More than 15,000 business books are published every year—an overwhelming choice for busy professionals. Therefore, in partnership with getAbstract, Training brings you May’s top three business books recommended to our readers.
“Primed to Perform. How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation” by Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor (Published by arrangement with HarperBusiness, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2015, 368 pages, ISBN: 9780062373984; $21.05)
Consultants Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor bring together just about everything worthwhile about employee engagement, motivation, and workplace performance. They offer data and evidence to support each claim and piece of advice. Their entertaining case studies inform readers throughout, illustrating the three essential “direct motivators” that every company should use to build long-term success and the three “indirect motivators” that lead to lower performance. Though this manual can be repetitive, getAbstract recommends it highly. For leaders at every level, HR professionals, compensation executives, consultants, entrepreneurs, and students, this could be today’s best work about motivating performance.
Rating (out of 10): 9
Applicability: 9
Innovation: 8
Style: 9
“Building an Innovative Learning Organization. A Framework to Build a Smarter Workforce, Adapt to Change, and Drive Growth” by Russell Sarder (Wiley, 2016, 288 pages, ISBN: 9781119157458; $19.41)
General Electric, Google, Netflix, Starbucks, and PricewaterhouseCoopers are all “learning organizations” with vibrant “learning cultures.” Corporate learning expert Russell Sarder tells you how your company can join their ranks and become an organization that fosters continuous learning for sound strategic reasons. He explains why an emphasis on learning makes any workforce stronger. While he covers mostly familiar ground, getAbstract finds that Sarder provides a solid foundation for HR executives, corporate strategists, and executives who want to gain from the advantages of developing a learning organization.
Rating (out of 10): 7
Applicability: 8
Innovation: 5
Style: 7
“The Coaching Habit. Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever” by Michael Bungay Stanier (Box of Crayons Press, 2016, 242 pages, ISBN: 9780978440749; $10.56)
Despite executive coaching’s high profile, few managers coach well or even at all. Many equate coaching with giving advice and little else. Coaching involves much more than just talking to people; it requires posing intelligent questions that inspire your employees to talk about their thoughts, their work, and their concerns. Managers can use a proactive questioning process to learn what’s going on with their employees (or family members, for that matter) and help them upgrade their skills, reach their own solutions and understand their own actions. Michael Bungay Stanier, the first person honored as Coach of the Year in Canada, uses the construct of seven essential coaching questions to teach managers how to coach effectively. getAbstract recommends his manual to all managers, aspiring business coaches, and any practitioners who might welcome a refresher.
Rating (out of 10): 9
Applicability: 9
Innovation: 9
Style: 9
For five-page summaries of these and more than 15,000 other titles, visit http://www.getabstract.com/affiliate/trainingmagazine
