More than 11,000 business books are published every year—an overwhelming choice for busy professionals. Therefore, in partnership with getAbstract, Training brings you March’stop three business books recommended to our readers.
“StoryTraining. Selecting and Shaping Stories that Connect” by Hadiya Nuriddin (ATD Publications, 2018, 160 pages, ISBN: 9781562866891; $ 32.95)
The most powerful way to communicate is to tell stories. This has been true since humans first developed language, and it remains true for professional communicators, especially corporate trainers and instructional designers. Learning design and development expert Hadiya Nuriddin shows corporate educators how to discover, structure, and tell the stories that will best capture and nourish the attention of their audiences. Nuriddin’s versatile, clear manual explains different models of storytelling and how best to apply them. Tapping into the foundational principles of story planning, creative writing, and film production, Nuriddin includes useful checklists, helpful tips, story timeline diagrams, and proven story models to help you become an expert storyteller. This comprehensive presentation will serve corporate trainers, educational facilitators, and all those who would like to improve their communication skills.
Rating (out of 10): 8
Applicability: 9
Innovation: 7
Style: 9
“The New Education. How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux” by Cathy N. Davidson (Basic Books, 2017, 336 pages, ISBN: 9780465079728; $28)
Cathy N. Davidson believes higher education must overcome its 19thcentury roots to prepare students for the digital and global workplace. Today’s students won’t be entering factories as workers or managers, and so they require a different set of skills and training. Davidson, a distinguished professor at the City University of New York (CUNY), offers background information on why today’s systems have their roots in an industrial age. She details a shocking legacy of racism and eugenics at the root of many of today’s standardization practices, including IQ tests. Davidson presents examples of new educational models American community colleges and elite universities are exploring. She concludes with a list of simple techniques colleges can use to shift classrooms toward a more active learning model. She presents a separate list telling students how to get the most out of their education. Her overview provides a useful perspective for any parent of college students or college-bound teens and for those in the business of education who want to make changes but don’t know where to start.
Rating (out of 10): 9
Importance: 9
Innovation: 9
Style: 9
“The Leader Habit. Master the Skills You Need to Lead in Just Minutes a Day” by Martin Lanik (AMACOM, 2018, 256 pages, ISBN: 9780814439340; $25)
Leadership is a collection of habits. If you learn to develop the right ones, you can become a better leader. To that end, leadership development expert Martin Lanik details his “Leader Habit Formula,” which guides you in linking leadership actions to specific cues, or “microbehaviors,” until they become habitual. Lanik lists a long menu of cues and behaviors, so diligent and patient readers will gain the most from his method. He asserts that reading leadership books isn’t a productive way to learn to lead, but he sells himself—and the genre—short, as readers will discover to their pleasure. getAbstract recommends his helpful, specific approach to those who want to become leaders and to those who already lead or train leaders, whether formally or informally.
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
