They say you can tell a lot about a person by the books they read. If that’s true, what does this list of the top-selling books purchased at last month’s Society for Human Resource Management annual conference in Las Vegas tell you about the HR professional in the 21st century? Let me know if you can figure it out:

1. The Carrot Principle—How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent and Accelerate Performance, by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton

2. 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave—How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It’s Too Late, by F. Leigh Branham

3. Perfect Phrases for Performance Reviews, by Robert Bacal and Douglas Max

4. Perfect Phrases for Managers & Supervisors, by Meryl Runion

5. Hot Spots—Why Some Teams, Workplaces and Organizations Buzz with Energy—and Others Don’t, by Lynda Gratton

6. It's OK to Be the Boss—The Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming the Manager Your Employees Need, by Bruce Tulgan

7. Effective Phrases for Performance Appraisals—A Guide to Successful Evaluations, by James E. Neal. Jr.

8. The Voice of Authority, by Dianna Booher

9. Ask the Right Questions, Hire the Best People, by Ron Fry

10. 101 Sample Write-Ups for Documenting Employee Performance Problems—A Guide to Progressive Discipline & Termination, by Paul Falcone

Got a thought about this book list, or any of my other posts? Until we get the comment posting function on this blog operational, send me comments at jhollon@workforce.com. I will publish as many of them as I can.