Book Review: Ownership Thinking

There are a handful of business books I’ve read over the years that have made a tremendous impact on how I lead and coach. These have included The E-Myth Revisited, First Break All the Rules, Built to Sell and How Full is Your Bucket, among others. A new one has made the List: Ownership Thinking, by Brad Hams. It’s a must-read for business owners. This 227-page book is easy to read and includes material you can immediately implement in your business.

Here are some of the key points from the book:

• How to change your culture from entitlement thinking to an earnings mentality
• The most important financial indicators to track
• How to read financial statements and communicate financials to your team
• How to develop incentive plans for your employees that work
• The concept of “Rapid Improvement Plans”

Ownership Thinking drills down on: the right people, the right education, the right measures, and the right incentives. The result is “sharing insomnia,” so you’re not the only one caring about the results.

In Summit, we often talk about looking through the front windshield (the ability to forecast), not just the review mirror (how we did). Brad actually uses this language. (I’m still waiting for the credit!)

He also includes a fantastic analogy for understanding financial statements. It’s actually the best finance book for non-finance people I’ve read. I was so excited I emailed my team many times throughout the read. Consider buying it today.

Enjoy the read,

Brian Nolan