911 rob said "For self development in the leadership role; the absolute bible is "Developing the Leader Within You" by Dr. John Maxwell (my favorite author); he also has tons of books published, all worth reading."

Funny you should mention that. I have a three volume set of Mr. Maxwell's books on my bookshelf at work: The winning attitude, developing the leaders around you, and becoming a person of influence.

For the first year I had them (long time ago) their main value was to impress my bosses and co-workers. One day I actually started reading them, I grew up a little that day. good stuff.
I don't buy into all his ideas but most of them are at least worth considering.

Thanks Sammyg2;
That's funny. I know guys that do the same thing with their books.

I've read all Maxwell's books; and darn tooting the best info out there for leadership.
I can't say as I practise the concepts so much anymore; my life is much more simple.
In one company that I owned and ran for years; I trained close to 200 sales people over a 5 year period and I was a sponge for knowledge. Read a ton of books on the subject, everything you can imagine.

Another great book; probably changed my life the most is Carnegie's "How to influence People & Win Friends" My wife loves it when I read that book; ha ha. (I'm not the easiest guy to work for?)

Also an awesome book is the "Five Love Languages"; another book that changed me (at the time). When I read the personality character for myself; well, that was a rude awakening! LOL.

Have a great day!
Sun shining here and I'm gonna take the TT out for a couple hours along one of the lakeshore roads.......... :)

For those who run production businesses, a very, very good book is The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt.
It's about dealing with system constraints for optimization, I like to call them bottlenecks. While simplistic in nature, it breaks down basic theories we sometimes lose track of in the struggle.
Here's a review of the book:

From Publishers Weekly
In this intriguing, readable business novel, which illustrates state-of-the-art economic theory, Alex Rogo is a UniCo plant manager whose factory and marriage are failing. To revitalize the plant, he follows piecemeal advice from an elusive former college professor who teaches, for example, that reduction in the efficiency of some plant operations may make the entire operation more productive. Alex's attempts to find the path to profitability and to engage his employees in the struggle involve the reader; and thankfully the authors' economic models, including a game with match sticks and bowls, are easy to understand. Although some characters are as anonymous as the goods manufactured in the factory, others ring true. In addition, the tender story of Alex and his wife's separation and reconciliation makes a touching contrast to the rest of the book. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the state of the American economy.