More than 11,000 business books are published every year—an overwhelming choice for busy professionals. Therefore, in partnership with getAbstract, Training brings you June’s top three business books recommended to our readers.
“You Can Do Anything. The Surprising Power of a Useless’ Liberal Arts Education” by George Anders (Little, Brown & Company, 2017, 352 pages, ISBN: 9780316548809; $18.36)
Pulitzer Prize-winning author George Anders believes people who infuse “a humanist’s grace” into “technical disciplines” meet the employment needs of contemporary society. He explains that liberal arts graduates can blend their skills, training, and “explorer’s spirit” to land innovative, satisfying jobs in varied fields. Most of his examples focus on recent grads, but his approach is transferrable to those who are ready for a career change. Anders offers valuable tips to help liberal arts majors envision their career possibilities and realize the long-term value of creative positioning. getAbstract recommends Anders’s guidance to recent grads and midcareer alumni ready to market their skills in fresh ways.
Rating (out of 10): 8
Applicability: 9
Innovation: 8
Style: 7
“The Talent Masters. Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers” by Bill Conaty and Ram Charan (Crown Publishing Group, 2010, 338 pages, ISBN: 9780307460264; $17.80)
Bill Conaty, a veteran HR leader at GE, and Ram Charan, a prolific business author, explain how to turn your company into a “talent master” and what you will gain if you do. They detail how five superb talent master firms—GE, P&G, Novartis, Agilent Technologies, and Hindustan Unilever—organize their employee development, and how their initiatives fuel success. Charan and Conaty also provide an in-depth report on Crotonville, GE’s world-class training facility. And they include a re-examination of the way Jack Welch, GE’s CEO from 1981 to 2001, famously transformed his corporation. getAbstract recommends this overview, a solid reflection of the authors’ extensive experience.
Rating (out of 10): 8
Applicability: 8
Innovation: 7
Style: 8
“Your Creative Career. Turn Your Passion into a Fulfilling and Financially Rewarding Lifestyle” by Anna Sabino (Career Press, 2018, 187 pages, ISBN: 9781632651112; $15.55)
Anna Sabino, founder of jewelry brand Lucid New York, transformed herself from a jewelry designer into a lifestyle designer. She hopes to inspire fellow artists and innovators to pursue creative careers doing what they love. She identifies the obstacles—many self-imposed—that keep people from turning their artistry into a business, and offers anecdotes and solutions. She supplies practical business advice on pricing, branding, sales, inventory management, and mastering social media. Sabino tries to cover too much ground, she’s prone to repeating certain themes, and the proofreading isn’t exactly polished, but the book is warm and helpful nonetheless. getAbstract believes those yearning to turn a passion into a profitable business will savor Sabino’s encouragement, tough love, and insider tips.
Rating (out of 10): 7
Applicability: 8
Innovation: 7
Style: 7
For five-page summaries of these and more than 15,000 other titles, visit http://www.getabstract.com/affiliate/trainingmagazine
