What We Are Reading

11/8/2011

Business Books

Little Bets

Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries
Peter Sims
Free Press, 2011

From the Book: What do Apple CEO Steve Jobs, comedian Chris Rock, prize-winning architect Frank Gehry, the story developers at Pixar films, and the Army Chief of Strategic Plans all have in common? Bestselling author Peter Sims found that all of them have achieved breakthrough results by methodically taking small, experimental steps in order to discover and develop new ideas. Rather than believing they have to start with a big idea or plan a whole project out in advance, trying to foresee the final outcome, they make a series of little bets about what might be a good direction.

Corner Office

The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed
Adam Bryant
Times Books, 2011

From the Book: With interviews with more than 75 CEOs and other top executives at companies of all sizes, the author compiles insights on such questions as what does it take to lead an organization? What are the keys to achieving the highest levels of success? Business luminaries speak thoughtfully about team creation, keeping the mission on target, management, employee relationships, the importance of feedback, and the creation of an efficient corporate culture.

Emotionally Intelligent Team

The Emotionally Intelligent Team: Understanding and Developing the Behaviors of Success
Marcia Hughes, James Bradford Terrell
Jossey-Bass, 2007

From the Book: As the fields of neurology and organizational development continue to evolve, there is a growing body of evidence that clearly demonstrates that particular emotional and social intelligent behaviors have a direct correlation with organizational success. The authors offer practical information and a guide for businesses that want to draw on the power of the emotional competencies of their teams. They reveal how individuals, team members, and leaders can take the steps to become more emotionally intelligent team members and show how to put in place the practices and exercises that will help any team grow in emotional intelligence.

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What We Are Reading

10/6/2011

Business Books

The Anywhere Leader

The Anywhere Leader: How to Lead and Succeed in Any Business Environment
Mike Thompson
Jossey-Bass, 2011

From the Book: The world is rapidly changing AND unpredictable, necessitating leaders who adjust quickly to changing priorities and unfamiliar terrain. Anyone in business today must be able to lead through uncertainty and disruption. The Anywhere Leader offers a blueprint for developing today’s leaders who can handle surprising challenges—from mergers to global relocation—and who thrive in turbulent times by being open to new concepts, passionate about progress, and resourceful with the tools available.

Change Anything

Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success
Kerry Patterson et al
Business Plus, 2011

From the Book: A stunning new approach to how individuals can not only change their lives for the better in the workplace, but also their lives away from the office, including (but not limited to) finding ways to improve one’s working relationship with others, one’s overall health, outlook on life, and so on.

5 Levels of Leadership

The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential
John C. Maxwell
Center Street, 2011

From the Book: True leadership isn’t a matter of having a certain job or title. In fact, being chosen for a position is only the first of the five levels every effective leader achieves. To become more than “the boss” people follow only because they are required to, you have to master the ability to invest in people and inspire them. To grow further in your role, you must achieve results and build a team that produces. You need to help people to develop their skills to become leaders in their own right. And if you have the skill and dedication, you can reach the pinnacle of leadership-where experience will allow you to extend your influence beyond your immediate reach and time for the benefit of others.

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What We Are Reading

9/1/2011

Business Books

Ignore Everybody

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity
Hugh MacLeod
Portfolio Hardcover, 2009

From the Book: Hugh MacLeod’s acclaimed blog Gaping Void draws 1.5 million visitors a month, and his ebook, How to Be Creative, has been downloaded more than a million times. In Ignore Everybody, he expands his thoughts about unleashing creativity in a world that often thwarts it.

Getting to Yes

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, Bruce Patton
Penguin, 2011

From the Book: Since its original publication nearly thirty years ago, Getting to Yes has helped millions of people learn a better way to negotiate. One of the primary business texts of the modern era, it is based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution. Getting to Yes offers a proven, step-by-step strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. Thoroughly updated and revised, it offers readers a straight-forward, universally applicable method for negotiating personal and professional disputes without getting angry-or getting taken.

The Progress Principle

The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work
Teresa Amabile, Steven Kramer
Harvard Business Press, 2011

From the Book: What really sets the best managers above the rest? It’s their power to build a cadre of employees who have great inner work lives—consistently positive emotions; strong motivation; and favorable perceptions of the organization, their work, and their colleagues. The worst managers undermine inner work life, often unwittingly. Brimming with honest examples from the companies studied, The Progress Principle equips aspiring and seasoned leaders alike with the insights they need to maximize their people’s performance.

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What We Are Reading

7/26/2011

Business Books

Rework

Rework
Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson
Crown Business, 2010

From the Book: The founders of a cutting-edge software company show why traditional advice for start-up companies is mostly wrong. Rather than becoming bogged down by rigid operational models or marketing protocols, they urge executives to stay flexible in the way they organize work, internal communication, and interactions with the outside world.

Good Strategy Bad Strategy

Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters
Richard Rumelt
Crown Business, 2011

From the Book: The author shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy.” He debunks these elements of “bad strategy” and awakens an understanding of the power of a “good strategy.”

The Talent Masters

The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers
Bill Conaty, Ram Charan
Crown Business, 2010

From the Book: If talent is the leading indicator of whether a business is up or down, a success or a failure (and it is) . . . do you know how to accurately judge raw human talent? Understand a person’s unique combination of traits? Develop that talent? Convert what supposedly are “soft” subjective judgments about people into objective criteria that are as specific, verifiable, and concrete as the contents of a financial statement? The talent masters do.

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What We Are Reading

6/21/2011

Business Books

The Unwritten Rules

The Unwritten Rules: The Six Skills You Need to Get Promoted to the Executive Level
John Beeson
Jossey-Bass, 2010

From the Book: In The Unwritten Rules, top executive coach John Beeson de-codes the leadership criteria—the unwritten rules—that companies use to make decisions about who gets promoted and whose careers become stalled. He identifies and describes the six selection factors you must develop to lead effectively at the executive level.

Getting to Plan B

Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model
John Mullins & Randy Komisar
Harvard Business Press, 2009

The authors explain how many successful businesses scarcely resemble the founders’ original plan. In fact. studies show that entrepreneurs who stick slavishly to their Plan A stand a greater chance of failing. Whether your idea is for a start-up or a new business unit within your organization, Getting to Plan B contains the road map you need to reach success.

The Mesh

The Mesh: Why the Future of Business Is Sharing
Lisa Gansky
Portfolio Hardcover, 2010

A fundamentally different business model has taken root-one in which consumers have more choices, more tools, more information, and more peer-to-peer power.

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