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What’s on Your Nightstand? As life-time learners, we strive to keep up with good reading material. We've updated our list for the coming year and hope you find something interesting. Thoughts on Leadership - Selected Reading for 2009 - The Secret Handshake - Mastering the Politics of the Business Inner Circle, by Kathleen Kelly Reardon
Top corporate consultant and USC management professor Kathleen Reardon explores and reveals the hidden rules on the ins and outs of corporate politics that you won’t find in any employee handbook. Based on hundreds of candid interviews with Fortune 500 executives who have achieved their goals and joined the inner circle, The Secret Handshake offers invaluable advice on such career-building tactics and skills as getting noticed, networking, persuading others, knowing which battles to fight, and mastering the art of the quid pro quo.
Career Warfare - 10 Rules for Building Your Successful Brand on the Business Battlefield, by David F. D'Alessandro
From one of America's most prominent and respected CEO's, Career Warfare provides object lessons on success for leaders at every level. It is a "how to succeed book" for the ambitious person interested in breaking out of the pack and climbing high up the corporate ladder. It offers concrete advice on building the kind of reputation that makes people want to take a chance on you.
Moral Leadership - The Theory and Practice of Power, Judgment and Policy, by Deborah L. Rhode
Moral Leadership focuses on issues such as the definition and importance of moral leadership and the factors that influence its exercise, along with practical strategies for promoting ethical behavior, contributors address the dynamics of moral leadership, with particular emphasis on major obstacles that stand in its way: impaired judgment, self-interest, and power.
The 108 Skills of Natural Born Leaders, by Warren Blank
No one is born a leader, but everyone has the natural born capacity to lead. This book identifies the skill set that causes others to see people as natural born leaders, helps readers assess their current level of these skills, and coaches readers to master their weak areas.
A Leader's Legacy, by James M. Kouzes and Barry L. Posner
Leadership experts examine critical questions all leaders must ask themselves—such as how leaders serve and sacrifice, why leaders need loving critics, why leaders should want to be liked, why leaders can't take trust for granted, why it’s not just the leader’s vision, why failure is always an option, why it takes courage to “make a life,” how to liberate the leader in everyone, and ultimately, how the legacy you leave is the life you lead.
Ethical Leadership, by Manuel Mendonca and Rabindra Kanungo
Ethical Leadership is the first book to rigorously explore the value of ethics in a business climate overwhelmingly driven by the need to generate profits and cut costs. Drawing on both authors' extensive experience in teaching and research, this book provides a clear, systemic model from which practical strategies can be derived for sound and effective leadership. The authors argue convincingly for the need for ethical leadership within organizations; demonstrating its importance for creating a moral climate which is essential for organizational effectiveness. The book begins with reviews of leadership theory and research as well as an overview of ethical theories. It goes on to examine morality in terms of leadership, suggesting the principles upon which leaders should make their judgments. In order to align business needs and best ethical practice, and in the face of ever louder demands for good governance and corporate social responsibility, leaders need to be role models whose motivation should be altruistic and work to the benefit of others and the organization. Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up, by Bo Burlingham and Norm Brodsky
Brodsky and Burlingham have compiled their useful “Street Smart” column wisdom in this collection of stories about companies that have "the knack" for facing challenges and pursuing opportunities. The first chapter's description of gross margin and its make-or-break effect on a fledging business alone earns it the top spot this year.
Reward Systems, by Steve Kerr
Identifying the problems with most reward (or incentive) programs and distilling years of experience, Steve Kerr presents a three-step process for creating a simple yet effective rewards system that will improve both performance and motivation in your workplace.
Total Leadership, by Stewart D. Friedman
In Total Leadership, Stewart Friedman, founding director of the Wharton Leadership Program, presents a concrete methodology for building a more integrated life. His program is really a practice, requiring both action and reflection, that urges you to explore a triumvirate of qualities--Be Real (Act with Authenticity), Be Whole (Act with Integrity), Be Innovative (Act with Creativity)--to help you become a leader in every aspect (work, home, community and self) of your life.
