This is history on a grand scale — a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.

Why the President Should Read This Book
John Adams, at least prior to the writing of this book, could have been termed “The Forgotten Founder” as far as most Americans were concerned. Washington, Jefferson, Madison–these are the names we think of when we think of The Founders. And yet John Adams had an enormous influence on the founding of the United States, serving as the second President, father to another President, and husband to one of the most politically astute and involved women of the Founding. An ignorance of John Adams is an ignorance of much of the Founding itself.

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Why the President Should Read This Book
Food subsidies were started by well-intentioned politicians and bureaucrats, but the rule of unintentioned consequences has come into effect and the damage to the US population is just beginning to be understood. Childhood obesity and diabetes, food-borne illnesses, and more can be traced back to distortions in our industrial food system caused by government subsidies, not to mention erroneous nutritional information and recommendations coming from government bodies. It’s hard to escape the conclusion after reading this book that we would all be much better off in terms of health if the government had never touched our food system.

In their bestselling business classic Lean Thinking, James Womack and Daniel Jones introduced the world to the principles of lean production – principles for eliminating waste during production. Now, in Lean Solutions, the authors establish the groundbreaking principles of lean consumption, showing companies how to eliminate inefficiency during consumption.

The problem is neither that companies don’t care nor that the people trying to fix our broken products are inept. Rather, it’s that few companies today see consumption as a process — a series of linked goods and services, all of which must occur seamlessly for the consumer to be satisfied. Buying a home computer, for example, involves researching, purchasing, integrating, maintaining, upgrading, and, ultimately, replacing it.

In this landmark new book, James Womack and Daniel Jones deconstruct this broken producer-consumer model and show businesses how to repair it. Across all industries, companies that apply the principles of lean consumption will learn how to provide the full value consumers desire from products without wasting time or effort — theirs or the consumers’ — and as a result these companies will be more profitable and competitive.

Lean Solutions is full of surprising success stories: Fujitsu, a leading service company for technology, has transformed the way call centers solve problems — learning how to eliminate the underlying cause of current problems rather than fixing them again and again. An extremely successful car dealership has adopted lean principles to streamline its business, making for dramatically reduced wait time, fewer return trips, and greater satisfaction for customers — and a far more lucrative enterprise.

Lean Solutions will inspire managers to take the first steps toward perfecting their company’s process of giving consumers what they really want.

Why the President Should Read This Book
As with its predecessor Lean Thinking, Lean Solutions should be a fundamental building block in any entrepreneur or business manager’s library of business books, and any President should understand the principles in this book not only so that he can know how to improve government, but so that he understands business, and what the business world needs from government in order to thrive and provide jobs and a vibrant economy.

Why the President Should Read This Book
Reading biographies of the founding fathers, past presidents, influential leaders in economics, politics, and business–that’s all grand, but what about staying in touch with normal people. Sure, Keith Richards isn’t exactly the first person who might come to mind when you try to think of an average Joe, but upon reading his autobiography you realize he is more or less a normal type of guy who has had some rather abnormal experiences. Or you might say he’s had normal experiences, but they were on the extreme side of normal. For example, when I was in high school it was kind of the “normal” thing to do drugs. I never did, but you sure learn something about what it’s like from Richard’s biography.

But aside from using the book to stay in touch with “normal” people, the book is a treasure trove of experiences relating to public policy, although I’m sure that was not Richard’s intent. Entrepreneurship, running a business, taxes, the drug war, politics, economics, power, money, fame, glory…it’s all here in on-the-ground, real living color.

It sounds like a fantasy, but Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson are leading a movement to make it a reality at companies around the country. They show how a Results-Only Work Environment not only makes employees happier, but also delivers better results.

Filled with passion and common sense, their book will change the way you think about your job, your company, and your quality of life.

Why the President Should Read This Book
Curiously, George Washington might not have had to overcome the problems this book attempts to solve. Many of the problems in the modern-day workplace are the result of the Industrial Revolution and the days when many people worked in factories, wherein if you weren’t there at your post from 8 am to 5 pm, then you weren’t working or getting anything done. Although most of us no longer work in factories, somehow this mindset got drilled into us, and it is a challenge to get back to understanding that what really matters is results. If you have to be in the office 8-5, M-F, then so be it, but if you can achieve the same results working from home, three days a week, 9-3, who cares? The economy doesn’t, and that is why companies that understand this are gaining an advantage.

Our government doesn’t get it either. It is still stuck in the paradigm that came into being 100 years ago. Ideas about what constitutes “part time” vs. “full time” miss the point–time isn’t what matters. This book exposes the ridiculous thoughts we take for granted when it comes to work, and a President who understands the modern-day workplace would be better able to adjust government policies to support rather than hinder it.

Authors Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter weave the latest Gallup insights with recent discoveries in the fields of neuroscience, game theory, psychology, sociology, and economics. Written for managers and employees of companies large and small, 12 explains what every company needs to know about creating and sustaining employee engagement.

Why the President Should Read This Book
What helps an employee enjoy their job? Oh, we all have our speculations, but this book is based on 10 million employee and manager interviews, so it’s a bit more science-based, and while that’s not a foolproof way to answer the question, it seems pretty darn good in this case, in my opinion. We don’t often think of the President as an employer, but he runs the largest “company” in the world. The federal government employs almost 3 million people, which makes our President the manager of more people than the CEO of Walmart. Granted, I think it would be much preferable for the President to manage a fraction that many people, but inasmuch as that’s what we’ve got, he might as well do a good job, and this book helps.

