Book recommendations for business leaders: 4/11/19

Apr 11, 2019 | Reading Lists

Stephen King says that if you want to be a writer, there are two things you must do: read a lot and write a lot. This is about the “read a lot” part. I include reading lists and book reviews that will help you do business more effectively and write better for business.

In this post, I point you to reviews of Leadershift: The 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace, Team Human, Growth IQ: Get Smarter About the Choices that Will Make or Break Your Business, Hacking Life: Systematized Living and Its Discontents (Strong Ideas), and The Culture Question: How to Create a Workplace Where People Like to Work. Plus I point you to Michael McKinney’s list of leadership books coming in April 2019.

From Michael McKinney: 11 Shifts Every Leader Needs to Make

“TO GET FROM where we are to where we want to be requires a shift in our thinking. When our thinking shifts in an area, our perspective changes, and new opportunities become visible. We serve people differently.In Leadershift, John Maxwell states, ‘every advance you make as a leader will require a Leadershift that changes the way you think, act, and lead.'”

From Wharton: Team Human: Can We Reconnect in an Age of Isolation?

“When Facebook marked its 15th birthday recently, founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote a post expressing optimism about the positive role the social media site has played in reshaping society and communication for its 2.7 billion users. Douglas Rushkoff, professor of media theory and digital economics at City University of New York Queens, would disagree. In his new book, Team Human, which is based on his podcast by the same name, Rushkoff says social media is being used to divide people into increasingly atomized groups. Modern technology certainly has made life easier, he says, but it’s also made it easy for people to isolate themselves from opposing views, critical thought and even each other. But Rushkoff believes there is a way for humans to reconnect. He draws on research from evolution, biology and psychology to show the benefits of working collectively.”

From Skip Prichard: 10 Paths to Growing Your Business

“How organizations keep growing in the face of stiff competition, a fast-changing business environment, constant innovation, and technology changes is a constant issue for executives. In Growth IQ: Get Smarter About the Choices that Will Make or Break Your Business, Tiffani Bova shares ten simple paths to growth in this environment.”

Wally’s Comment: My friend, Tanmay Vora cerated the sketchnotes that illustrate the case studies in this book. Find out more about Tanmay and his sketchnotes here.

From the London School of Economics: Hacking Life: Systematized Living and its Discontents

“The book lays bare an increasingly popular ethos of our time, and exposes the exploitation it potentially engenders – reviewed by Ignas Kalpokas”

From Kevin Eikenberry: The Culture Question: How to Create a Workplace Where People Like to Work

“Into this melee comes a book that asks a simpler question – how can we create a workplace where people like to work? If you don’t frame your workplace culture question around the idea of content and happy employees, this book isn’t for you. But if you want a culture where employees are engaged and excited to be there, put this book on your reading list now.”

And from Michael McKinney: First Look: Leadership Books for April 2019.

Reading recommendations are a regular feature of this blog. Want more recommendations about what to read? Check out my Three Star Leadership blog, Michael McKinney’s LeadingBlog, and Skip Prichard’s Leadership Insights.