(FORTUNE Small Business) – C.D. Moody is not your typical construction firm. CEO C. David Moody Jr., 48, motivates the 35 employees at his Lithonia, Ga., company, which builds schools and churches, by handing out management classics. He follows up with a written quiz and one-on-one discussions to help workers apply what they've read to their jobs. Mike Ross, 34, a job-site superintendent, says reading The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell taught him how to manage projects better. Instead of letting outside tradespeople decide the order of work to be done before his company could pour a concrete slab, Ross now prioritizes their work for them, saving time. "To be a leader, I had to show them how to improve," he says. For his part, Moody notes that sales have grown by more than 50%, to $38 million, since he started giving out books seven years ago. —BRANDI STEWART