One Foot Out the Door, How to Combat the Psychological Recession That's Alienating Employees and Hurting American Business, by Judith M. Bardwick
Companies measure everything but very few measure the cost of bad management. It’s really expensive. Using hard numbers and current studies that prove the direct connection between a company’s financial performance and its employee’s commitment, One Foot Out the Door is first a wake-up call and then a source of original ideas and practical strategies for nurturing employee commitment and engagement and restoring peoples confidence and optimism.
Recommended Reading 2008 - The Breakthrough Company, How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers, by Keith R. McFarland
The vast majority of small businesses stay small--and not by choice. Only the most savvy and persistent - a tiny one tenth of one percent - break through to annual sales above $250 million. In this book, Keith McFarland pinpoints how everyday companies become extraordinary, showing that luck is a negligible factor. Rather, breakthrough success turns out to be associated with a clearly identifiable set of strategies and skills that anyone in any busines can emulate -- from small startup to industry leader.
- Talent is Never Enough, by John C. Maxwell
Leadership expert Dr. John C. Maxwell knows that people are never successful by talent alone, and in this book he outlines the 13 crucial things you can do to maximize your natural talents and become a "Talent-plus" person. As long as there are people in the world, there will be plenty of talent. If that were enough, everyone would reach their potential. What’s missing are things people need in addition to their talent. Maxwell believes first that you have talent, and second, that you can improve it. With compelling examples from many who maximized their talent and a few who did not, he shares the secret of thirteen key choices you can make to become a talent-plus person.
- Winning Decisions: Getting it Right the First Time, by J. Edward Russo and Paul J. H. Schoemaker
Decision-making is a business skill which managers often take for granted in themesleves and others--but it's not as easy as some might think. The authors, whose expertise has been sought out by over a hundred companies, including Arthur Andersen, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Univlever, content that decision-making, like any other skill, must be developed and honed if it is to be used effectively.
- Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace, by Dennis S. Reinha, Ph.D. and Michelle L. Reina, Ph.D.
More than ever, there's a need for trust in the workplace. Trust makes organizations WORK. This book is all about trust--the power when it exists, the problems when it doesn't, the pain when it is lost, and the steps you can take to rebuild it, engage people, and encourage collaboration. The practical approach offered in this book gives you the tools to build trust, improve performance, and boost bottom-line results.
- Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, by Larry Bossidy, Ram Charan and Charles Burck
Execution is "the missing link between aspirations and results," and as such, making it happen is the business leader's most important job. While failure in today's business environment is often attributed to other causes, Bossidy and Charan argue that the biggest obstacle to success is the absence of execution. They point out that without execution, breakthrough thinking on managing change breaks down, and they emphasize the fact that execution is a discipline to learn, not merely the tactical side of business.
- The Set-Up-To-Fail Syndrome, How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail, by Jean-Francois Manzone & Jean-Louis Barsoux
This book addresses a real problem that each and every boss faces, has faced, or will face: "How do I get better performance from my subordinates, particularly those in whom I have limtied confidence and whose abilities I do not trust as much?" The sad reality is that once people are miscast as weaker performers, they tend to live down to that image, regardless of their capabilities. The authors investigate how bosses can trigger and remain blind to a dynamic that is hurting them, their people and their companies and then how they can interrupt and avoid the cycle all together.
- Millennials Rising, by Neil Howe and William Strauss
The authors hammer home the importance of generational diversity; this is not your parents' workplace. Managers must understand the Millennial generation born from 1977 to 1998...they want order, direction and structure, and managers need to learn how to give it.
- A Mind of its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives, by Cordelia Fine
Cordelia Fine, a professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne, demonstrates that none of us are immune to stereotype priming -- she calls it "The Bigoted Brain" -- and offers ways to unstick stereotypical views of minorities that can open managers and employees alike to the value of diversity.
