by Alan Price, Jossey-Bass, 160 pages, $22.95 hardcover, May 2004, ISBN 0787969516

As I read books and look for Jack Covert Selects candidates, certain things jump out at me. I love brevity. Why use ten words when five will do. I love books that appeal to who I am and give me real rubber meets the road information. I especially love a good yarn. One genre of books often times fit this model. They are the business fable or novel. This genre has been around for almost twenty years and is increasing in popularity every since Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson wrote their best sellers. This book really fits because it is short and sweet and the ultimate airplane read. It packs a punch. Not only that, it reads like a novel, with and real characters. And in between it all, this book supplies answers and solutions to leadership issues. One of this books strengths involves the clear distinction between leadership and management. No doubt that there is a relationship between management and leadership, but it focuses on the positive aspects on becoming and being a leader who has the ability to not only inspire, but also be inspired.

Which brings me to my next point: this book is so much more than just a leadership tool. It is truly inspirational as Alan Price teaches us how to deal with (inevitable) change. This book will help readers understand how to cross the bridge between managing and leading. The format of the book is fresh and an example of how well the author understands the need for change. Not only does Alan Price understand leadership, but is also a flawless and compelling storyteller. Not only does it ring true. It also educates and inspires the reader to try his leadership techniques.

Ram Charan is one of the most well regarded authors of business books today, as he has written many important business books in the past decade. His new book, Profitable Growth is Everyones Business is a great follow-up to what I consider the best of his many books, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done.

Profitable Growth discusses a common problem with many business strategies: too much time is spent squeezing the cost side of the balance sheets and too little spent looking at the growth side. The solution, as Charan says, is building sustained growth through small, day to day adaptations to changes in the market. He also says, growth should be everyones businessfrom the CEO to sales people, everyone has the potential to create internally generated increases in revenue.

Internally generated increases in revenue are highly valued because they are organic. Naturally growing businesses are profitable because they are constantly building and improving their foundation, rather than hoping for growth based on unfounded goals. The author says, many people equate growth with hitting home runshitting a single or double just wouldnt be good enough. Building blocks such as new products and customer values are often given inadequate resources. I value this approach to business because it is do-able; it reinforces the basics of running a business.

For a book to be recommended as a Jack Covert Selects, it has to meet two requirements: I have to see a need for the book and the book needs to have real world application. This book blows these two requirements out of the water. This is a book you will want to pass up and down the food chain.