More than 11,000 business books are published every year—an overwhelming choice for busy professionals. Therefore, in partnership with getAbstract, Training brings you November’s top three business books recommended to our readers.
“Talent Magnet. How to Attract and Keep the Best People” by Mark Miller (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2018, 168 pages, ISBN: 9781523094950; $24.95)
Competition for talent is now so intense that the best potential employees can be highly selective. Because top talent can pick and choose, personnel issues have become more complex and companies are facing a shortage of top-quality recruits. Mark Miller’s business fable, intertwined with a subplot about a group of job-hunting teens, illustrates how a fictitious firm recruits the best prospects. The fable’s factual basis came from Miller’s firm’s research, including hundreds of interviews. The characters and the dialogue are a little wooden, but they’re meant to be archetypes, and Miller deploys them to provide useful lessons about what motivates top prospects.
Rating (out of 10): 7
Applicability: 8
Innovation: 6
Style: 6
“Social Value Investing. A Management Framework for Effective Partnerships” by Howard W. Buffett and William B. Eimicke (Columbia University Press, 2018, 448 pages, ISBN: 9780231182904; $27.95)
The time is ripe for cross-sector partnerships that bring together businesses, governments, and nonprofits to solve thorny social problems. So say professors Howard W. Buffett and William B. Eimicke in this incisive look at how “social value investing” unites private-sector metrics and procedures with public-sector projects and goals. The authors lay out detailed studies of successful examples that include India’s introduction of crime-proof identity cards and the rescue of New York City’s Central Park. Activists, students, and investors will appreciate this roadmap for collaboration.
Rating (out of 10): 8
Applicability: 8
Innovation: 9
Style: 7
“How We Talk. The Inner Workings of Conversation” by N. J. Enfield (Basic Books, 2017, 272 pages, ISBN: 9780465059942; $27)
For those who love language, linguistics professor N. J. Enfield’s manual offers a treasure trove of research-supported data. Enfield’s fascinating exploration of how people respond during verbal interactions reveals compelling information on the timing of how people use words and subconsciously assist one another to help conversations run smoothly. Readers lacking a background or in-depth interest in the scientific aspects of communication may find Enfield’s details challenging, such as in his explanation of the millisecond timing of verbal exchanges. However, despite his thornier explanations, most of his material provides a wealth of communication insight that will give you plenty to ponder or discuss during your future conversations.
Rating (out of 10): 8
Applicability: 8
Innovation: 10
Style: 7
For five-page summaries of these and more than 15,000 other titles, visit http://www.getabstract.com/affiliate/trainingmagazine
