Quality Books
THEODORE KINNI

The Power of Simplicity: 
Management Guide to Cutting Through the Nonsense and Doing Things Right
by Jack Trout (McGraw-Hill, $24.95)

Strategist Jack Trout has long been an advocate of concise, focused ideas. Here, he expands his turf to the entire field of management and covers 19 topics under the broad subject headings of management, leadership and people.

Coaching, Counseling and Mentoring:
How to Choose and Use the Right Technique to Boost Employee Performance
by Florence M. Stone (AMACOM, $24.95)

Stone combines three major interpersonal skills into one managerial handbook. Coaching shows how to help employees improve their own performance, counseling shows how to fix poor performance, and mentoring shows how to help top performers excel.

Topgrading:
How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching and Keeping the Best People
by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D. (Prentice Hall, $26)

Smart ranks employees as A, B and C players. His advice to managers: Dump everyone except the A players. His advice to employees: Turn yourselves into A players. The book also details the author's CIDS (Chronological In-Depth Structured) interview process.

World Class Teams:
Working Across Borders
by Lynda McDermott, Nolan Brawley
and William Waite (John Wiley & Sons, $29.95)

In this updated, comprehensive look at teamwork, the authors focus on the cross-functional/cross-cultural teams needed in today's network structures. The hands-on presentation covers team launch, development, leadership, operation and reward.

The Stuff of Heroes:
The Eight Universal Laws of Leadership
by William A. Cohen (Longstreet, $24)

A retired major general, Cohen draws from the examples of leaders across the spectrum to illustrate his eight down-to-earth laws. The basic message: You get ahead by helping others get ahead; you get the most work from employees by giving the most help to employees.

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