I was asked last week if I had any book recommendations. My immediate thought was yes, last year was a great year for books. Then I thought, it’s been a few years since I did a top ten reading list (2018 actually) so it’s time to do another.

Here we go, in no particular order:

1. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a fascinating meditation on quality by Robert M. Pirsig. First published in 1974, this is probably my favourite book. It was on the reading list for my first-year civil engineering degree in 1980. I couldn’t see what motorcycle maintenance had to do with civil engineering, so I didn’t read it. Then for some reason I picked it up in my 30s, and again in my 40s, and again in my 50s and again, just recently, now in my early 60s. I think it’s turning into my life’s work, understanding it and living the spirit of it. It’s about what really matters, I think. My civil engineering tutor was on to something.
2. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I read this early in the year. It’s a novel about the role of humans on planet earth in the form of a dialogue between the narrator and a wise guerrilla set in a dark room. It’s a deeply moving, thought provoking and beautifully written book. At times shocking and depressing, and then uplifting. I was left hopeful, providing we rediscover our place on the planet.
3. Helping us, especially big business, with finding our place is “Net Positive” by Paul Polman and Andrew Winston. Polman was the CEO of Unilever from 2009 to 2019 and Winston a top thinker on sustainable business. This book goes way beyond empty net zero pledges and I think every CEO and everyone on the way up should read it and then act. That would make a difference. I’ve listened to Polman on the radio and watched him on TV. He talks eloquently about what was done and learnt in Unilever on his watch. Inspirational leadership in action.
4. The Tyranny of Numbers by David Boyle. I first came across this in 2000 at an RSA lecture by the author in Newcastle. At the time I was chairman of the Major Contractors Group’s Measurement and Benchmarking Club. Boyle’s message was nothing short of heresy to measurement and benchmarking folk. I was taken by it, although my chairmanship didn’t last long. I always thought there’s more to business than “chopping problems up into neat pieces, measuring them and puzzling out what affects what”.
5. Who Not How by Dan Sullivan with Dr. Benjamin Hardy. In essence this book challenges you to stop asking yourself “How can I accomplish this?” Better to ask “who can help me achieve this?” Basically, if you are asking yourself “how” then you don’t know so save yourself a load of work and ask someone who does. Fits perfectly with my third book “Deep and Deliberate Delegation” which four years since publication is selling better than ever. Bottom line from Sullivan the serial entrepreneur: “Who” creates results. “How creates problems”.

6. Simplifying Coaching by Claire Pedrick. The best coaching book out there written by a Master with over 30 years coaching experience. I may be biased as Claire is my mentor coach but she really has simplified what others seem to want to complicate. As a manager you are probably thinking “Pah, coaching is not for me” Trust me, it is. Read this book. Or the next one first, though be sure to come back to this one.
7. Coach for Results – by me. Here I describe why a coaching style of management is needed in the construction industry. I also set out the simple steps for getting started and how, when we all adopt this approach, we will change the industry from the ground up. I have always wondered if rock bands listen to their own music and if authors read their own books. I loved reading this one back as it reminded me why I do what I do. Cue Simon Sinek …
8. Start With Why by Simon Sinek. We all have to ‘sell’ in work and life, and this might just be the ultimate marketing book. When someone first told me to read this book, I thought no, I don’t like Simon Sinek; he’s way more successful than me. Then I looked up his YouTube talk on “Why”, saw it had 57 million views and thought I’d better check it out. His rationale is simple: first, why are you doing ‘this’; next, how are you going about it; and lastly, what is it that you do. Apparently, most marketers and rookie influencers tell you about the ‘what’ first and you ignore them because you know you are being sold.
9. Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller. Another marketing book and a good one albeit a little repetitive. Basically, if you are marketing to someone you’ve got to make them the hero of their story. If you are trying to be their saviour or hero you are in competition with them and that’s not good. Miller explains why ‘story’ is so potent and has analysed the best stories ever – think Hollywood – and has abstracted the formulae. Having read the book I could explain the formula in one page, which I might do in some future blog post, though it’s probably better if you read the book and develop your own Story Brand Script for your target customer. You will need to think about it.
10. In How to Think, author Alan Jacobs tells us that much of our thinking and, by implication, our communication, is made up of key words, metaphor and myths. These short cuts to thinking prevent us from actually thinking or at least thinking deeply about something. You might know what you mean when using a metaphor but for someone else it may have a very different meaning. Coaches like me are interested in metaphor as they are often windows into the thinkers’ deeper thoughts so we ask about them rather than make our own, often wrong, interpretation – a communications bear trap.