Pierre Battah’s 2017 Holiday Book List
This year's list is thick with revised and updated bestsellers.
In two cases, they're from the recent past, and in another, the gold standard in leadership reading from the last century.
Outstanding non-fiction that stands the test of time is excellent but challenging when the examples are dated.
The research, writing, and stories have been refreshed with great success in these recommendations. This is not to say that 2017 first editions aren't worthy. There are a number of those as well.
In the Oops, we missed a good read from a few years ago category, a book with its foundation in the language of love (ok, this is another first for my book column) is among my favourites. The work has been adjusted for the workplace and stands as an excellent reference for leaders and managers looking to motivate through appreciation and recognition.
Add to the list some deep Canadian content on creative problem solving, lots of female authors, and a workbook companion to an international bestseller written by the most successful millennial author in the non-fiction world. Throw in a fun and compelling book on interpersonal communication by everybody's favourite TV doctor from the seventies, and we've almost got it. Then add a fable from the world's foremost authority on teamwork and close with great insight into being a "kick-ass boss." You have a compelling list for gift giving or your own 2018 reading and professional development!
Here's the list:
Few leadership books will stand the test of time, like this 1987 release. It continues to educate and inspire, and the 2017, 6th edition offers current challenges leaders face and contemporary stories and examples. In addition, it's a colourful magazine stock edition that every leader or aspiring leader needs on their bookshelf. This is evidence-based, research-rich leadership development at its absolute finest.
The interviews with 30 leaders are compelling, and eight of them are new to this revised and updated edition. If you believe that great leaders ask great questions (making them much better listeners), this Jossey Bass volume gets very practical on what to ask and how. Chapters on questions to manage people, build teams and enable change are excellent. If you're not convinced about the power of questions, this book will change your mind.
Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everybody Smarter, by Liz Wiseman with Greg McKeon
Given my HR background, I have a soft spot for HR wizards who become best-selling authors. In this 2017 revised and updated version of this 2010 work, Wiseman translates her insight earned as the Global HR Development executive at Oracle into viewing leaders as either Multipliers or Diminishers. (Spoiler alert: you want to work for and become a Multiplier.) Wiseman shows you how to adopt 5 Disciplines and then breaks down the five into individual practices. Read this book if you help others develop their leadership and managerial chops!
Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, by Kim Scott
Excellent instruction (and wonderful stories) from the former executive at Apple and Google. Her advice is simple: care for the person while challenging them directly, all in the service of creating a culture of feedback (she calls it guidance), building cohesive teams and achieving results. This New York Times bestseller is one of the most helpful and useable leadership development books of 2017.
Sinek's blockbuster Start With Why is followed up with this helpful 2017 workbook that individuals and facilitators alike will find useful.
The Ideal Team Player, by Patrick Lencioni
The leading authority on workplace teams builds on the global success of his Five Dysfunctions of a Team in this 2016 fable of a nephew trying to save a doomed company by building a culture of teamwork grounded in the three virtues of humility, hunger and people smarts. It outlines a great team framework and very practical tools, and this is ideal workplace book club material. Check out lots of free resources and tools on Lencioni's website www.tablegroup.com.
Canada's preeminent strategic thinkers help the rest of us with a 4-step approach to creative problem solving that uses opposing ideas that work in virtually any situation. Lots of practical tips for leaders facing hard choices. Masterfully researched and written.
Adapting the language of love for the job site. It includes valuable online resources to help you help your boss and colleagues appreciate you more. It helps explain why some of our recognition and appreciation efforts miss the mark and how to fix it.
He's still Dr. Hawkeye Pierce to many of us who grew up on MASH on TV (not to mention hundreds of other roles since), but Alda has been working diligently for years to help the rest of us better understand science. He shares his interpersonal communication insights (based on science and improvisation) in this witty and informative 2017 book.