It's impossible to measure how much a good book can influence one's life. Reading can help you relax, teach you a new skill or even impact your career. That's why we reached out to PDCflow customers and other Accounts Receivable industry professionals with one simple question:
What book has influenced your professional development or helped you build your business? Here's what they had to say.
For Women in Business
Joann Needleman
Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg
Stephanie Eidelman
The Moment of Lift, Melinda Gates
"As I’ve advanced in my career, I have started to feel more pressure to make a difference and follow a passion. The Moment of Lift helped me to learn (among many other things) about the influence that women can have on changing the world for the better if afforded the right education and opportunity to do so.
"We had already launched our conference, Women in Consumer Finance, but this book, in part, made me realize that I already have a vehicle to do my part in this important work. I have since doubled down on our investment and efforts to expand our reach for the event, and to incorporate financial support of organizations whose mission is to lift up women and girls."
Irene Hoheusle
IFCCE, CCCO, VP Collections and Education, ARSI, President of the Kansas Collectors Association
Fish, Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen
"It was a book I read years and years ago when I received my first promotion to a supervisor in our company. A friend told me that reading this book changed her way of leading people.
"While I read it, I found myself smiling and laughing, but more importantly learning how to make the workplace a fun, effective and safe place for all. I already had many of the beliefs this book brought forward, it gave me the confidence to apply my own brand to the work place.
"All I can say is the rest is history. There are so many books I’ve read over the years but this little book made an impact on me when I was first put in a leadership position in the collection industry."
Camille Lindsey
Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss
"After reading Never Split the Difference, I had a completely different definition on what a negotiation is. It truly is yet another opportunity to share information through your commitment to empathy.
"My biggest takeaway was understanding that I don’t have to agree with everything in a situation. I only need to ensure I am effectively listening and communicating in a way that demonstrates I have heard what matters to my negotiation partner.
"Everything is a negotiation. Reading this book is a great place to start building your effective "negotiation muscles” and how to positively apply them to your everyday life, both personally and professionally."
Leadership and Performance Boosters
John Bedard, Jr.
Managing Attorney, Bedard Law Group, P.C.
Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts, Antonin Scalia and Bryan A. Garner
Jeff Freedman
Co-CEO, MRS BPO, LLC
7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey
"It has been well over 20 years since I first read this book. This book lays out, in very easy to understand ways, the principles of what it takes to be effective – effective in life, effective in communicating and dealing with others, and effective in business.
"This book has helped me better refine my personal and professional goals and put me on a path toward achieving them."
Greg Ruffino
The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team, Jon Gordon
"My office did a book study among leadership on The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team, by Jon Gordon. One of the lessons focused on "Energy Vampires" and how to deal with them – or how to just not deal with them at all!"
The book explains: "If you create a strong, positive culture that attracts positive people, fosters positive communication and generates positive energy, the Energy Vampires who are unwilling to change will walk off the bus themselves because they don't fit in. Energy Vampires don't like the light."
Leslie Bender
Primal Leadership, Daniel Goleman
"Successful leaders find a way to meet people where they are – whether co-workers, clients, prospects, regulators, or colleagues in other companies.
"The works of Goleman on emotional intelligence provide a recipe for collaborating, team building, and problem solving by highlighting the key ingredients of being self-aware, empathetic, and creating space for others to self-motivate.
"While subject matter competence is important – equally important are skills at creating opportunities to embrace new, challenging and diverse opinions."
Personal Growth and Development
Not every book that could change your perspective was written with the workplace in mind. Many times, the right book – no matter the genre – can help you reflect and drive you to improve.
Here are some books on personal development that have inspired readers to become more self-confident, well-rounded, thoughtful people.
Norm Kieffer
Biscuits, Fleas, and Pump Handles, Zig Ziglar
Harry Strausser, III
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt
"Everyone living has experienced some of the most divisive times in US history surrounding the political landscape in our recent presidential election and the polarized views on Covid 19.
"Haidt does a good job of reflecting on how in actuality no one is really wrong. We tend to become so angry at those with other perspectives, we neglect to embrace opportunities for understanding.
"He contends most people would like to empathize with those who profess divergent mindsets but the moral divides are wide and filled with much emotion. Although published in 2013, he targets issues that are very real in 2021."
Mark Neeb
The Prayer of Jabez, Bruce Wilkinson
Carol Pittman
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Creative Battles, Steven Pressfield
"This book helped me understand how resistance was a blocker to accomplishing more than I had been able to previously on a number of fronts, both personally and professionally.
"The whole, "well, I need to do xyz before I can embark on this or that,'' is something that finds its way into our endeavors, dreams, goals and pursuits. It pushes off into the future things we could grasp and achieve, yet we rationalize why we cannot move forward – allowing all sorts of types of resistance to kick in when we seek to pursue a calling.
"Pressfield takes the reader through definition, identification and tools for allowing resistance to give you a free pass, instead of getting busy living your life. I think we will all find holding ourselves accountable challenging in the beginning, but it's amazing how you begin recognizing resistance in your every day life."
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- ABOUT THE AUTHOR -
Hannah Huerta, Marketing Specialist
Hannah Huerta is a Marketing Specialist at PDCflow. She creates content for the accounts receivable and payment industry.
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