Art of Accounting: Top 10 all-time leadership and management books

January 11, 2021 1:31 PM

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My list of the Top 10 leadership and management books is my list. I could likely include three or four dozen additional books, but I wanted to limit my selections to my top 10.

That means I left off, by my own reckoning, at least 36 other books. You can have favorites you think should be on this list, but I feel it would be pretty difficult to disagree with more than one or two of my choices. However, if you have books you think should be on this list, by all means email me with your selections. I can easily post a follow-up listing, but hurry up since reading time might be curtailed during the coming tax season. It shouldn’t, but it will be.

Meanwhile, these are books I learned a lot from and wholeheartedly recommend to my colleagues and all business managers and leaders. Enjoy! A tip is to read one you’ve never read every two months. This will get you through the entire list in the next two years. Not such a bad undertaking. Also, with one exception, they are not too long.

"The One Minute Manager" by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

I recommend each of Ken Blanchard’s books. They are all gems. I’ve read them all and am always rereading some of them. I am listing this one here but can easily list them all.

He introduces the One Minute Praise — catch a staff person doing something right. He also suggests trying to catch yourself doing something right (self-checking). People who feel good about themselves produce good results. Always make it clear what you want done and what the assigned person will be accountable for, with crystal clear feedback. Train. Most businesses spend 30 to 70 percent of their money on staff, but less than 1 percent on training.

"Murphy’s Law" by Arthur Bloch

This is another classic, and Murphy’s Law has entered everyday business lexicon. It says: If anything can go wrong, it will. Nothing is as easy as it looks. Everything takes longer than you think. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. There are many more. Read the book.

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie

This is the granddaddy of self-help books. Relationships matter more than ever. Carnegie tells how to build up people. Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most do. When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic; rather you are dealing with people with emotions, prejudices, pride and vanity. Treat them well and courteously. Carnegie said that you can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in them than in two years by trying to get them interested in you. Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Knowledge isn’t power until it is applied.

"First Things First" by Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill

Covey has written a ton of books — all meaningful and important — but if I have to choose one, this is it. His main admonishment is: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Too many of us do not keep this in mind or in view. Write this out and keep it on your desk or taped to your laptop. This book is about getting where you’re headed and not necessarily how fast you’re going. Some quotes: Where there is no gardener, there is no garden. Identify your role. Plan your time. It’s easy to say “no!” when there is a deeper “yes!” burning inside. Priority is a function of context. I believe context is very important and when the leaders have a big picture vision and mission, the context becomes clear at least to them. Then their ability to communicate it and get buy-in is what separates the winners from the also rans.

"The Essential Drucker" by Peter F. Drucker

Peter Drucker is, if not the top management advisor, then certainly one of the top. His writings are as fresh today as when he published his first book in 1939. He coined the phrase “knowledge worker.” Some of his ideas are: Management was developed to supervise large groups of unskilled laborers. Today they are handling highly educated knowledge workers. The soldier has a right to competent command. Management is about making people capable of joint performance. A business enterprise must build a true team and weld individual efforts into a common effort. The traditional mindset of a business: Buy low and sell high. The new approach: Add value and create wealth.

"The Way to Wealth" by Benjamin Franklin

I believe that Ben’s autobiography should be required reading for every entrepreneur. Franklin was an entrepreneur and was one of the richest men in the country when he died at age 84. He retired from active business at age 42, and most of what he is remembered for was accomplished during the remaining 42 years of his life — and what a life it was! He is probably the only founding father who can be referred to by his first name and people would know who it is.

However, while I suggest his autobiography, I am recommending an immediate reading of his "The Way to Wealth," which can be downloaded for a few bucks and read in less than an hour. Here is some of what to expect: The eye of a master will do more work than both his hands. Not to oversee workers is to leave them your purse open. Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge. Remember that time is money. Does thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. A little neglect may breed great mischief; for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for want of care about a horse-shoe nail.

"Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill

Classics are books that have stood the test of time; here is another classic. Some quotes: "No one ever achieved worthwhile success who did not, at one time or other, find himself with at least one foot hanging well over the brink of failure. The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat. If you’re not learning while you’re earning, you're cheating yourself out of the better portion of your compensation. One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when you are overtaken by temporary defeat."

"Parkinson’s Law" by C. Northcote Parkinson

Every law is valid. Know the laws and you will be a much more effective manager.

This is possibly the granddaddy of the management books. A must read. Some of Parkinson’s Laws are:

Law #1: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

Law #3: In nearly every matter of controversy to be decided, we can assume that the people who will decide will be in the middle bloc.

Law #4: The amount of time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved.

"The Peter Principle" by Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull

This principle is even more perfectly true than when this book was first written. I defy you to prove it is not valid. Peter says: In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence. Bluntly put, this means people who perform well get promotions, and keep getting promotions, until they no longer perform well, where they then remain indefinitely. Therefore, they rise to their level of incompetence. A suggestion is to spot an employee’s point of maximum ability and effectiveness and not promote beyond that.

"In Search of Excellence" by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr.

This must be included as one of the great books for leadership and management. The authors show that winning companies have a bias for action. They are active decision makers. They also get close to their customers and learn from the people being served by them. Autonomy and entrepreneurship foster innovation, including within a company. Productivity through people and employees is a source of quality. Needed: a management philosophy that guides everyday practice and that shows its commitment.

Let me know what you think of this list. Every one of these is available online through Amazon or Barnes & Noble or in your local public library.

These summaries have been abstracted, and some were edited somewhat and are subject to the copyrights of those books.

Do not hesitate to contact me at emendlowitz@withum.com with your practice management questions or about engagements you might not be able to perform.

Edward Mendlowitz, CPA, is partner at WithumSmith+Brown, PC, CPAs. He is on the Accounting Today Top 100 Influential People list. He is the author of 24 books, including “How to Review Tax Returns,” co-written with Andrew D. Mendlowitz, and “Managing Your Tax Season, Third Edition.” Ed also writes a twice-a-week blog addressing issues that clients have at www.partners-network.com along with the Pay-Less-Tax Man blog for Bottom Line. Ed is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Fairleigh Dickinson University teaching end user applications of financial statements. Art of Accounting is a continuing series where Ed shares autobiographical experiences with tips that he hopes can be adopted by his colleagues. Ed welcomes practice management questions and can be reached at (732) 743-4582 or emendlowitz@withum.com.