A feature I’ve been wanting to start for a while here on the Midwest Retail Services blog is The Business Bookshelf — a collection of recommendations, reviews, collected wisdom, quotes, reading lists, author interviews, highlighted passages, etc. from the best traditionally published books, self-published books, audio books, ebooks, childrens books, library books (or whatever other book creation options exist!)

Legendary management consultant Tom Peters (and the author of one of my favorite business books) said in a recent interview with Strategy+Business magazine that the most effective strategy for business success is reading.

A good place for us begin is by asking the Midwest Retail Services team and see what they would choose as their favorite books, so this week we…

Ask The Team the name of their favorite book and one lesson that they’ve put into action from their selected title!

Here’s our collected list of favorite book titles and lessons learned (I’ve even included links to buy your own copy in case you’re interested in adding a few great books to your own reading list.)

Travis Potter, Customer Service
My book is “SEINLANGUAGE” by Jerry Seinfeld. My take away is that no matter what situation life throws your way. You can always find humor in it. Example: “The number two fear for people is the fear of death. The number one fear for people is the fear of public speaking. This means that at a funeral more people would rather be the one in the coffin, than the one giving the eulogy”.

Mike Welsh, Customer Sales
I am reading a great book right now called “Uncommon Life” by Tony Dungy. My favorite takeaway (so far) is “Dare to be uncommon everyday”.

Gary Kroneberger, Sales Executive
I hadn’t read a book in years, it seemed like kids and work would always get in the way. When I began travelling a lot for work, I found time to read again! I enjoy David Baldacci and James Patterson as authors. I read “Absolute Power” by David Baldacci and found out I could truly get away from everything and relax. The book was turned into a movie and that was also fun to go and see. So my Ah-ha moment was discovering the relaxation I would get from reading!

Chris Bell, Sales Representative
The name of the book I chose is, “A Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. The book opened up my spiritual side and made me look at things from many perspectives, in turn making me an all-around better person.

Don The Idea Guy, Marketing
There are just SO many books I could have chosen! It’s very tough to pick just one, but I’ll share the one that has made the greatest difference in my professional life: “The Brand You 50” by Tom Peters. The book was actually born of an article Tom Peters wrote for Fast Company magazine (one of its all-time most popular articles) entitled “The Brand Called You” and it put a name and strategy to what I’d discovered by accident in my own sales efforts — that building a strong personal brand (separate and apart from the brand of the company for which you worked) would allow an individual to standout and succeed in a crowded market. Since that time, no matter what job I’ve held or in what field I worked, I used a strong and unique personal brand to make my mark within the company and to serve my customers — both internal and external.

Donna Cossin, General Manager
The book I chose is “A Wrinkle In Time” by Madeleine L’Engle. I am a huge reader, and this is one of the early novels that opened these worlds to me. My takeaway is that books carry you anywhere and anywhen, let you be anyone and experience countless perspectives. My associates think I eat lunch every day at my desk in my office, but actually I’m part of Roland’s Ka-tet in The Dark Tower Series (Stephen King), I’m Ayla at the dawn of time in Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean Auel), or becoming Merlin in The Crystal Cave (Mary Stewart).

Matt Ray, President
The book “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand helped me solidify the fact that we are all individually responsible for our own path in life. It also encouraged me to analyze situations for what they truly are, look at them from many perspectives, but in the end determine what is reality, what is true. “A” is “A”.

A few of our team members immediately had a book title to share, others found it tough to choose a favorite from among many. How about you?

What’s YOUR favorite book and what lesson did it impart on your life?
Was there a quote that still comes to mind? A philosophy by which you live your life? A new perspective you were exposed to which changed the way you deal with people or look at the world?

Add your book title and life lesson in the comments below!