Weekly Bookmarks –
167th Edition – September 6, 2024
Sales is knowledge work, and if you’re not extremely intelligent, gutsy, persistent, and competitive, you won’t make it.
Tom Sant, The Giants of Sales
1. What CEOs Know and Do
HBR reveals what great CEOs do based on a ten-year study. I’m not sure I agree with the top findings, but here’s what heads the list:
- They know the entire business. I’ve found that many are lacking in marketing and finance acumen.
- They are excellent decision-makers. That’s a strong claim. Isn’t the win-loss rate about 50-50?
- They balance instinct and analytics. That might be true in large organizations, but I’ve not found that to be true in smaller organizations.
- They know the industry. I agree with that observation.
- They form deep and trusting relationships. I agree with that finding, too.
If you want a book title similar to this study, I’d start with either The CEO Next Door or CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
2. The Best Books on Banks
I recently finished Ken Follett’s A Dangerous Fortune, and while I don’t consider myself one of his avid readers, this novel was difficult to put down.
The setting is in the late 1800s in England, and the protagonist is a likable and ethical young financier in a banking family. Like many family businesses, side characters are flawed, incompetent, and constantly making poor business decisions.
The book includes murder, theft, extortion, and complex social themes discussed without appearing preachy.
After finishing the book, I thought about the best books on banking I’ve read. They are hard to name, but I have a few:
- The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual – The Biggest Bank Failure in American History
- Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase
- A Banker’s Journey: How Edmond J. Safra Built a Global Financial Empire
- Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises
- Financial Founding Fathers: The Men Who Made America Rich
What are your favorites in this niche book category?
3. I Loved the Rich Business History in The Giants of Sales
Many sales reps and executives consider Tom Sant’s The Giants of Sales the best book on selling. Even if you don’t earn a living by selling, this book reads fast because the history is fascinating and hard to put down. Tom’s stories include new names and a few you’ve heard before:
- John Henry Patterson
- Dale Carnegie
- Elmer Wheeler
- Joe Girard
Early in the book, Sant clarifies the four ways to sell: process-oriented methods, relationship-driven methods, linguistics-related methods, and various tactical methods. These methods are brought to life through the stories of the four sales professional pioneers listed above.
My rating for this book is easily five stars.
Sales theories come and sales theories go, but nothing beats learning from the original masters. The Giants of Sales introduces readers to the techniques developed by four legendary sales giants, and offers concrete examples of how they still work in the 21st century.
4. No Cost Accounting at Toyota’s Kentucky Plant
Profit Beyond Measure is among the Top 25 management books every financial leader should read. The heart of the book differentiates management by results vs. management by means. Systems thinking is also a strong theme throughout the book.
I’m still amazed at one of the nuggets the authors shared late in the book, based on a visit to a Toyota plant in Kentucky (TMM-K).
The accounting system that monitors the cost of the items (material, people, equipment) does not enter the black box! In other words, no cost system traces or calculates the flow of those items inside the plant. TMM-K has never had a standard cost system to track operating costs, and we probably never will.
Profit Beyond Measure, page 107
Profit Beyond Measure details how two extremely profitable manufacturers, Toyota and the Swedish truck maker Scania, have rejected the traditional mechanistic mindset of managing by results that generates waste.
5. The Chief Pricing Officer
In most small businesses, the CEO is in charge of pricing. It’s no easy job. This Marriot piece reminds me how vital pricing is and that the CEO can’t do it alone.
My favorite book on pricing remains, Confessions of the Pricing Man by Hermann Simon.
Recent Bookmarks 161 | 160 | 159
Thank You
Thank you for reading. If you like the content above and the posts at CFO Bookshelf, may I ask a favor? Feel free to share this with other readers and comment on your favorite LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
Take care, and have a great week. Always be learning.
Leave a Reply