What We Are Reading Articles

Business Books

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: 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: 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.

Business Books

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: 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: 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.

Business Books

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: 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: 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.

Business Books

Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative
Ken Robinson
Capstone, 2011

“It is often said that education and training are the keys to the future. They are, but a key can be turned in two directions. Turn it one way and you lock resources away, even from those they belong to. Turn it the other way and you release resources and give people back to themselves. To realize our true creative potential—in our organizations, in our schools and in our communities—we need to think differently about ourselves and to act differently towards each other. We must learn to be creative.” –Ken Robinson

Leadership is Dead: How Influence is Reviving It
Jeremie Kubicek
Howard Books, 2011

The author illustrates that the key to being a strong leader is gained through the power to influence. Influence, not from direct authority, but from trust and personal generosity.

Fierce Conversations
Susan Scott
Berkley Trade, 2004

The author, through the seven principles of fierce conversations, teaches readers how to overcome barriers to meaningful communication. The book offers anecdotes from the author’s own experience with CEO’s and business executives around the world.

Business Books

Beyond the Babble: Leadership Communication that Drives Results
Bob Matha, Macy Boehm
Jossey-Bass, 2008

Improve your leadership skills — even if you aren’t a “natural” communicator — with a specific communication strategy that anyone can use. The authors explore why communication is crucial, how and when to do it, how to embed it in an organization’s culture.

The Accountable Leader: Developing Effective Leadership Through Managerial Accountability
Brian Dive
Kogan Page, 2008

The author explores the relationship between leadership, accountability and organizational structure. He argues that the majority of leadership-related problems arise not from ineffective individuals but from organizational structures that lack accountable jobs.

Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor
Warren Bennis,Daniel Goleman, James O’Toole
Jossey Bass, 2008

The authors explore why the containment of truth is the dearest held value of far too many organizations and suggest practical ways that organizations, their leaders, their members, and their boards can achieve openness. They describe how leaders often impede the flow of information and the structural barriers that keep information from getting where it needs to go.

Business Books

Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO
Harrison Monarth
McGraw Hill, 2010

While intelligence and skills are important, they are not the only characteristics that will lead you to professional success. Using the latest research on human behavior, the author provides some of the secrets influencial people use to reach the highest positions within an organization.

The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization
Peter Drucker
Jossey-Bass, 2008

The author, along with his collaborators, provide 5 questions every business owner or leader should ask him/herself about their organizations. The answers readers come up with, will help clarify their reasons for leading an organization and how they can do it better.

Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding the Three Fears that Sabotage Client Loyalty
Patrick Lencioni
Jossey-Bass, 2010

From the author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, the book provides insight into what it means to build client loyalty. Written in fable form, the book follows the story of a small consulting firm which often land top clients away from big-name competitors.

Divide or Conquer: How Great Teams Turn Conflict Into Strength
Diana McLain Smith
Portfolio Hardcover, 2008

The author provides tools to ensure relationships remain strong enough to handle to toughest challenges.

Business Books

Talent is Overrated
Geoffrey Colvin
Portfolio Trade, 2010

The author challenges the popular notion that one of two factors influence success: hardwork or innate talent. Instead, the author highlights the effect of a specific type of effort, deliberate practice, as the secret to extraordinary success.

Islands of Profit in a Sea of Red Ink
Jonathan L.S. Byrnes
Portfolio Hardcover, 2010

The author offers managers tips on reestablishing a healthy profit by creating a profitability database, modeling a customer, creating an action plan, and institutionalizing profit mapping.

The Little Big Things
Tom Peters
Harper Business, 2010

From the author of ln Search of Excellence, comes this book about 163 small ways to pursue business excellence. Written in a conversational, anecdotal format, the book offers tips one might find in a leadership blog.

Business Books

Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers
Stan Slap
Portfolio Hardcover, 2010

The book provides a framework to build a truly committed and emotionally-engaged workforce by focusing on managers’ personal values. The author shares the techniques he’s used over several decades to transform the performance of some of the world’s leading companies, quickly cutting to the chase with irreverence and wit.

The Truth about Leadership: The No-fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know
James Kouzes & Barry Posner
Jossey-Bass, 2010

This book, from two of the biggest names in leadership, reveals ten time-tested truths that show what every leader must know, the questions they must be prepared to answer, and the real-world issues they will likely face.

Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win
William Taylor & Polly Labarre
Harper Paperbacks, 2008

The authors, both from FastCompany magazine, give you an inside look at the “most original minds in business.” Want to stop doing business as usual? Then take some lessons from the 32 maverick companies profiled.

Business Books

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Dan Ariely
Harper Perennial, 2010

In this New York Times bestseller, the author challenges the common assumption that we behave in rational ways when we look to make decisions in the workplace and in our personal lives. This book provides valuable insight into human behavior while at the same time entertaining the reader through the use of clever and humorous anecdotes.

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
Seth Godin
Portfolio Hardcover, 2010

This book, authored by Marketing guru Seth Godin, introduces the concept of the indispensible linchpin – somebody who cannot be replaced within an organization because they are far too valuable. The author provides insight into what it takes to become a linchpin and challenges the reader to become indispensible within their own organization.

Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What The Most Effective People Do Differently
John C. Maxwell
Thomas Nelson, 2010

The author takes readers through the five connecting principles and five connecting practices of top-notch achievers.

This month’s book list includes three newer titles:

Business Books

The Why of Work
Dave Ulrich & Wendy Ulrich
McGraw-Hill, 2010

This book helps leaders understand the larger purpose and meaning of work. By understanding what meaning employees find in the work they do, leaders can create work environments that support and enhance the contributions of each employee.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Daniel H. Pink
Riverhead Hardcover, 2009

The author challenges the the traditional wisdom that people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. The book offers case studies from well-known companies that are seeing results by challenging the carrot and stick approach to motivation.

Great Work Great Career
Stephen R. Covey & Jennifer Colosimo
Franklin Covey, 2009

This book is designed to help readers think about their careers in a new way to find satisfaction and meaning. The book offers practical steps and tools to help move your career forward.