- The Power of Inclusion, Unlock the Potential and Productivity of Your Workforce, by Michael C. Hyter and Judith L. Turnock
There is an enormous amount of wasted potential within organizations today because most do not adequately tap in to the wealth of human capital available to them. This book makes a business case for a new inclusive model of human resource development, driven by the demands of increasingly diverse workplaces and continuing expansion of the global economy. The authors ’ approach — developing talent in all employees and aligning human resource systems and senior leadership commitment with that goal — is a response to a business challenge facing corporate North America today. The patterns of exclusion and preference that limit human potential are universal; this book offers management insights for any corporate audience serious about maximizing productivity in the competitive global economy.
Exercising Influence, by B. Kim Barnes
We all need to influence others in order to build relationships and achieve results in our personal and professional lives. In this hands-on, practical guide to the skills of influence, Kim Barnes show us how to accomplish far more with less effort; to create work, family, and community relationships that are more balanced and mutually rewarding, and to take charge of their lives ina powerful, ethical and productive way.
Recommended Reading 2007 - The Heart of Change, by John Kotter and Dan Cohen
The Heart of Change reveals a new dynamic - the "see-feel-change" dynamic that fuels action by showing people potent reasons for change that spark their emotions. Built around the eight steps of change first introduced in Kotter's bestseller, Leading Change, The Heart of Change gives straight advice on successful change - and true stories of companies making change happen.
- Our Iceberg is Melting Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions, by John Kotter
Harvard Business School professor Kotter, author of the bestselling Leading Change (1996), teams up with executive Rathgeber to offer his contribution to the "business fable" genre. Kotter presents his framework for an effective corporate change initiative through the tale of a colony of Antarctic penguins facing danger-inspired. this light, quick read should fulfill its intended purpose: to serve as a springboard for group discussions about corporate culture, group dynamics and the challenges of change.
- True North, Discover Your Authentic Leadership, by Bill George
Based on research and first-person interviews with 125 of the top business leaders, Bill George and Coauthor Peter Sims, describe how anyone com become an authentic leader. The book presents a concrete and comprehensive program for leadership success, showing readers how to create their own Personal Leadership Development Plan.
- The Innovation Equation, Building Creativity and Risk Taking in Your Organization, by Jacqueline Byrd and Paul Lockwood Brown
While you may think that being creative means being artistic and getting in touch with your inner child and that being a risk taker is all about thrill seeking activities like bungee jumping and/or race car driving, the authors hope that this book will influence how you frame these concepts and help you learn how to use them to your advantage in creating innovative applications for yourself, your teams, and your organization. Risk taking coupled with creative ideas is what innovation is about. This book provides an understanding of how to get there.
- Sustaining Innovation, Creating Non-profit and Government Organizations that Innovate Naturally, by Paul C. Light
Any organization can innovate once. The challenge is to innovate twice, thrice, and more, to make innovation a part of daily good practice. This book shows how non-profit and government organizations can transform the single, occasional act of innovating into an everyday occurrence by forging a culture of natural innovation.
- Quiet Leadership, Help People Think Better – Don’t Tell Them What to Do!, by David Rock
You start a conversation with someone you manage, a conversation about a project that could be going better. You want to improve their performance and think you know what they should do. You estimate the conversation should only take a few minutes, yet somehow 45 minutes later you’re still going around in circles. Sound familiar? This book offers a practical six-step guide to making permanent workplace performance change by unleashing higher productivity, new levels of morale, and greater job satisfaction. Above all, this book will give you the clarity and strength that comes from mastering and using powerful insights that teach you to perform and succeed, at the highest level.
- Know-How, The 8 Skills that Separate People who Perform from Those who Don’t, by Ram Charan
How often have you heard someone with a commanding presence deliver a bold vision that turned out to be nothing more than rhetoric and hot air? All too often we mistake the appearance of leadership for the real deal. Without a doubt, intelligence, vision, and the ability to communicate are important. But something big is missing: the know-how of running a business – the capacity to take it in the right direction, do the right things, make the right decisions, deliver results, and leave people and the business better off than they were before. This book offers insight into the real content of leadership and provides you with the eight fundamental skills needed for success in the twenty-first century.
