by Mark McClanahan
It’s regarded as common knowledge that businesses are either growing or dying. So, it’s no wonder why big investments in continuous employee development are a way of life in good businesses. Many companies offer benefits for employees such as tuition reimbursement programs, in-house lunch & learns, and trips to industry conventions.
An easy-to-implement benefit I’ve found for developing my direct reports is by facilitating an impromptu book club. This team building tool is useful for refining or reinforcing an aptitude that’s beneficial for everyone in a group. As the coach or facilitator, being well versed in the topic isn’t always necessary and I find it especially enjoyable to work with a book that’s new to me.
The members of our book clubs are typically dictated by the development needs at hand. For instance, a few years ago, a group of new managers and I worked through Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why,” which was great for improving budding leadership skills. In the middle of 2015, the sales leaders at Mosby started reading and discussing “Coaching Sales People into Sales Champions” by Keith Rosen, to help improve sales performance across the team. And just last week, through the encouragement of our CEO, the management team received copies of “The Advantage” by Patrick Lencioni, another great tutorial for leaders. Our plan is to meet as a group once a month to do a deep dive into various chapters of the book. During our meetings, we’ll discuss key takeaways with actionable work to use in our day to day business. This is a highly effective method of development.
Harry S. Truman once said “not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers.” So, why not introduce a book club?
Mark McClanahan (mmcclanahan@callmosby.com or 314.909.1800) is the president at Mosby Building Arts.
Submitted 8 years 86 days ago