Friday Books and Talks 05/29/2015

The Spider’s Strategy
by Amit Mukherjee

To thrive in a world where networks of companies increasingly compete with other networks, managers can no longer focus solely on excellence in planning and execution. In The Spider’s Strategy, top business consultant Amit S. Mukherjee provides the tools you need to sense and respond to unexpected events. He shows how and why managers in your company must apply his four powerful “Design Principles” today.

The Well-Timed Strategy
by Peter Navarro

It’s not enough to understand the business cycle and the industry cycle. In The Well-Timed Strategy, Peter Navarro discusses today’s unprecedented level of macroeconomic turbulence – from oil price hikes to drought and disease. Whether an executive, a strategist or an investor, Navarro provides the tools to align every facet of business strategy, tactics and operations to reflect changing business conditions. Keeping in mind finance, supply chains, production, marketing, HR and more, the author outlines ways to profit from the chaos of business cycle volatility by implementing the appropriate strategy.

Working with Emotional Intelligence
by Daniel Goleman

Do you have what it takes to succeed in your career?

The secret of success is not what they taught you in school. What matters most is not IQ, not a business school degree, not even technical know-how or years of expertise. The single most important factor in job performance and advancement is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is actually a set of skills that anyone can acquire, and in this practical guide, Daniel Goleman identifies them, explains their importance, and shows how they can be fostered.

For leaders, emotional intelligence is almost 90 percent of what sets stars apart from the mediocre. As Goleman documents, it’s the essential ingredient for reaching and staying at the top in any field, even in high-tech careers. And organizations that learn to operate in emotionally intelligent ways are the companies that will remain vital and dynamic in the competitive marketplace of today—and the future.

Comprehensively researched, crisply written, and packed with fascinating case histories of triumphs, disasters, and dramatic turnarounds, Working with Emotional Intelligence may be the most important business book you’ll ever read.

Drawing on unparalleled access to business leaders around the world and studies in more than 500 organizations, Goleman documents an astonishing fact: in determining star performance in every field, emotional intelligence matters twice as much as IQ or technical expertise.

Readers also discover how emotional competence can be learned. Goleman analyzes five key sets of skills and vividly shows how they determine who is hired and who is fired in the top corporations in the world. He also provides guidelines for training in the “emotionally intelligent organization,” in chapters that no one, from manager to CEO, should miss.

Working with Emotional Intelligence could prove to be the most important reference for bottom-line business people in the first decades of the 21st century.

Power Listening: Mastering the Most Critical Business Skill of All
by Bernard T. Ferrari

Listening is harder than it looks- but it’s the difference between business success and failure.

Nothing causes bad decisions in organizations as often as poor listening. But Bernard Ferrari, adviser to some of the nation’s most influential executives, believes that such missteps can be avoided and that the skills and habits of good listening can be developed and mastered. He offers a step-by-step process that will help readers become active listeners, able to shape and focus any conversation.

Ferrari reveals how to turn a tin ear into a platinum ear. His practical insights include:

• Good listening is hard work, not a passive activity
• Good listening means asking questions, challenging all assumptions, and understanding the context of every interaction
• Good listening results in a new clarity of focus, greater efficiency, and an increased likelihood of making better decisions
• Good listening can be the difference between a long career and a short one

Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours
by Robert C. Pozen

In Extreme Productivity, author Robert Pozen reveals the secrets to workplace productivity and high performance. This book is for anyone feeling overwhelmed by an existing workload — facing myriad competing demands and multiple time-sensitive projects. Offering antidotes to a calendar full of boring meetings and a backlog of e-mails, Extreme Productivity explains how to determine your highest priorities and match them with how you actually spend your time.

The Pause Principle
by Kevin Cashman

The constant barrage of information can overwhelm a person’s decision-making ability. In The Pause Principle, Kevin Cashman makes the argument that today’s leaders need to take the necessary time to deeply pause before acting. Leaders must make an effort to create vision, understanding, clarity and agility. Cashman describes the need to pause to grow personal leadership, develop others, and foster a culture of innovation. By following the pause practices Cashman describes, executives will learn how to step back to lead forward.

Talent is Never Enough
by John C. Maxwell

Read the headlines, watch the highlights, or just step out your front door: Some talented people reach their full potential, while others self-destruct or remain trapped in mediocrity. What makes the difference? Maxwell, the go-to guru for business professionals across the globe, insists that the choices people make-not merely the skills they inherit-propel them onto greatness. Among other truths, successful people know that:

• Belief lifts your talent.
• Initiative activates your talent.
• Focus directs your talent.
• Preparation positions your talent.
• Practice sharpens your talent.
• Perseverance sustains your talent.
• Character protects your talent.

