TrainerTainment’s Top Reads

TrainerTainment’s Top Book Reads

We are only two weeks into the new year, and I think I have purchased a dozen books to read in the next few months. Some of those books are the Jack Reacher series, but most of them are to help me become a better marketer, a better leader, and for just good old-fashioned personal development.

One of our core values here at TrainerTainment is intentional learning. We have defined that as forward-thinking; anticipating future needs and learning more; reading and asking questions; sharing learnings with others; taking ownership of our understanding and knowledge; being coachable. Just those alone require some reading, right?! So I asked the Trainertainment team about the best books they read in 2016.

I would love to hear from you if you have read any of these or if you have suggestions.  Share them with a comment below, on our Facebook page.

Books to Grow Your People and Business

Beth

Mike Weinberg

New Sales Simplified

Sales Management Simplified

Weinberg has a great way of saying all those things we believe about great selling. He gives great insight into the mistakes that get made for the sales rep and the sales Manger and places a great emphasis on how to correct those mistakes now.

I loved his no-nonsense real-world experience and the care in which he expresses his message.

Listen, I’m an old sales dog, and there were some new tricks that I didn’t hesitate to try right away. I’ve personally had the best three sales quarters in the history of my company. I know the things I learned from Weinberg early in the year helped.

Phil

Jim Collins

Good to Great

What stood out to me about this book was how Collins showed through extensive research that, historically, many CEOs and leaders of small, medium, and behemoth size companies, simply ignore truths and cling to their vision – to the point of becoming destructive to that very vision! Great stuff.

Rosie

Gino Wickman

Rocket Fuel

This book gave me a lot more understanding of working with a visionary since I tested at 97% integrator. It really showed me how different the two roles are and gave me a better understanding of how these two folks best work together to really “fuel” a company and get the results we want. This book will help any organization clearly identify and define roles to help them move forward.

 

Janice

Jonathan Whistman

The Sales Boss

Sales Boss sets the tone for Sales Managers who enter into a new company taking over an existing department. I love the journey Whistman takes you on showing you how to analyze how the current sales department is structured and performing from receptionist to upper management.

Sales Boss shows that those who are true superstars eventually will outshine those who aren’t. To find these superstars and help them shine, we need to be sure that we are looking at the talent in our departments by providing solid goals

 

JB

Patrick Lencioni

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

This is a very powerful book on that beast we call teams. Lencioni’s fable, as he calls it, is dead-on in describing the issues that face teams today. You get to see the path taken by the team in the book to finally be “rowing in the same direction.” A great addition to Gino Wickman’s Get a Grip and Traction books.

 

Amy

Gino Wickman

Get a Grip

Traction

Coming from an operations background…this book is a WOW eye-opener! I wish I had known about the EOS Model when I was working in all my previous roles as Director of Ops and General Manager. This process brings together all the “cool things” that everyone else mentions in business books and puts it into an easy-to-follow process that, if done properly and consistently, brings results!

 

Brad

David Allen

Getting Things Done

I found this book extremely helpful to my daily productivity. It got straight to the point of showing what to do to be more organized and efficient with completing tasks.

Many self-development books spend a lot of time discussing theories and concepts and use real-life stories or case studies to illustrate the points they’re trying to get across to the reader. While these are great sources of knowledge and inspiration, I often am still left with a hunger for more details of how to actually accomplish the intended results they showcase.

David Allen provides the practical mechanics of what you need to do to become more productive…on a minute-by-minute basis. He outlines a process that he calls the “5 Stages of Mastering Workflow” which consists of Collecting, Processing, Organizing, Reviewing, and Doing your work.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a desire to improve their ability to get things done!

 

Haley

Robert Greene

48 Laws of Power

This is an eye-opening book that gave an entirely new view on the actions of those around me. It’s packed with tactical moves, strategies, and examples of history that prove the effectiveness of “Power Games.”

It advises ways of overcoming irrational emotions, facing opponents, mastering networks, persuading those around you, identifying true motives of peers, and understanding the pieces that hold up and strengthen many societies (both current and in history).

Let’s Jump Into 2017

With 2016 in the rear view mirror and 2017 opening its arms wide, I’m ready for the New Year. How about you? I am so grateful for my family who is healthy and happy. My team is incredible…check us out at here. Our clients are thriving. Who could ask for more?

Okay, I can. I wish I were thin and that I had a best-selling book! Nonetheless, this is an inspiring time of year. It’s simply another date on the calendar, and yet, it feels like a fresh start. Truthfully, we do that fresh start thing every 90 days, and it makes a BIG difference.

We follow a simple program to run our business.

We coach others to do the same. We’ve all been immersed in Annual Planning during the last several weeks. Along with Annual Planning, we take a look at the yearly goal and we take a deep dive into the first 90 days of the year. Everything we do in those 90 days supports the Annual Plan. The Annual Plan is loosely based on a 3-year plan. Wickman’s theory and the book are all about getting real Traction in your business. After completing 12 quarters using it, I can attest to the fact that running the business this way is very exciting. Our company has experienced significant growth and is enjoying the benefits of having the right people in the right seat.

Challenge yourself to make this year mean everything to you.

As you venture into 2017, I’d like to challenge you to make this year mean everything to you. Stuff will happen. People will pass away. Maybe your candidate will win or lose. Some days will be good and some won’t. What I know is that even though “stuff” happens, you get to decide now, today, how you respond. You get to focus on what you want to focus on. One of my favorite quotes by Zig is, “Don’t become a wandering generalityBe a meaningful specific.” I love that concept. To me, it says it all. Decide today what you want 2017 to be and work toward that end.

If you haven’t taken the time to picture your year, I encourage you to spend 30 minutes right now and do that. Think about your family or a relationship you want to have before the year ends. Where do you want to be with your career or education? How do you want your physical life to shape up? (Yes, I’m focusing on that!) What do you want your contribution to your community to look like? How will you make a difference in the world this year?

I love it that you read our newsletter. Thank you. I hope you’ll stick with us this year and join in the conversation. You can jump out to the blog or our Facebook page and post your answers to the questions above. There’s some evidence that when you make your goals public, you are much more likely to reach them.

Finally, if you want to know more about how we could help you with training in 2017, give us a call at 817.886.4840 or drop a line to phil@trainertainment.net.

Happy New Year!

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