“Learning is not compulsory, but neither is survival.” In today’s turbulent, ever-changing world, the importance of continuous learning is even greater.

Milligan bob
Senior Consultant / Dairy Strategies LLC
Bob Milligan is also professor emeritus, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornel...

In this article, I share some of my favorite management, leadership and supervision books. I start with the easiest reads; these first books are stories that contain the message.

Full Steam Ahead!‘Full Steam Ahead! Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Company and Your Life’
by Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner (2003)

In my opinion, this is the best book written on mission and vision.

In fact, in response to a farm magazine editor’s request for favorite books, I submitted this book.

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It is an easy read that makes the abstract concept of vision concrete, real and usable. The example includes both personal and business applications.

The authors facilitate the development of a vision/mission statement by articulating the need for a significant purpose, core values and a picture of the future.

They cut to the core by emphasizing the importance of shortness and meaning. The significant purpose of the example in the book is “providing peace of mind.”

Everyone's A Coach‘Everyone’s a COACH’
by Ken Blanchard and Don Shula (1995)

Many farm managers have told me how much they enjoyed this book that Ken Blanchard wrote with the famous football coach Don Shula. The authors use business and football examples to offer insights to supervisors using the five letters in COACH:

C: Conviction-driven
O: Overlearning
A: Audible-ready
C: Consistency
H: Honesty-based

The conviction-driven theme is again the importance of vision. Overlearning and audible-ready provide an excellent basis for improving training. The consistency section details the need for three types of feedback – positive, re-direction, negative – rather than our usual two.

Raving FansRaving Fans
by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowls (1993)

This is an easy-to-read story focused on customer service.

Actually, they suggest more than just customer service: legendary service.

The authors lay out three secrets that integrate customer wants – attributes – and business vision. The secrets are: Decide what you want (for customer service), discover what the customer wants and deliver plus one.

With the current emphasis in the beef industry and agriculture on communicating with those who eat beef and other agricultural products, this story should be invaluable to understand how to best interact with consumers.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’
by Stephen Covey (1989)

This has been the most popular personal improvement book of the past 20 years.

If you are looking for a reading on personal improvement and life-balance issues, this is a good one.

The first three habits focus on self-mastery, the second three on interdependence and the last on self-renewal:

Habit 1: Be proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind
Habit 3: Put first things first
Habit 4: Think win-win
Habit 5: Seek first to understand; then to be understood
Habit 6: Synergize
Habit 7: Sharpen the saw

Getting to Yes: Negotation Agreement Without Giving in‘Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In’
by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury and Bruce Patton (Revised edition 2011)

This is a seminal book on conflict resolution. The authors present the four principles of mutual gains negotiating. (Today it is more frequently referred to as interest-based decision-making.)

The idea is to work together to come as close as possible to a win-win outcome. I especially like the section on focusing on interests rather than positions.

The ideas in this book are crucial to using collaboration; I like to think of this as expanding the pie of mutual gain rather than compromise, which simply divides up the pie based on power.

First, Break all the Rules, What the World's Greatest Managers do Differently‘FIRST, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers do Differently’
by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (1999)

This book, based on decades of surveys by the Gallup organization, articulates the attributes of great managers.

The authors find four keys to being a great manager: Select for talent, define the right outcomes, focus on strengths, find the right fit. This book is not written as a story; it is readable, though. It is not a textbook.

In the last two decades, the ideas in this book have been expanded by the researchers at Gallup. This subsequent work has followed three separate but related themes.

The first is the importance of focusing on success and being positive (“How FULL is Your Bucket” by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton – an easy, fun read).

The second identifies ways to create a business culture with employees who are engaged in their work (“12: The Elements of Great Managing” by Rood Wagner and Jim Harter – a research-laden book).

The third theme articulates that increased productivity is best found by focusing on strengths rather than on overcoming weaknesses (“NOW, Discover Your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton).

The 5 Levels of Leadership‘The 5 Levels of Leadership’
by John Maxwell (2011)

John Maxwell is a prolific writer on leadership. This is by far my favorite of his books. He describes in detail five levels of leadership: position, permission, production, people development and the pinnacle.

The important message is that to be effective leaders, we must move past only using the power of our position to build relationships and lead by producing results.  end mark

Bob Milligan is also professor emeritus, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University.

Bob Milligan