It’s what you add to your talent that makes the greatest difference. With authentic examples and time-tested wisdom, Maxwell shares thirteen attributes you need to maximize your potential and live the life of your dreams. You can have talent alone and fall short of your potential. Or you can have talent plus, and really stand out.

Low-Hanging Fruit
by Jeremy Eden, Terri Long

How can anyone, from the shop floor up to the C-suite, make their companies better? Despite years of corporate initiatives and implementing big fixes, are there really more simple and smart ways to improve productivity? In Low-Hanging Fruit, co-authors Jeremy Eden and Terri Long not only answer that question, they show how to get it. Low-Hanging Fruit is a fast-paced, fun read with 77 different ways to make a difference at your company. Eden, a former McKinsey consultant and Long, a former bank executive use many great examples from working with teams at Fortune 1000 companies helping them cut through the complexity, the politics and the waste. Low-Hanging Fruit gives you the best ideas culled from their experience such as how to deal with the “unintentional squelch” “zombie projects” and why mom was wrong about always doing your best.

This isn’t a theoretical business tome. This is an indispensable guide that should sit on every career-minded person’s desk to be referenced regularly. Often contrarian, always passionate, Low-Hanging Fruit has the power to change your career and your organization.

How Did That Happen?
by Roger Connors, Tom Smith

The economy crashes, the government misfires, businesses fail, leaders don’t lead, managers don’t manage, and the people we count on for the results that affect our own performance don’t follow through, leaving us asking, “How did that happen?” Surprises caused by a lack of personal accountability plague almost every organization today, from the political arena to every large and small business. How Did That Happen? offers a proven way to eliminate these nasty surprises, gain an unbeatable competitive edge, and enhance performance by holding others accountable in a positive, principled way.

The Definitive Drucker
by Elizabeth Haas Edersheim

For sixteen months before his death, Elizabeth Haas Edersheim was given unprecedented access to Peter Drucker, widely regarded as the father of modern management. At Drucker’s request, Edersheim, a respected management thinker in her own right, spoke with him about the development of modern business throughout his life-and how it continues to grow and change at an ever-increasing rate. The Definitive Drucker captures his visionary management concepts, applies them to the key business risks and opportunities of the coming decades, and imparts Drucker’s views on current business practices, economic changes, and trends-many of which he first predicted decades ago. It also sheds light onto issues such as why so many leaders fail, the fragility of our economic systems, and the new role of the CEO.

Drucker on Leadership
by William A. Cohen, Ph.D.

Although Peter Drucker, “The Father of Modern Management,” died in 2005, his timeless teachings are studied and practiced by forward-thinking managers worldwide. His lessons and wisdom on the topic of leadership-the central element of management-are in constant demand, yet he wrote little under that actual subject heading. In Drucker on Leadership , William A. Cohen explores Drucker’s lost leadership lessons-why they are missing, what they are, why they are important, and how to apply them. As Cohen explains, Drucker was ambivalent about leadership for much of his career, making it clear that leadership was not by itself “good or desirable.” While Drucker struggled with the concept of leadership, he was well aware that it had a critical impact on the accomplishment of all projects and human endeavors. There is no book from Drucker specifically dedicated to leadership, but a wealth of information about leadership can be found scattered throughout his 40 books and hundreds of articles. Drucker’s teachings about leadership have saved many corporations from failure and helped guide others to outstanding success. Many of the leadership concepts revealed in this book will surprise and perhaps shock Drucker’s followers. For example, who would have thought that Peter Drucker taught that “leadership is a marketing job” or that “the best leadership lessons for business or any nonprofit organization come from the military”? Written for anyone who values the insights of the man whose name is synonymous with excellence in management, Drucker on Leadership offers a deeper understanding of what makes an extraordinary leader.

Just Listen
by Mark Goulston

The first make-or-break step in persuading anyone to do any thing is getting them to hear you out. Whether the person is a harried colleague, a stressed-out client, or an insecure spouse, things will go from bad to worse if you can’t break through emotional barricades. Drawing on his experience as a psychiatrist, business consultant, and coach, and backed by the latest scientific research, author Mark Goulston shares simple but power ful techniques readers can use to really get through to people–whether they’re coworkers, friends, strangers, or enemies. Getting through is a fine art but a critical one. With the help of this groundbreaking book readers will be able to turn the “impossible” and “unreachable” people in their lives into allies, devoted customers, loyal colleagues, and lifetime friends.

Sitting people down and lecturing them rarely works, because it makes them defensive and when they’re defensive, they hide things from you. Work side by side with them in a cooperative activity, however, and you’ll lower their guard and get them to open up.