By: David Allen You don't have to be a CEO or a high-powered executive to relate to the fundamental problem that this book sets out to solve. We live in a world and many of us work in an environment where the demands made on our attention and our time are so constant that we are left overwhelmed and stressed and unable to accomplish much of anything, really. This frazzled state is the opposite of where we need to be in order to accomplish our ...continue

Here are some statements for you to ponder. True or false: People work harder and better the more money you pay them. Human beings are inherently lazy creatures and must be threatened with punishment or rewarded with treats if you want them to be productive. The best way to improve your bottom line is to meticulously monitor and control every aspect of your employees’ jobs, hours, and production levels. ...continue

By: Malcolm Gladwell This is a fascinating book. It sets out to learn the true stories behind some of the world's most famous success stories, as well as a few that aren't so famous. What are the ingredients for success according to this book? One is hard work; the author concludes that, based on the most successful people in their respective fields, it takes around 10,000 hours of practice to master a given sport, instrument, or field. On the ...continue

By Malcolm Gladwell Malcolm Gladwell writes an extremely readable book, full of fascinating stories and an interesting way of juxtaposing them. In this book, he takes a close look at the first impressions, gut reactions, and split-second decisions that we humans sometimes make in the blink of an eye, and attempts to explain them. The result is a riveting read with lots of food for thought on the things that influence us without us really being ...continue

By: Marshall Goldsmith This is a book about people's fatal flaws. You know, the ones that you and everyone else can see, but the person in question seems blind to (or at least indifferent, in some examples in the book). On the surface, this is a book geared towards the successful person in the corporate world -- someone who has climbed the ladder to a decent height but needs to do a little work on him or herself before they can become a world- ...continue

By: Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. What makes someone a good salesperson? You probably have an answer to this question, if you've ever been exposed to someone trying to sell you some thing (and who hasn't?). The answer might have to do with how likable the person was, or aspects of his or her sales pitch. Maybe it had something to do with the product, but then again, maybe not. This book takes a fascinating look at certain near-universal truths of ...continue

By: Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz If you are a committed workaholic or were raised by one, this book might bend your mind a little bit. Its subtitle is: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. The authors show you how to maximize your four key areas of energy to get the most out of your life. The four key areas of energy are: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. They have worked with many top level ...continue

By: Zig Ziglar Zig Ziglar is synonymous in many circles with selling and motivation. Many successful salespeople, businesspeople, and entrepreneurs cite him as a seminal influence, including our own Joel Comm. See You at the Top is one of the books that he's best known for, and it is still an extremely motivating and relevant read, even 35 years after its first publication. While Mr. Ziglar's background is in sales, this is far more than ju ...continue

By: Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner In this sequel to Freakonomics, authors Levitt and Dubner revisit the realm of weird and unexpected outcomes and the "hidden side of everything." This book is nothing if not entertaining, exploring such diverse (and potentially controversial) topics as the economics of prostitution, the phenomenon of information-challenged emergency rooms, the real story behind a much-written-about crime back in the six ...continue

By: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner This book is not exactly about economics or business; rather, it delves into the hidden side of things, exploring why things aren't always as they seem and exposing how conventional wisdom lies a lot more often than you would think. Along the way, the authors explore the hidden causes behind things like the sudden and precipitous drop in crime in the mid-nineties, the true nature of the Ku Klux Klan, ...continue