5 new, potentially good reads for September

National Jeweler sifted through Goodreads’ releases again this month to bring jewelers four more books that could be good for business, as well as one editor’s suggestion for a nice read on the side.

Brecken Branstrator brecken.branstrator@nationaljeweler.com

This month’s Goodreads selections include a book that guides business leaders on how to close the gap between strategy and sales efforts and one that teaches readers to find the information needed for critical decision-making.

New York--Online book discussion site Goodreads just released its list of recently published books for its users this month.

As it has done for the past few months, National Jeweler again has sifted through the virtual stacks to find a handful of recent releases that may be useful to business owners, including a book about closing the gap between business strategy and sales efforts, looking beyond the obvious to find the information needed to make critical decisions, and how to regain lost minutes and hours from “time bandits.”

The following list includes a brief summary of each and links to their information on Goodreads, as well as one additional book that comes highly recommended by one of our editors.

1. The Power of Noticing: What the Best Leaders See
Max Bazerman

Imagine the advantages one would have in negotiations, decision-making and leadership if a person could be taught to see and evaluate information that others overlook, Bazerman posits. In this book, he uses his extensive research and experience to teach readers exactly how to notice and act on information that might not be immediately obvious. He uses real-life experiences such as the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster and Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme to show what information was ignored and why. Using these examples, he challenges readers to recognize their “cognitive blind spots” and identify details that they would otherwise miss. This book is 240 pages.

2. The Time Bandit Solution: Recovering Stolen Time You Never Knew You Had
Edward Brown

Few people realize how often they’re at the mercy of what Brown refers to as “time bandits,” people who steal their time, not maliciously but nonetheless with negative effects on other pursuits. And since many of these people are also family, friends, colleagues and clients, nobody likes to say no or disappoint. In comes The Time Bandit Solution to help readers get rid of unwanted, unnecessary and unproductive interruptions and regain their time by teaching them methods to gracefully negotiate with “time bandits” to prevent the interruptions that sap productivity and personal satisfaction. This book is 248 pages.

3. Aligning Strategy and Sales: The Choices, Systems, and Behaviors that Drive Effective Selling
Frank Cespedes

The gap between a company’s sales efforts and strategy is often very real, and also a huge vulnerability. This book takes a look at how to address that gap, actionably and with support

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from recent relevant research. Harvard Business School professor Frank Cespedes equips readers with the ability to link their market initiatives with strategic goals, offering a map to articulate a strategy that other team members can understand and that will encourage behavior for profitable growth. This book is 336 pages.

4. Unlocking Potential: 7 Coaching Skills That Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations
Michael Simpson

To be an effective leader, bosses need to be more than just managers; they also need to be coaches. After spending more than 25 years training executives to become effective coaches, Simpson wrote this book to help leaders acquire the skills to coach personnel from the ground up, maximizing potential on a personal level, as members of the team, and as part of the overall organization. A change in strategy like this can transform business relationships and optimize productivity, profitability, loyalty, and customer focus, according to Simpson. This book is 146 pages.

5. Editor’s recommendation: Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn

Associate Editor Brecken Branstrator might be a little behind on getting around to this one, but it’s better late than never with this suspenseful thriller. The book tackles the floundering marriage of Nick and Amy Dunne. It’s the day of their fifth wedding anniversary when Amy goes missing from their home on the Mississippi River in Carthage, Mo. Nick eventually becomes a prime suspect due to a few reasons, chief among them that he used her money to start a business, increased her life insurance, and also appeared unemotional and erratic when in the news. The story continues as the mystery unfolds and the reader aims to find out what happened that day and who’s really guilty. This book is 395 pages.

Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.