Written by lawyers, for lawyers. Like it sounds, this new book (published in 2019), is chalk full of ideas for growing your law practice. The book is written by five lawyers, from different practice areas, different parts of the country, and each with their own unique perspective on growing a law practice. The authors are Ryan McKeen, Billie Tarascio, William Umansky, Theresa Degray, and Jay Ruane.
Tiger Tactics covers subjects like Vision, Financials, Online Marketing, Intake, Client Service, and Hiring. Each of the authors weighs in on every subject, giving their own unique approach. What makes this book both interesting and I think a valuable resource, is the variety of advice and approaches that are offered by the different authors. This book is a quick and fun read – some of the authors are real characters – and you will surely learn some valuable tips for building, improving and growing your
law practice.
–Book review by Ron Wittmeyer
For several years I kept seeing authors quoting or referencing books written by Patrick Lencioni, but I just never made the time to read anything written by Lencioni myself, until recently. Having now read several books by Lencioni, I see why he is so often quoted. By the way, a few other excellent reads by Lencioni are “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” (probably his most famous), and “The Advantage”. Lencioni is a business consultant, whose focus is on assessing and developing people within a business, and the huge advantage that gives a business (in Lencioni’s opinion), if done right. If you own or manage a business, you can find a lot of practical application in what Lencioni has to say in any of his books, and “The Ideal Team Player” is no exception.
In this book, Lencioni outlines the three essential virtues of the ideal team player – 1) humility, 2) hunger, and 3) people smarts. Lencioni explains what he means by each of these virtues and he discusses why the ideal employee must have all three. He also explains how to use this model in the hiring process, in assessing current employees and in developing employees. Like “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, this book is also written in the form of a fictional story about a nephew who dives in to take over his uncle’s construction business. The story or fable format makes this book a quick and interesting read.
Whether you are familiar with Patrick Lencioni’s work or not, this is a worthwhile book that brings home the importance of employees being team players. I hope you enjoy reading The Ideal Team Player, and (as I have) I bet you will become a Patrick Lencioni fan.
–Book Review by Ron Wittmeyer, 5-2-22
I think this business book is a very worthwhile read for any small business owner, and a book to keep as a useful business resource as well. The book was written by a CPA, Greg Crabtree, whose clients are all small, privately held business owners. Crabtree’s accounting firm, Crabtree, Rowe & Berger, PC, focuses exclusively on providing accounting and business consulting services to entrepreneurs. In his book, Crabtree teaches some key principles to making a business healthy and profitable. He illustrates these core principles throughout the book with straightforward examples that you can compare to your own financial statements.
What I especially found informative and useful were the benchmarks he provides for certain categories of controllable expenses (like labor costs), which he then demonstrates how controlling labor costs helps lead to healthy profitability. Mr. Crabtree also provides insight into growing a small business, while maintaining profitability along the way. Frankly, the book told me things I just didn’t know – like how much working capital is essential for a healthy business.
I am now working on implementing some of these principles and developing spreadsheets to track the key performance indicators recommended in the book. Crabtree also has a website where you can find his book, and some free sample financial templates you might find helpful as well – www.simplenumbers.me.
So, I have to say that this is one of the most useful and informative business books I have read. Now the challenge for me in to follow through and implement the core principles taught by Crabtree in his book. Thanks for reading this review – I hope you like Simple Numbers!
–Book review by Ron Wittmeyer
In addition to enjoying the blues, the Blackhawks, and time with his family, Ron enjoys reading books, especially books about business or strategies for improving your business. Check out the below recommendations:
This book teaches you how to get more done in less time! The 12 Week Year teaches you a system that helps you accomplish more of what is important. The book by business consultants, Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington, lays out a structure for focusing your goal setting on a shorter time frame (12 weeks), and provides strategies for tracking and measuring your performance within that 12 week period. The book teaches you to plan, measure, and execute in 12 week blocks of time, rather than 12 months. The book is a quick read, and using their system is helping me be more productive.
During 2017, I have been on a bit of a quest to read more books. I particularly enjoy reading books about business and business people. A recent read that I highly recommend to any small business owner is “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It“, by Michael Gerber. In the E-Myth, Gerber stresses the importance of any business consistently following documented systems and procedures, which of course is very important to a law firm. This led to our current project of updating and documenting our office procedures, and creating an operations manual for our firm. Very time consuming but worth the effort so far.
Whether we like it or not, working on our business can be as important as working in our business. A new book written by northwest suburban business and tax lawyer, Kerry Lavelle is, in my opinion, a valuable resource on this subject. The book is titled “The Business Guide to Law“, and is published by the ABA. Shortly after delving into this resource, it becomes clear that Kerry Lavelle is both a student of, and very passionate about, the business end of the practice of law. The book cites many current leading business books, whose teachings Mr. Lavelle has adopted to the subject of operating and growing a law practice. The book can be purchased on Amazon, or the ABA for about $75. Those of us who are also students of the business of law, I believe, will find this book to be a wealth of information. (P.S. I am sending out this info, not because of any connection between Mr. Lavelle and our law firm, but because I want to share what I consider to be a well done and helpful resource with my colleagues.)
I am on a quest to read more books this year, and have come across one you might like – Shoe Dog – from Bill Gates’ reading list last year. Shoe Dog is a memoir by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, who is worth about $25 billion at last count. Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight “offers a rare and revealing look at the notoriously media-shy man behind the swoosh”, illuminating his company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
Written by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, The One Thing Book is packed with practical strategies that you can immediately apply in business and life. I found this Wall Street Journal #1 Best Seller simple and quick to read. Its message is straightforward. Gary Keller is the founder of Keller Williams Realty, which is the largest real estate brokerage in the world. Jay Papasan is a co-author of several best-selling books, and also is a leading broker at Keller Williams Realty. Now, Keller and Papasan, along with Jeff Woods, built upon their success with The One Thing book by expanding into a personal development and training company. For a full review, click here.