- Human Dynamics, A New Framework for Understanding People and Realizing the Potential in Our Organizations, by Sandra Seagal and David Horne
A systemic approach to the complexities and wonders of how we process information, learn, communicate, maintain well-being, respond to stress, and develop as unique human beings…individually and collectively.
- Global Literacies, Lessons on Business Leadership and National Cultures, by Robert Rosen
Throughout the world, languages differ, but the business questions are the same. In French and Japanese, Hebrew and English, executives are asking, “How can I survive and thrive in the borderless, global marketplace?” For answers, the author of this book went straight to the leaders themselves – the CEOs of thousand of corporations around the globe.
- The Trusted Leader, Bringing Out the Best in Your People and Your Company, by Robert Galford and Anne Seibold Drapeau
Rich in true stories, examples, and practical advice, this book guides leaders on how to climb the ladder of trust and how to secure their legacy as trusted leaders. For managers of all levels, this book is the only comprehensive guide for building trust inside an organization – the key to every company’s long-term survival and success.
- Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen
David Allen shares with readers the proven productivity strategies that he has developed consulting at such top organizations as New York Life, the World Bank, Microsoft, the Ford Foundation and the U.S. Navy. David Allen shows how valuable and effective ways to achieve your goals in life and work with the minimum amount of stress and the maximum degree of efficiency and flexibility.
Recommended Reading 2006 - Good to Great, by Jim Collins
Can a merely good company become a great company? In Good to Great, the author of Built to Last, one of the defining management studies of the nineties, explains how to do it. Collins and his team of researches began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They settled on 11 -- including Gillette, Walgreens and Wells Fargo -- and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Some of the key concepts "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people." Risk being upset and read this one.
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven R. Covey
This book has been on the best-seller list for nearly nine years. Many people have told us they read the book several years ago, but are re-reading it or listening to a summary tape again and again for a quick review of Steven Covey‘s insights. Why? Because 7 Habits provides the clearest possible path to personal effectiveness. This incredibly successful book is a pathway to wisdom and power. It offers a revolutionary program to breaking the patterns of self-defeating behavior that keep us from achieving our goals and reaching our fullest potential, and describes how to replace them with a principle-focused approach to problem-solving.
- The Balanced Scorecard, by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton
As professors at Harvard Business School liked to point out, “You can‘t manage what you can‘t measure.” This book will profoundly change the way you measure and manage your company. It offers a much broader perspective than the traditional way of looking at the business. It allows you to balance your financial evaluation of your company with three additional perspectives: (1) customer knowledge; (2) internal business processes; and (3) learning and growth. This means that, instead of relying solely on lagging indicators, you can identify leading indicators so that you can foresee problems and opportunities, and then respond to them proactively. Most importantly, you will learn how to link your company‘s mission statement with the day-to-day actions of your employees.
- The 80/20 Principle, by Richard Koch
Put simply, the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 principle, asserts that a relatively small proportion of causes or efforts usually leads to the vast majority of rewards. This means that 80% of what you achieve in your job typically comes from 20% of the effort spent. For all practical purposes, then, four-fifths of your effort is wasted. Counter-intuitively, the solution to your problem is generally not to do more, but to do less.
- What the Best CEO’s Know, by Jeffrey A. Krames
Every leader at every level of a business can learn valuable leadership lessons from seven exceptional top executives: Michael Dell, Jack Welch, Lou Gerstner, Andy Grove, Bill Gates, Herb Kelleher, and Sam Walton. In What the Best CEOs Know, Jeffrey Krames reveals the insights, ideas, and innovations that led to their success. This book will help you to master the high-impact strategies that will boost your own success.
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