:

• The desire to focus on your own career status
• Wanting to be popular with subordinates
• Hesitating to decide in order to make correct decisions
• Striving for an atmosphere of total harmony at the cost of good decisions
• An unwillingness to appear vulnerable.
  

The E-Myth (Revisited):
Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
by William Oncken, Jr. (and Kenneth Blanchard)
PURCHASE

Synopsis: This book was first suggested to me by the General Manager of Shaw Lumber. John said it was not only the best book on delegation he'd ever seen, but the most useful book any manager could ever read!