Book cover of Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business

Book description

Do you have a grip on your business, or does your business have a grip on you? All entrepreneurs and business leaders face similar frustrations--personnel conflict, profit woes, and inadequate growth. Decisions never seem to get made, or, once made, fail to be properly implemented. But there is a solution.…

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Why read it?

8 authors picked Traction as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Traction is a highly practical guide for anyone steering a business. While I might take a different approach in certain areas, the book offers a robust blueprint for effective business management and leadership. The book breaks down what it takes to run a successful business into six core elements that make up his Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS): Vision, People, Data, Issues, Process, and Traction. These components help you set a clear path, focus on the right people, and build solid routines for tackling issues and tracking progress.

Wickman’s style is refreshingly practical. Instead of lofty theories, he digs into…

What I loved about this book was its very systemized approach to evaluating and improving an organization.

I’m interested in the human elements of business, and this book places great emphasis on aligning the right people with the right roles, totally gelling with my philosophy. It simplifies the process of strategic planning. EOS has become quite common in the business world, and this book spells out exactly how to move through it.

Really good stuff here. 

If you are new to the idea of building a great leadership team (and letting the company “run without you”) then Gino Wickman’s Traction is the place to start. This well-structured book clearly highlights the ups and downs of being a business owner and sets the stage for how to smooth out the journey once and for all.

Wickman and his team have also developed a for-profit consulting business called EOS—The Entrepreneur Operating System. But don’t let this dissuade you from diving into Traction (or its follow-up volumes). The book is enough to get your EOS journey started with or…

If you love Traction...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Traction is a must-read for any business owner.

If you want a clear and concise roadmap for improving business, and a concrete plan with actionable steps for effective implementation… This book gives you all that and more.

With six core components covering the primary functions for any business, Traction provides a solid framework for team building and problem-solving. As a systems devotee and business owner myself, I highly recommend this book for its focus on repeatable systems and processes to drive long-term success.

This book is an invaluable resource for business leaders seeking to improve their organizational effectiveness and achieve greater success.

Wickman provides a comprehensive framework for strengthening the six key components of any business, including vision, people, data, issues, process, and traction. His practical advice on hiring, delegation, goal setting, and accountability has helped me to become a more effective leader and grow my business.

I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking to take their business to the next level and achieve their full potential.

From Mark's list on investing in yourself.

Traction has been an instrumental book for me to understand the importance of identifying and tracking key performance indicators, as well as how to break down goals into smaller, actionable tasks.

The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) outlined in the book is the foundation for my consulting company, Leverage, and has helped many of our clients achieve rapid growth.

If you love Gino Wickman...

Book cover of The Everlasting Life of Charlie Wall

The Everlasting Life of Charlie Wall by Paul Wilborn,

It’s 1985, and Ronald Armstrong, known in the magic mushroom trade as “Trip,” takes a “sober” job as a driver for a retired Tampa mobster. His boss, Charlie Wall, has survived four attempts on his life, the last one in 1955. When Charlie falls into depression, Trip rebuilds his boss’…

My book has been compared to Traction because Traction also delivers a practical blueprint on how to run a business. 

From strategic planning to meeting cadences to how to approach people and their roles in a business, Traction demystifies how to be a leader and create a well-run organization. The Traction method to running an organization, what the author defines as the Entrepreneurial Operating System, or EOS, is used by 1,000’s of organizations worldwide.

I read a lot of business books. If you want to build a small business from nothing—if you want it to be sustainable and capable of long-term success—Traction is the authoritative work, the number-one must-read. Wickman walks readers through the step-by-step, six-part process of building your own personal EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). You’ll progress from Vision, to People, to Data, Issues, Processes, and finally, to Traction itself. This process aligns with everything we did to build our company from a 2-person, six-figure operation in 2012 to a 120-person, $30m world-class medtech engineering firm today.

If you love Traction...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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