But perhaps more importantly, this book would help the President understand better what it’s like to be an employee as well as an employer, and how government interferes with both, in the form of regulations that pit employer against employee and prevent the two from developing relationships that would make businesses more efficient.

This is what it takes to be an influencer.

Whether you’re a CEO, a parent, or merely a person who wants to make a difference, you probably wish you had more influence with the people in your life. But most of us stop trying to make change happen because we believe it is too difficult, if not impossible. We develop complicated coping strategies when we should be learning the tools and techniques of the world’s most influential people.

But this is about to change. From the bestselling authors who taught the world how to have Crucial Conversations comes Influencer, a thought-provoking book that combines the remarkable insights of behavioral scientists and business leaders with the astonishing stories of high-powered influencers from all walks of life. You’ll be taught each and every step of the influence process-including robust strategies for making change inevitable in your personal life, your business, and your world. You’ll learn how to:

• Identify a handful of high-leverage behaviors that lead to rapid and profound change.
• Apply strategies for changing both thoughts and actions.
• Marshall six sources of influence to make change inevitable.

Influencer takes you on a fascinating journey from San Francisco to Thailand where you’ll see how seemingly “insignificant” people are making incredibly significant improvements in solving problems others would think impossible. You’ll learn how savvy folks make change not only achievable and sustainable, but inevitable. You’ll discover why some managers have increased productivity repeatedly and significantly-while others have failed miserably.

No matter who you are, or what you do, you’ll never learn a more valuable or important set of principles and skills. Once you tap into the power of influence, you can reach out and help others work smarter, grow faster, live, look, and feel better, even save lives. The sky is the limit…for an Influencer.

Are you an Influencer ?

”You don’t have to be a manager to realize that no one likes being told what to do. Yet lectures are still the main way we try to get people to change their behavior. Fortunately, social learning academics have been studying alternatives for decades. Patterson and his fellow consultants have now collected their findings in this engaging, example-rich book. The key message is hardly new, but it has gotten more sophisticated: Managers need to get out of the way and facilitate, not manage, the process of change for employees. They can do this by offering vicarious experiences, restructured environments, peer pressure, and frequent tests-all geared so that people embrace the change as authentic to them, not imposed by an outsider. Missing are only success stories of organizations that persuaded managers to drop their controlling habits and choose to be mere facilitators.”-John T. Landry, Harvard Business Review

Why the President Should Read This Book
Leaders are, by definition, people who influence other people. This book is full of tools. Tools are neutral in that they can be used for good or ill. Whether they are used one way or the other depends on who is wielding that tool. But assuming we have a President who is good, we would want them to have this bag of tools, because they would be able to get much more good done than otherwise.

The poem mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his long journey home following the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres (Greek: Μνηστῆρες) or Proci, competing for Penelope’s hand in marriage.

It continues to be read in the Homeric Greek and translated into modern languages around the world. Many scholars believe that the original poem was composed in an oral tradition by an aoidos (epic poet/singer), perhaps a rhapsode (professional performer), and was more likely intended to be heard than read. The details of the ancient oral performance, and the story’s conversion to a written work inspire continual debate among scholars. The Odyssey was written in a regionless poetic dialect of Greek and comprises 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter. Among the most impressive elements of the text are its non-linear plot, and that events seem to depend as much on the choices made by women and serfs as on the actions of fighting men. In the English language as well as many others, the word odyssey has come to refer to an epic voyage.

Why the President Should Read This Book
As with the Illiad, the Odyssey gives us insight into the emotions, desires, and general characteristics of our human ancestors from thousands of years ago, and surprise, surprise, they weren’t all that different from us. Sure, we have cars, guns, airplanes, and espresso makers, but these accoutrements are of minor importance. We still are subject to pride, ego, envy, lust, and greed, as well as some of the less base emotions. Understanding these inalienable characteristics of human nature can help any leader better lead.

Along with the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the eighth century BC.[1] The Iliad contains over 15,000 lines, and is written in Homeric Greek, a literary amalgam of Ionic Greek with other dialects.

Why the President Should Read This Book
It’s a classic, but part of what is so interesting about the book is that it shows that men and women, even thousands of years ago, were not so different than we are today. Our circumstances have changed, but pride, greed, and envy were as prevalent then as they are today, and while we think ourselves more intelligent than the ancients an honest comparison shows otherwise. A more thorough understanding of human nature can lead to better laws, as well as less laws.

Personal Notes
It was with great reluctance that I read this book. First of all, it’s hard for me to trust anyone named “Napoleon”. Second, the title sounds like a get-rich-quick scheme. I don’t like thinking about “getting rich”. Starting and running a successful business, sure, that sounds great, but being “rich” in and of itself isn’t the attraction. I don’t want a big house or expensive cars, fancy vacations and the like. So I didn’t think this book was for me. And yet it’s been pitched to me as a great book to read, so I finally gave in.

Now, having read it, it’s a wonderful book. Not just because it has great strategies for getting rich, but because it has great ideas and strategies for being successful–at anything. If you want to get rich, then yes, read this book. But also read it if you want to be a better parent, spouse, employee, employer, friend, athlete, leader, or…politician.

Why the President Should Read This Book
In part, because this book makes it clear that the path to prosperity can’t be built by government. It can only be built by the individual. Each individual is responsible for improving their own circumstances, and government tends to get in the way more than it helps. Where it “helps” it often fosters dependence, which in the long run is of no help whatsoever. An understanding of the principles in this book would lead a President to make quite different decisions than have been made by most of our Presidents over the past 100 years.