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Recommended Resources – The Leader’s Pocket Guide

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The Leader’s Pocket Guide: 101 Indispensable Tools, Tips, and Techniques for Any Situation
by John Baldoni

About the Book

The Leader’s Pocket Guide by John Baldoni is a well organized collection of leadership principles focused on one’s self, colleagues, and organization. In his book, John provides readers with insights on a wide array of topics including:

  • Demonstrating character
  • Developing confidence
  • Inspiring others
  • Resolving conflict
  • Coaching and rewarding others
  • Aligning the organization to shared goals

Benefits of Using this Book

StrategyDriven Contributors like The Leader’s Pocket Guide for its immediately implementable advice relevant to leaders at all levels within an organization. Specifically, we liked the action tips, self-assessments, and ‘Think About…’ sections of John’s book, all of which challenge the reader to reflect on his or her leadership acumen to identify and improve on areas of weakness.

We found the layout of The Leader’s Pocket Guide to be advantageous for use in developing one’s subordinates. The individualized leadership lessons enable managers to conduct training and/or group discussion sessions focused on a particular principle. Additionally, this segmentation allows the book to be used in daily reflection to help one hone his or her own leadership skills.

The insightful, actionable leadership principles presented in this well organized book makes The Leader’s Pocket Guide a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Recommended Resources – The Welcomer Edge

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The Welcomer Edge: Unlocking the Secrets to Repeat Business
by Richard Shapiro

About the Book

The Welcomer Edge by Richard Shapiro explores the customer experience that converts first time customers into repeat buyers. Richard characterizes four types of sales persons; highlighting the advantage ‘welcomers’ have over others not so personally engaging.

  • Welcomers draw new customers to a business and keep them by establishing a relationship with their clients.
  • Robots go through the motions in their client interactions and do not create a personal connection.
  • Indifferent employees overtly communicate a lack of caring to their customers; rarely saying ‘hello’ and ‘thank you.’
  • Hostiles do not want to be at work and make this sentiment obvious to their customers.

Robert goes on to reveal how those who are not currently welcomers can work to develop the key mindsets and approaches to embody this approach; thereby increasing customer satisfaction and sales.

Benefits of Using this Book

StrategyDriven Contributors like The Welcomers Edge for its highly insightful, example filled examination of the various degrees of one-on-one customer relationship management. We appreciate the detailed personality descriptions that enable managers to identify the approach type of their front-line employees as well as the prescription for developing individual’s welcomer abilities.

If we had one criticism of the book it would be that Richard uses too many examples; going a bit beyond what is needed to effectively make a point. But then again, can one really have too many examples?

The Welcomer Edge provides business leaders with the crucial insight needed to ensure they have the best client facing people, individuals who will convert and retain potential customers. For its actionable, example rich insights driving organizational goal achievement, The Welcomer Edge is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Recommended Resources – The Complete Idiot’s Guide to LinkedIn

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The Complete Idiot’s Guide to LinkedIn
by Susan Gunelius

About the Book

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to LinkedIn by Susan Gunelius provides step-by-step instructions for using the full array of interactive tools provided by the professionals’ social media website, LinkedIn. Some of the topics covered include:

  • Creating a personal profile that is more than an online resume
  • Developing a dynamic company profile
  • Establishing a LinkedIn Group and attracting and engagement members
  • Connecting and interacting with others on LinkedIn
  • Formulating and executing on a LinkedIn marketing plan

Susan’s book provides tips and tricks throughout her book to help the reader be even more effective in their use of LinkedIn.

Benefits of Using this Book

In today’s business world, an online presence is critically important for individuals and businesses. We believe all professionals should have a complete, up-to-date LinkedIn profile as a part of their outward personal brand. Likewise, companies have an opportunity to attract customers and talent through their LinkedIn profiles.

StrategyDriven Contributors like The Complete Idiot’s Guide to LinkedIn for its clear, easy-to-follow instructions for making effective use of LinkedIn. We find LinkedIn to be a powerful tool for professional interactions and have successfully employed Susan’s recommendations to enhance our interactions. In fact, StrategyDriven‘s Company Page was developed using Susan’s instructions and is enjoying an ever increasing number of weekly visitors.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to LinkedIn can accelerate a professional’s and company’s efforts to establish a quality LinkedIn presence and effectively engage with others online; making it a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Final Thought…

LinkedIn recently changed some of its ‘look and feel’ with respect to its Company Profile pages. We’ve tested these and found that while the look has changed the functionality remains largely the same and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to LinkedIn continues to be a sound reference for this LinkedIn functionality.

Recommended Resources – Impatient Optimist

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Impatient Optimist: Bill Gates in His Own Words

edited by Lisa Rogak

About the Reference

Impatient Optimist edited by Lisa Rogak reveals Bill Gates’ core beliefs about business in a way no other author has been able to achieve… because these insights come directly from Bill Gates himself. Lisa’s book systematically covers a wide range of topics from ‘Addiction to Technology’ to ‘Relinquishing Control’, from ‘Streamlining Business Processes’ to ‘His Work Habits’, and ‘Hiring Employees’ to ‘Managing Employees’.

Throughout Impatient Optimist, three predominate themes are revealed:

  • the need to identify and understand any proposition’s return on investment
  • the value of maintaining the ‘big picture,’ and
  • the importance of family and of achieving an appropriate work-life balance.

Benefits of Using this Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors like Impatient Optimist because it reveals the intimate thoughts and beliefs of the man who is arguably the most successful business leader of all time but who is also one of the world’s greatest philanthropists. Many of Bill Gates’ approaches align well with the principles and philosophies we recommend business leaders adopt to further their organization’s success. While we recognize some may disagree with Bill Gates’ approach to certain circumstances – and on occasion we do too – all agree he is one of the great business leaders who continues to shape our modern world.

StrategyDriven Contributors appreciated the layout of Impatient Optimist, the organization of quotes around meaningful topic areas, the dating of each quote, and Bill Gates’ life story timeline provided at the end of the book. We found that knowing the setting and circumstances of the Bill Gates’ quotes provided insightful context from which to interpret them. As such, we recommend first-time readers review the ‘Milestones’ timeline presented at the end of the book first and refer to it often when reading individual quotes.

For it’s intimate portrayal of an American entrepreneurial icon, Impatient Optimist is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Recommended Resource – The Reinventors

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The Reinventors: How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change

by Jason Jennings

About the Book

The Reinventors by Jason Jennings provides a step-by-step method for continuously evolving one’s organization such that it remains ever relevant in today’s rapidly changing business environment. Jason examines not only the change methodology to be employed but provides insights to the key leadership and organizational attributes necessary to effectively reinvent a business. He supports his assertions with detailed examples of how well-known organizations achieved the continuous change driving their ongoing marketplace success.

Benefits of Using This Book

StrategyDriven Contributors particularly like The Reinventors for the soundness of its immediately actionable continuous change methodologies. Jason thoroughly examines all aspects of successful change management; leadership, organization/people, and action. Furthermore, his ‘Action Plans’ at the conclusion of each chapter help the reader focus on the important change principles and can be used to guide action plan development.

Underlying each of Jason’s continuous change principles is a focus on organizational alignment and accountability, the hallmark principles on which StrategyDriven is focused. Vivid, real-world examples serve to bring the principles conveyed to life; making them easy to relate to and helping the reader envision how he or she might take action to reinvent their organization.

The Reinventors‘s immediately implementable, real-world change methods that reinforce organizational alignment and accountability makes it a StrategyDriven recommended read.