by Ron Willingham. Subtitle: a revolutionary redefinition of leadership. Willingham owns a sales and customer service training company, and I've seen his training packages in a couple client sites. As you might imagine, I read LOTS of books like this, and unfortunately for Mr. Willingham, I am probably way too discerning. This book was terrible. It certainly wasn't revolutionary. Don't buy it, even if it gets 4 and a half stars on Amazon.

[Full disclosure: I was predisposed to not like this book, but read it anyway in a spirit of being fair and open to my own narrow-mindedness.

When I start working with a group of managers, one of the questions I ask is what self-development efforts they've undertaken recently. Overwhelmingly - 90+% of the time, the answer boils down to, "Not much". Sometimes they mention a book that came out 10 years ago. I admit to always having a drop in energy when I hear it, even though I know it's coming. I think, "gee, if they won't do it for themselves, why would they do it for me?"

So, in the spirit of making it easier, If i read a book, I'll post about it. I'll include fiction, because I read a lot of fiction, too.

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge

Heart of Change by John Kotter

Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1 Million+: Your Insider's Lifetime Guide to Executive Job-Changing and Faster Career Progress in the 21st Century by John Lucht

Why We Like This Book:

The ONLY book on changing jobs you will ever need. As detailed and well-documented and -researched book as we know of. It is the equivalent of Effective Executive for job searches. May not be 100% applicable for college graduates, but is for everyone else. He says you should do your resume like we do, and no one else recommends this. Buy this book.

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

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

Say It with Presentations: How to Design and Deliver Successful Business Presentations by Gene Zelazny