In his career, Ron Lagrone has made his way around both college baseball and the entrepreneurial bases. He now has his sights set on tackling a new at-bat — offering business lessons in his new book, “Leadership Skills for Successful Managers: Proven Strategies for Motivating Teams and Achieving Your Goals.”
While attending Texas A&M on a baseball scholarship, the local author says he used his athleticism to work construction jobs in the summers and off-seasons and grew to love the experience. While working in commercial construction was never a question for Ron, he turned his passion into becoming a successful owner of many businesses.
Founder and owner of Lagrone Construction and A Plus Home Inspections, Ron describes how he managed a small staff in Houston after moving to Bryan/College Station. His diverse experiences include owning a vending machine company and a commercial construction business.
His years of experience led Ron to offer readers the concepts and strategies he used to become an effective manager in his first published book.
In B/CS, Ron owned and operated Lagrone Construction from 1999 to 2015. He retired from A Plus Home Inspections one year ago.
Now, Ron offers readers the concepts and strategies he used to become an effective manager. The eight-chapter book describes how to build relationships, how to address conflict through effective communication and the critical skill of boosting self-confidence. Ron says he hopes business owners who read "Leadership Skills for Successful Managers" will learn from his career lessons.
“I figured there are some other people that probably would need some help,” Ron says. “I decided that maybe I can help people succeed in their careers by offering a little bit of my insight since I have been in business, management and leadership for my whole career.”
Ron teaches that leadership is not simply delegating tasks but building confidence between people. Through real-life examples and stories, he explains how to create open communication in the workplace and how that affects employee relationships. In one chapter, Ron writes about when a senior manager decided the best strategy was not to be shy about expressing self-doubt and his leadership capabilities.
“One day, they decided to share their concerns with their team,” Ron writes. “Instead of perceiving it as a sign of weakness, the team appreciated their transparency. They were able to offer suggestions and support, which helped the business owner feel less isolated. By being open and honest, leaders can foster a culture of trust and collaboration, which benefits everyone in the organization.”
Besides his education at A&M, Ron credits his leadership abilities to his experience owning companies in Houston and Bryan. Ron says one of his first jobs after graduating with his bachelor’s degree in business administration in management was with an extensive national home-building company.
“I had experience in construction while I was going to school, and I liked it, so I just kept it my business,” Ron says. “Once I got out, I knew construction pretty well and really just started getting into home building.”
Beginning in March 2023, Ron says he took about four months to publish his book through an online course called Awesome Independent Authors, or AIA, Publishing, which guided him through the process. The course walked him through every aspect of the book, from brainstorming a topic and creating a title to the book cover, editing, formatting and submitting it for publication.
“It was a real intense course actually,” Ron says. “It was a lot of videos, a lot of coaching. I used a ghostwriter to actually write the manuscript in consultation with me giving information.”
As for more plans in book publishing, Ron says he would potentially be interested in writing a similar book that explores a related topic, and the AIA course can assist him with publishing more, but he wants to concentrate on promoting “Leadership Skills for Successful Managers” before starting anything new.
“Leadership Skills for Successful Managers: Proven Strategies for Motivating Teams and Achieving Your Goals’’ is available as an e-book, paperback and hardback for purchase on Amazon. It is also available as an audiobook on many platforms, including Audible, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Chirp Books.
