Friday Books and Talks 04/17/2014

Friday Books and Talks 04/17/2014

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success
by Adam M. Grant

For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But today, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. It turns out that at work, most people operate as either takers, matchers, or givers. Whereas takers strive to get as much as possible from others and matchers aim to trade evenly, givers are the rare breed of people who contribute to others without expecting anything in return.

Using his own pioneering research as Wharton’s youngest tenured professor, Adam Grant shows that these styles have a surprising impact on success. Although some givers get exploited and burn out, the rest achieve extraordinary results across a wide range of industries. Give and Take highlights what effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation, and leadership skills have in common. This landmark book opens up an approach to success that has the power to transform not just individuals and groups, but entire organizations and communities.

 

 

Anticipate: The Art of Leading by Looking Ahead
by Rob-Jan de Jong

Business schools, leadership gurus, and strategy guides agree – leaders must have a vision. But the sad truth is that most don’t…or at least not one that compels, inspires, and energizes their people. How can something so essential be practiced so little in real life? Vision may sound like a rare quality, unattainable by all except a select few – but nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone can expand their visionary capacity. You just need to learn how. In Anticipate, strategy and leadership expert Rob-Jan de Jong explains that to develop vision you must sharpen two key skills. The first is the ability to see things early – spotting the first hints of change on the horizon. The second is the power to connect the dots – turning those clues into a gripping story about the future of your organization and industry. Packed with stories and practices, Anticipate provides proven techniques for looking ahead and exploring many plausible futures – including the author’s trademarked Future Priming process, which helps distinguish signal from noise. You will discover how to: tap into your imagination and open yourself to the unconventional; become better at seeing things early; frame the big-picture view that provides direction for the future; communicate your vision in a way that engages others and provokes action. When you anticipate change before your competitors, you create enormous strategic advantage. That’s what visionaries do…and now so can you.

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