This is a guest post from Anthony McCormack founder of Macstaff, as part of our Recruiting Weekly Series. Anthony shares his thoughts on ‘Six of the best’, Psychology books for recruitment consultants and business owners.
Anyone who follows me on Socials will have probably seen I love personal development books. I’m committed to lifelong learning and believe that not only can you amass more knowledge this way, but by the power of neuroplasticity that you can actually get smarter! (Yes the brain is a muscle 🙂
I’ve read a good chunk of classic business and management books from different genres. E.g.
- Business – Good to Great & Built to last – Jim Collins
- Management – One minute Manager series by Ken Blanchard & Spencer Johnson
- Personal Development – Awaken the Giant Within & Ultimate Power – Tony Robbins
- Entrepreneurship – Start your business in 7 days- James Khan
PLUS, if you’re looking for the best recruitment book. Look no further than The Savage Truth by Greg Savage, which is a fantastic tale of 40 years in recruitment and a generous gift to the industry!
So why would a recruiter want to read psychology books?
Well, the answer is multi-faceted and I would suggest represents a Win-Win-Win scenario.
Would you like to understand yourself better, your candidates better and your clients better? I thought so!
In terms of understanding yourself
Asking the questions of who am I and where am I going. Evaluating how you make sense of the world, understanding what’s motivating you and why, and ultimately pursuing your purpose.
I can’t obviously provide any answers, that will take much, reading, research and soul searching on your part, but I believe it will be worth it, so I thought I’d at least pose some of the questions.
In terms of understanding clients and candidates
Observing what appears to be motivating them, and then digging do what is likely really motivating them. Understanding how they are making decisions, why they are communicating as they do and ultimately working out how best to work with this person to achieve mutual benefit.
No more B2B or B2C, it’s H2H
However, ‘client’ and ‘candidate’, are dynamic roles people play in our industry that swap and change according to the situation. As the above little phrase points out, the key thing to remember is that it all business (and personal) relationships are in fact H2H or Human to Human.
“People buy from people”, as we tend to say in recruitment, and understanding of the other party (and again ourselves), helps build rapport which helps us do business and get to the right result.
However, I think in a world where mental health is at the forefront of people’s minds, and at a time when people are deeply craving connection and meaning, I think it is much more than that.
I believe a foundational understanding of what makes us tick helps us build life-skills and more importantly character traits, such as empathy, kindness and compassion. This is in turn a virtuous circle that literally helps us become better people. And according to the theme of another favourite book of mine Legacy, better people make better ‘All-Blacks’! (& Recruiters, & Business Owners & Fathers & Wives & Friends etc etc).
So long story short I think psychology books are a great add to your personal development reading list. And yes, Recruiters, you may well make some more money because of reading and digesting from this genre, which is always good!
Plus, you may break a few bad habits, which has been very handy for me as I’m from the old-school recruitment industry which was always fuelled by Marlborough Lights and Stella Artois!
Anyway, here are some books in no particular order:
The Happiness Trap – Russ Harris
Stop struggling, start living!
Mindset – Dr Carol Dweck
Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential.
Grit – Angela Duckworth
Why passion & resilience are the secrets to success
The Chimp Paradox – Prof Steve Peters
The mind management programme for confidence success & happiness.
Atomic Habits – James Clear
An easy proven way to build good habits and break bad ones.
The Daily Stoic – Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman
366 Medidations on Wisdom, Perseverance and the art of living.
Author, Anthony McCormack – Founder of
A high performing Recruitment Consultant, Recruitment Manager & Recruitment Director with 20+ years of recruitment agency experience. Founding Consultant, Managing Director and Entrepreneur behind Macstaff. Proud member of professional industry associations and published Author.
Enjoy your reading & let me know your insights!
Best wishes,
Anthony McCormack
Managing Director
Macstaff
E: anthony@macstaff.co.uk
D: 01275 331307
M: 07983255399
