ShopTalk Business BOOK 3 »The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson Books became my road map to success. After learning the importance of coaching and leading, I turned to The One Minute Manager. This book helped me understand the importance of leading people by helping them make effective decisions that stick. The book discusses techniques that enable you to help people feel good about themselves while getting great results. I like the authors' idea that 80 percent of your really important results come from 20 percent of your goals. Goal setting is important! A great takeaway from this book is understanding that the best way to help people learn is by having them figure things out for themselves. This doesn't mean you don't help. It means helping by asking questions that will lead your employees to finding the answers on their own. Most people already know what has to be done. Effective leadership means allowing your people to solve their own problems by coming up with solutions and holding them accountable for what they have already solved. Although this book is a quick read, it is jam-packed with short, excellent lessons about leadership and management. BOOK 4 »The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues By Patrick Lencioni The Ideal Team Player is based on the idea that certain people are the right fit for your business if they have certain character traits. The author presents different workplace scenarios, explains various dysfunctions that arise in the workplace and discusses how to solve them. As you make your way through the book, you begin to understand the virtues that are needed in your own team members. You also discover which Great books for growing your business! BOOK SMARTS The books mentioned in this article are all widely available online and at local booksellers. In some cases, the author has recently updated the material, and newer versions may have a slightly different title. For more information about each book, please visit the authors' websites. 42 Marine Fabricator | Jan/Feb 2021 0121MF_p32-CV4.indd 42 12/15/20 9:31 AM