More than 11,000 business books are published every year—an overwhelming choice for busy professionals. Therefore, in partnership with getAbstract, Training brings you April’s top three business books recommended to our readers.
“Mastering Leadership. An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results” by Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams (Wiley, 2015, 384 pages, ISBN: 9781119147190; $30)
In their introduction, leadership experts Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams promise that this work can serve as your leadership development book for life. It’s a bold promise, but they offer something unique: an honest and courageous perspective that blends data and science with poetry, psychology, theology, and philosophy. Though their treatise is unnecessarily lengthy and complex in parts, it goes well beyond leadership development books that speak only about how leaders should behave and the competencies they need to engage a modern workforce within complex organizations. The authors weave in ex-Harvard psychologist Robert Kegan’s stages of adult cognitive development. Using large data sets that rest on decades of work, they demonstrate that leaders must evolve through these stages individually and as a leadership team before they can transform organizations or lead effectively. Leadership development professionals will find this groundbreaking approach worthwhile to read and may come to consider the other publications in their field through its lens.
Rating (out of 10): 9
Applicability: 9
Innovation: 9
Style: 8
“Humane Capital. How to Create a Management Shift to Transform Performance and Profit” by Vlatka Hlupic (Bloomsbury, 2018, 320 pages, ISBN: 9781472957641; $35)
Business development expert Vlatka Hlupic’s previous book, “The Management Shift,” provided leaders with a model for mobilizing transformation in the workplace. Here, she continues sharing her insights into the challenges and opportunities companies face, and how they need to change as society enters the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This book provides real-life examples of how the “Management Shift model” facilitates this change. Hlupic includes information from leaders who explain how the “shift” occurred in their organizations, and why it requires empathy, collaborative practices, and a focus on relationships. Companies must be nimble and responsive to customer needs, and workers must feel empowered. Hlupic goes through the actions organizations must change, the lessons practitioners have learned, and proof that implementing the management shift she outlines offers the business world sustainability, profitability, and, most of all, relevance.
Rating (out of 10): 8
Applicability: 9
Innovation: 8
Style: 7
“The Fearless Organization. Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth” by Amy C. Edmondson (Wiley, 2018, 256 pages, ISBN: 9781119477242; $30)
Leadership expert Amy Edmondson defines a fearless organization as one in which people feel psychologically safe—enjoying protection from ridicule or penalties when they share their ideas, feedback, and constructive criticisms. Where this happens, firms benefit from better ideas, greater risk taking, more learning, and fewer disastrous decisions. Few firms, however, exhibit fearlessness. Leaders’ conscious and subconscious behaviors—including actions, words, and even subtle cues—suppress alternative views. Employees won’t share ideas and opinions for fear of looking foolish, offending others, damaging relationships, or losing their jobs. Edmondson’s deep, if sometimes repetitive, exploration of the harmful repercussions of self-censorship is a valuable addition to books on leadership, employee engagement, and HR. Her insights will benefit leaders at every level. By taking the actions she recommends, leaders can substantially improve their teams, divisions, and organizations, as well as their employees’ lives.
Rating (out of 10): 8
Applicability: 9
Innovation: 8
Style: 7
For five-page summaries of these and more than 15,000 other titles, visit http://www.getabstract.com/affiliate/trainingmagazine
