Jenn’s Books

Title: Fish! Author: Stephen C. Lundin Format: Hardbound

Fish! I found interesting because no one has ever put a management book in story form before. After millions of copies had been sold, hundreds from my store, I finally picked it up. It wasn’t as good as I had hoped, but not as bad as I had feared. I felt a bit like a child while reading this book. Like the “grown up” words were too much for me, but I had to get the adult concepts. On the other hand it was very compelling. I wanted to find out what happens to Mary Sue and her third floor group (sounds almost like an old country band, doesn’t it?). So while smart, capable employees are going to think this is a waste of time, it is a good book for the entire team to read so that they all can talk about the same book. And while that smart, capable employee is going to think it a waste of their time, it only took them an hour. It’s short, sweet and to the point. If you haven’t already gotten it for your company library, you should think about keeping a copy or two around.
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Title:Treat Your Customers Author: Bob Miglani Format: Hard Bound

I have nearly burnt myself out on business books. Almost everything I have read up until this point has been over-the-top preachy. The “if I do not do this, my business will fail and I will never be thought of as worthy by anyone ever again” type of preachy. Finally I have found one book that is not like that. Treat Your Customers comes from the heart of Bob Miglani. He has a very “take it or leave it attitude” that I like. The book is his life experience working at his family’s Dairy Queen up to and including his work with a Fortune 500 company. It is very simple but often overlooked advice, like “The boss is never the customer.” I have seen this way too often at the bookstore where I work. The employee will work like they have never worked before in front of the boss, but when the boss isn’t looking, then the employee starts to slack. Each chapter is short, about three to six pages long, so this book can quickly be read by employees to give them a new perspective on customer service. I would highly suggest this as the next book that you buy all of your employees. They will be able to use the advice from the book almost immediately after reading it. Forget Lundin’s Fish!–go treat your employees, your business, and most importantly, go Treat Your Customers.
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Title:Your Management Sucks, See Details Inside Author: Mark Stevens Format: Hardbound

I try to be as nice as possible about all books. Someone put a lot of time and energy writing the book, editors going through and making the book as clean and readable as possible, publishers spent a lot of money printing and marketing the book as possible. But as nice as I want to be, some books don’t deserve it. This is unfortunately one of them. After reading Your Management Sucks my first thought was “Something sure does suck and it’s not my management.” I felt like I was being preached at. That everything I was doing was wrong and I will be a horrible manager if I don’t “declare war on myself.” Something that Stevens did right, I think, was put in others philosophies and thoughts on business, like that of Sam Walton. His philosophy is if he can invent a better him and a better way of doing business every day, then he would be happy. Unfortunately, Stevens then twists this into “he declares war on himself every day, he is never happy with himself, and you shouldn’t be either.” I’m sorry, but I am quite happy with myself, and at the same time I do strive to be better. I can actually hold these two thoughts in my head at the same time. The author cannot seem to do this. I was so disappointed in the book. The title had so much potential. I would recommend this book only to those people who want a “whip you into shape” book.
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Title:The New Professional Image Author: Susan Bixler Format: Trade Paperbound

This book struck me as a good present for someone who may be reentering the work force or going into it for the first time. For those of us that have been in the business world for a while, this is a great book to check out at your local library. I found that I had to have the salt shaker nearby simply to have enough grains to take with this book. The author seems to have her fashion sense stuck in the late fifties. Sorry to say that we are not all June Cleaver anymore. She seems endlessly attached to pearls. I personally don’t like wearing pearls. The things I think that Bixler has done right is dividing the book into levels of professional dress and then again into women and men. She does also address some of the most common mistakes make by both sexes, like wearing too much fragrance, tailoring, and grooming. I do love the whole section on grooming that she has as it does go from your eyes to your lips to your hair. This book is good for those that want just a few pointers on how to look a bit more professional but want to keep their individuality.
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Title: Winning Presentation in a Day Author: Rhonda Abrams Format: Trade Paperbound

Winning Presentation in a Day is a necessary book of anyone who is making a presentation. From the middle school child up to the seasoned CEO, this book will teach everyone something about making a better presentation. Its lay out is done in such a manner that you can build a presentation in about one day. I met with Rhonda for lunch about two months ago, and she struck me as a bright and energetic woman passionate about what she is doing. Her books reflect this. They are filled with wit, wisdom and humor. They are much more lighthearted then any other presentation book I have found and about twice as useful. She started the Planning shop in order to help other people who wanted to start their own businesses. I like all of her other books, but this one is the best one for an introduction to her work.
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Title: The Little Red Book of Selling Author: Jeffery Gitomer Format: Hardbound

This is a wonderful book no matter where you are in the business world. In essence we are all in sales. We all have to sell our idea or project to someone else, even in our own office. This book explains Jeffery’s philosophy on selling and how to get it done best. He is very open and honest in his writing. For those that are sensitive about some words, he does use the “A” word frequently in one chapter titles “kick your own *ss”. Outside of that, he writes in such a way as to relate to you and get you thinking. With in 10 pages I had one new idea. In twenty, I was determined to buy this book. I am rereading it currently.

For more reviews of this title, please visit the Amazon site.