Check out our leader’s top book recommendations and start applying these concepts to your business.
Although CallSource is not a start-up company (in fact, we’ve been in business since 1991), we still adopt a start-up mentality in our office.
All employees are encouraged to evolve their skills and grow where needed for their career, and new ideas are welcomed with open arms.
Another important aspect of this mindset is continuous learning and growing as a company, and individuals. Because of that, CallSource encourages all leaders and employees to read and research on topics that will help them improve their business and career skills.
Many books have been purchased, loaned and borrowed in our office walls. Today we want to share some of our top favorites with you, as suggested from business leaders here at CallSource.
Below are our top 3 book recommendations for your reading pleasure.
The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
“This is a business book that one can enjoy reading cover-to-cover. Very often, solving one problem can catalyze another. In story format, it teaches how to anticipate and solve operational issues and how to achieve ongoing improvement. While it is written about a manufacturing environment, it is very applicable to the efficient management of any business.”
– Elliot Leiboff, President and Co-Founder of CallSource
“Eli Goldratt’s The Goal reminds business leaders that every outcome is the result of a series of steps.
Outcomes cannot be controlled. But the efficiency and effectiveness of each process step can be managed. Identifying the inefficient step – the growth constraint – is a key initiative toward achieving the goal of client acquisition and growth.”
– Robert Gallander, VP of Advisory Services & Client Development
“This is one of the top 3 books that have impacted my professional life. We have used key components from this book in internal programs and in our advisory services. It is a great book to teach managers about the Theory of Constraint.”
– Tim Gomoll, Chief Revenue Officer
Influence Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini
“This is the best sales book I’ve read. This is a book that takes years of learning and distills it down to a few key usable applications. Influence is not really a sales book instead will help you to see why your mind says ‘yes.'”
– Tim Gomoll, Chief Revenue Officer
Traction by Gino Wickman
“I’ve used this book with a couple organizations over the past few years because of its focus on three main things: Vision, Traction and Healthy Leadership. The book outlines the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and how to restructure, shape and move your business forward in key areas. Gino Wickman’s book Traction defines each as:
- Vision—getting everyone in your organization 100% on the same page with where you’re going, and how you plan to get there
- Traction®—instilling focus, discipline, and accountability throughout the company so that everyone executes on that vision—every day
- Healthy—helping your leaders become a more cohesive, functional, healthy leadership team
They are simple concepts that when followed with discipline, consistency and accountability, any organization can find themselves sleeping better at night. It’s important to note that this isn’t a quick fix and requires long-term initiative focus, and doesn’t really have an endpoint. True leaders understand that fine-tuning a business is never ending as you should always be searching for ways to continuously improve and innovate.”
– Heather Desmarais, VP of Healthcare
Other honorable mentions that CallSource’s leadership has trained from over the years include:
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- Mastering the Complex Sale and The Prime Solution by Jeff Thul
- Smart Trust by Stephen Covey and Greg Link
- The Execution Premium by Kaplan and Norton
- Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
“It’s not reading the book. It is taking the theoretical examples in these books, applying them to CallSource, and figuring out how we need to execute them in the real world,” our CFO Tim Gomoll says of the books listed above. “Several business leaders read books like these and try to apply the learning exactly the same way the author describes in their stories, when in reality every situation is unique and needs to be custom tailored to have any real impact on the business.”