Clarissa Preston
Governmental Relations Adviser, Adams and Reese
The Little Red Book of Wisdom
By Mark DeMoss
This great book teaches wisdom for your professional and personal life. I related most to the professional focus on individual effort, self-development and choosing the right environments, as well as the personal focus on appreciation, integrity, listening and living with no regrets. The book doesn’t necessarily present ideas that are new or unpracticed, but rather makes the reader stop and put these ideas into perspective with one’s personal behaviors. One of my favorite passages from the book is, “Great leaders are first of all great servants—and great service is modest, understated, in speech and action. Understatement is self-restraint, and self-restraint is hardly a sign of weakness. On the contrary, wisely used, few things carry more power.”
Randy Cangelosi
Partner, Kean Miller
The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence
By Robert Spector with Patrick McCarthy
The Nordstrom Way provides an in-depth examination of what has made Nordstrom a Fortune 500 retail giant ($12.5 billion-plus sales in 2014) that has persevered and prospered since its first store opened in 1901 through the Great Depression, Internet Age, Great Recession of the late 2000s and Global Recession. After providing a thorough history of Nordstrom’s culture and success with many stories, examples, significant events and testimonials, the book adds value by providing a guide or “handbook” on how to become the “Nordstrom” of your own industry. What has kept Nordstrom on the cutting edge? Unsurpassed, unparalleled, unwavering customer service, plus an intriguing inverted triangle organization of priorities, with salespeople at the top and executives at the bottom. While the Rolling Stones sang, “You can’t always get what you want,” Nordstrom would amend that with, “But if you try sometimes you just might find … The customer gets what they want.” See if you can apply the Nordstrom Way to your business.
Sharon Weston Broome
President Pro-Tempore, Louisiana State Senate
XLR8 (Accelerate)
By John Kotter
Author John Kotter has been described as “the business world’s favorite guru on the subject of change.” In his book XLR8 (Accelerate), Kotter once again focuses on his signature topic of change. He contends that a management-driven hierarchy system is lethargic and unprofitable in our fast-paced world. Kotter advocates for a dual system organization: the hierarchy system and the network organization. A hierarchical organization is more bureaucratic, while a network organization promotes innovation, creativity and individualism. The pairing of the two systems nurtures leadership, not just management. Kotter encourages a paradigm shift that not only benefits businesses seeking to thrive and prosper, but his principles are also equally beneficial to those working in government, education and other sectors.
