Simply Success, Jack Miller

Published by Wiley

Buy it now from Blackwell Books

Sound advice for entrepreneurs

Jack Miller founded Quill Corporation in 1956 with the help of a $2,000 loan from his father-in-law and a phone line in his father’s poultry store. In 1998 he sold out to Staples for a little under $700,000,000.

Not bad for a man who rates himself as only averagely intelligent!

Mr Miller is an old-fashioned businessman who believes in hard work and putting the customer first. Not in the glib “our customers are paramount” lip service that is almost universal today, but simply by treating customers as he would family, neighbours and friends (my interpretation, not his).

In this delightful to read book he expounds his philosophy and tells the story of Quill. He talks about the importance of having a vision, of strategic planning, of budgeting and all the other things you would expect. But he talks with his own voice, not the platitudes of the business school and is twice as readable as a result.

He talks about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, to build a healthy corporate culture and to grow into leadership. Above all he is passionate about what made his business different – its unfailing concern to provide a better customer experience than any of its rivals.

He is frank about the mistakes he has made and about the things he wishes he had done differently; but this is at heart a success story; success founded on old-fashioned values that are as relevant this century as they were when Jack and his brothers were building what became the Quill Corporation.

You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader, Mark Sanborn

Published by Random House Business Books

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The six principles of leadership

Well, at least it isn’t the magic seven so beloved of self-help authors the world over.

Mark Sanborn is a world renowned motivational speaker. In this slim volume he explains how each of us can learn to become a leader. He sprinkles stories and anecdotes to illustrate his points throughout the book. Some of them are perhaps a little earnest for British readers but they do a good job of reinforcing the book’s messages; messages about self-mastery, focus, people, communication, execution and giving.

An accomplished speaker, Mr Sanborn is also an accomplished author. His book is easy to read and, while none of what he says is particularly new, he says it well and doubtless someone will benefit from each of his stories. My own favourite is about the man who gave up giving in favour of ‘returning’. He reasoned that everything he had from life had been given to him and it was his time to give back. That’s principle six, by the way – giving.

The Leader’s Guide to Lateral Thinking Skills, Paul Sloane

Kogan Page - £9.99

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Just how creative are you?

Lateral thinking? Isn’t that a bit old hat? Well, as management fads go, it’s been around a long time. Never entirely out of fashion but perhaps in need of a Trinny and Susannah-type makeover? If so, Paul Sloane is your man.

Inspiration, innovation and creativity are what Paul promises. With his executive skills honed at the likes of IBM and Ashton Tate plus a string of top-name clients such as American Express, Shell and HP, his CV is impressive and his book revelatory.

There are 21 chapters plus a couple of appendices in just under 200 pages. So, at an average of less than 10 pages per section, even an attention span like mine can cope.

The book is replete with lateral thinking puzzles to amuse, bemuse and encourage new ways of approaching problems. There are also plenty of real-life examples to reassure you that this stuff does work.

But perhaps the most telling point made by Mr Sloane comes quite early in the book – around 20 pages in. At this point the author demonstrates, with the help of just four examples, his premise that innovation will beat efficiency pretty well every time. A very useful book – especially if you find yourself striving to improve efficiency!

Excellence in Coaching, edited by Jonathan Passmore

Kogan Page - £24.95

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A handy guide to the industry

Fancy being a coach? Don’t fancy paying a small fortune to some dubious ‘institute’? Here is the answer to your prayers! A helpful industry guide that the experienced coach will also find invaluable.

Excellence in Coaching is a comprehensive guide covering what coaching is and how to set up a coaching business. It explains eight different approaches to coaching (including my favourite ‘GROW’ model) and it examines the ethical issues involved. Lastly there is a section on supervision (or coaching for coaches).

You will also find this book revealing if you are on the other end – a ‘coachee’. It will help you decide what kind of coaching you need, rather than just accepting what is on offer. And the articles can also help you understand whether your current coach is doing a good job or not.

The book is made up of thirteen chapters, each by a different author or authors and each covering a different topic. The list of contributors (all leaders in the field) is impressive and includes Sir John Whitmore (Coaching for Performance) and Ian McDermott (The NLP Coach).

Published under the auspices of the UK’s Association for Coaching, Excellence in Coaching lives up to the Association’s slogan of ‘promoting excellence and ethics in coaching’. The coaching profession is exploding and has needed a handbook of best practice for some time. This book fulfils the role admirably.

Hostage at the Table, George Kohlrieser

Jossey-Bass - £18.99

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The psychology of conflict

George Kohlrieser in a professor of leadership, a psychologist and a hostage negotiator (and occasional hostage). He uses his experiences to show how we should manage conflict at work and in everyday living.

Hostage at the Table is not solely about being held hostage by others – we can create our own hostage situation by the way we think. Conversely, we can also use the way we think to avoid being a hostage for others. Mr Kohlreiser has some very insightful ideas about how to lead, controlling our emotions and dealing with self-imposed limits. He also has many fascinating stories to tell about hostage situations and the mindset that allows one to deal with them.

My one reservation about this book comes down to the old saying, ‘If your only tool is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail.’ I sometimes felt the author might be stretching the hostage analogy a little too far. That said, his approach to the conflicts in the book is always interesting and convincing, his arguments compelling.

Consider also that hostage negotiators have an astonishing 90+% success rate. What George does for us is to relate his skills in this area to business. Read this book – it could be life changing; it will be unforgettable.