The Undoing Project. A friendship that changed our minds. Michael Lewis. 2017. ISBN 978039324594. A story by the author of Moneyball. The story of the work by Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky. These two genius psychologists have affected so much of our daily decisions by relating psychology to economics and dealing with real situations. For example, they discovered that our fear of loss is so much larger than then the appreciation of gain. Something used by every successful sales person and politician. The work (and there is a lot of it) now permeates so much of our perceptions of the world and how items are framed to us. Man is fallible and not purely rational and these two found numerous insights into our fallibility. Prior to these two, economists were stuck in believing in the rational man. Making this shift took a long time. After Tversky passed away, Kahneman went on to so any plaudits ( Nobel Prize) and recognition. Lewis does a great job of showing us their humanness and their powerful synergy with the work they did together. Every sales manager needs to read this one.

Blink. the power of thinking without thinking. Malcolm Gladwell. 2007.  I am rereading Gladwell’s book as it has some interesting points in today’s virtual meeting world.  Much is about intuition and what drives your intuition.  I am especially taken with the section on reading faces.  Zoom type calls are 2D and we may miss much of what we get from F2F in person meetings.  It is too easy to be lazy in virtual meetings and miss much of what is going on with your prospect on the screen. By applying some of what Gladwell is talking about, you can get much more out of your conversations, but you really need to work on it. This type of attention can only help foster better engagement in your client on the screen.

The Five Secrets of a Sales Coach. Hilmon Sorey & Cory Bray.    2020.  A colleague sent me this book and it is a delight.  I like sales allegories as they are quite rare.    This concise and modest book presents a useful framework for the struggling sales manager to improve the results of himself and his team, in an ethical and human way.     This reflects current management models to help get the most from your team through mutual buy-in.  It also reflects workplace changes as demographics change.     Good read, well under an hour.

Unreceptive. A better way to sell, lead and influence. Tom Stanfill,2021. ISBN 9781400225811.  This author really gets it. How to deal with those folks in your life who just don’t/can’t hear you. He gives you the context for how a person becomes unreceptive and then how to better approach them. Then as a sales pro he leads you through how to apply this to your interview practice.  I was glued to this book and read it nonstop.  {How come all this good stuff comes along now? I could have used it years ago).  Terrific book, very readable, something to really kick start your year.  Go get em’.

Taste. My life through food. Stanley Tucci. 2021. ISBN 9781982168032.  What a delightful book. Tucci  (an underrated actor in my book) loves food, but to boot he is old school Italian.  So as you meander through his recollections you end up with excellent simple ( mostly) recipes.  Good insights into his life and that of an actor. But he is so ego free in his musings ( yes there is name dropping – but he acknowledges it ala Ryan Reynolds- tongue in cheek ).  I will not spoil your experience by giving away the plot.  Good book, clear writing – useful on a cross country plane ride.

21 Questions for the 21st Century. Yuval Noah Harari,. 2020. ISBN 978-0771048883.  I like this author’s work.  He makes you sit back and think in easy chunks. He is very thoughtful and has addressed these questions in a very strategic order.  He builds to good insights and makes one really take stock of their own ideas.  Would that many of our world leaders had the intelligence to read and work though this book. I found him positive enough to give me hope for the future while being aware of the challenges.  There will be progress to beat our challenges but it will not be regular nor linear. You owe to yourself and your family to read this book.

Sell or be Sold. How to get your way in business and in life. Grant Cardone. 2012. ISBN 9781608322909.  The author is every bit a salesman, and each page of this book contains a useful bit for sales. More of a Zig Ziglar type than a here’s my process author, Cardone presents an upbeat attitude and strategies that are bound to get a salesperson up and over the various obstacles they may face.  His life stories and approaches are all useful, especially if you are a salesperson who sells with a story. I appreciated that his approach elevates and celebrates the role of salespeople in the world. A book for all salespeople to keep handy on their shelf.

Joe Biden. The life, the run, and what matters now. Evan Osnos.2020. ISBN 9781982174026.  Published just prior to the inauguration this is a decent reveal about who and what Joe is.  It seems he may be what the US needs right now to “get the job done” while being quietly competent at working the Washington levers of power.  ( I think we appreciate the quiet part now)    I was interested in the projected actions he may take in his first forty weeks of power, he is under no illusions as to how short a honeymoon he may have.  His actions seem to follow these projections and why they seem necessary. It’s a useful book for those of us who watch the US from a distance.

The Good Neighbor. The life and work of Fred Rogers. Maxwell King. 2018. ISBN 9780419727726.   The author became quite a friend of Rogers and helped many of his initiatives carry on after Mr Rogers died.  This is a very kind and detailed view of quite a complex and driven man. You find out about the wealth in the Rogers family and how it did not shape how Fred Rogers viewed life yet the family connections and resources certainly contributed to how Fred became so good at what he did. Its an insightful , albeit long book and you will enjoy the many anecdotes around Fred Rogers. He was certainly well ahead of his time in his approach to early childhood education. When we were raising our boys, we  restricted day time TV so did not allow them to watch programs like Mr Rogers etc. Perhaps that was an error, but we did not trust TV to be good for children. We did not know the story behind Mr Rogers.  I enjoyed the read and it is worth it.

Trillion Dollar Coach . The leadership playbook from silicon valley’s Bill Campbell. Eric Schmidt. Jonathan Rosenberg. Alan Eagle.  2019. ISBN 9780062839268. A very timely book. Its a book that should be the basis of  every leadership seminar and a well read reference on all leader’s bookshelves.  As sports coaches ourselves, my partners and I see the applicability of high performance sports coaching to technology companies. Whether if its in a non profit board community committee or a business, these “lessons’ are applicable and very useful.  This book is deserving of the kudos it has been receiving.  I enjoyed it so much I read it in two session and intend to reread it often.