Essential Reading for 2011

At the start of each New Year, millions of Americans make millions of commitments to start or stop doing things, with the ultimate goal of improving their lives. In support of a successful 2011, I thought I would share several of my favorite self-improvement books, covering a broad array of topics. Enjoy!

General Business

Drive, by Daniel Pink, is an amazing book that explains what motivates us to do the things we do. Packed with both research and anecdotal examples, this book blows the cover off such popular motivational tactics as the "carrot and stick."

Influence, by Robert Cialdini, is a great companion book to Drive, as it explores tactics on how to influence others to do what we want them to do. The chapter on the "Law of Reciprocity" alone is worth the purchase!

Sales

Getting to Yes, by Roger Fisher and Robert Ury, is a tremendous book on a subject near and dear to anyone who sells for a living...negotiation. This book is packed with great ideas and tactics for improving negotiation skills and getting more deals done.

Free, by Chris Anderson, is another of those irreverent reads I love so much. This book takes a look at how giving things away for free can actually help you sell a lot more in the long run.

Self-Improvement

Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, is possibly his best book yet. If you liked Blink and The Tipping Point, you will love this exploration into what makes people great. It isn't what you might think!

4 Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss, is another irreverent read that will change how you approach your job and life in general. Tim is one of my favorite authors, and this is an instant classic.

Weight Loss

4 Hour Body, by Tim Ferriss, is a great book about how to break some commonly held misconceptions about diets and work-out plans. Hot off the press, I highly recommend this one.

Body for Life, by Bill Phillips, is a classic by the founder of fitness giant EAS. It will put you on the path to good health and nutrition.

I love to read, and spend a ton of time in airports doing just that. All of the titles I have recommended are available for Kindle or other electronic readers, as well as in hard copy. I will post about more great books throughout the year, but the ones above will certainly be a great start to building a good "resolution reading list" for 2011.

Sales training programs are built upon the principles of positional selling, with a strong foundation of effective communication skills necessary to identify both your customer's needs and critical opportunities to meet those needs. It includes both the relational and functional sales skills required to communicate and influence customers to take positive action. By focusing on core positional selling techniques rather than a rehearsed "system" sales training equips sales professionals to apply their knowledge across the breadth of clients, organizations and markets.

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The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide To Management by Alan Murray

Alan Murray, Deputy Managing Editor of "The Wall Street Journal" has written an excellent guide to management ideas and practices with his book "The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Management." What makes this book so good is the research Murray put into it. The guide contains some of the best and brightest ideas and strategies from many different sources, as well as case study examples from recent times and what can be learned from them. It is an easy read, full of clear and useful knowledge for anyone in the management field.

The book has twelve chapters that each focus on one area of management. These include: management, leadership, motivation, people, strategy, execution, teams, change, financial literacy, going global, ethics, and managing yourself. There is also a short conclusion that wraps things up well.

What I really liked about this book was how Murry discusses both good and bad about certain leaders and companies, and what can be learned from both. For instance, Jack Welch's leadership at the helm of General Electric is looked at, and both good and bad about Welch is pointed out. I also like that he brought up Peter Drucker's view of business ethics in that he didn't believe in them because he thought the phrase suggested those in business should live by different rules than everyone else. Drucker wrote that executives should not cheat, steal, lie, bribe, or take bribes. But nor should anyone else. These are just two small examples out of many, where Murry shares the wisdom and lessons from some of the best leadership minds of our time. It really is a well researched book.

This book is aimed at those in corporate management positions. It is not really for the small business owner, even though many of the concepts and ideas are applicable in that setting, and elsewhere, it really is designed to help those in management positions of larger corporations and organizations. And it addresses the changes that have been brought on by the recent period of economic disruption caused by the unprecedented financial crisis that led to the deepest economic downturn since the 1930s, because it was during this time that the book was written. I think the recent examples contained within these pages are extremely important for managers wanting to go forward and lead their respective organizations toward success. Murray set out to research and provide a navigation guide for managers who are drifting in uncharted waters. I think he did just that, and I highly recommend this book to anyone in the management field.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a writer, speaker, and mediator who teaches how to live, take action, and get things done through the Warrior's Edge. He is an expert on conflict and mediates and teaches conflict resolution and negotiation. Additionally, he teaches physical conflict skills in his Hapkido and Self-Defense courses, lectures, and seminars. Alain is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From The School Of Hard Knocks, the DVDs Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking series, and numerous articles and reviews. You can read more articles and reviews and see clips of his DVDs as well as much more at http://www.burrese.com/ and http://www.yourwarriorsedge.com/.

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