No matter what industry you work in and what company you work for, leadership and organizational development are essential to achieve success. Luckily, there are lots of resources out there, and a few turns of a page can help you tap into a wealth of information.
From team building to personal development, these books can really help fire up the idea engine. Here is a list recently shared by one of our client companies. Great picks for a good read.
1. Joy Inc.
According to Forbes, this is, “A guidebook for how leaders can motivate, engage, and recognize their people all the while growing the business profitably”. From author, Richard Sheridan you’ll learn how to build a workplace people love. Throughout the book, Sheridan shares his unique workplace approach as a CEO of Menlo Innovations, a small software company in Michigan.
With Sheridan’s goal of creating a joyful workplace, he and his team were able to alter how the company was run. By making this change Sheridan shows how many can achieve more than just an increase in profits but create an organization full of passionate people.
2. Leadership and Self Deception
Let the Arbinger Institute take you on a journey through the eyes of a man facing challenges on the job and in his family. Throughout the book, the story displays the multiple ways we can blind ourselves to our motivations and damage ourselves in the pursuit of both success and happiness. The book covers anything from conflict resolution to team building and personal development.
3. Drive
Get ready to transform how you think and how you live! Written by Daniel Pink, this New York Times bestseller uses the art of persuasion to convince the reader how to achieve satisfaction-at-work, school, and even at home. This book focuses on the human need to direct our lives and do better by our standards in the world.
Through forty years of scientific research on human motivation, Pink uncovers the missing puzzle piece between scientific knowledge and business expertise- and how it affects every part of life. Pink covers the three elements of true motivation-autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and recommends out-of-the-box techniques for putting these into action in any industry.
4. The Anatomy of Peace
The people at The Arbinger Institute have written another stellar piece about how to solve a conflict, no matter where it stems from. Whether it be from work, home, or the world this book will take you through how to find real solutions. The book surrounds the reader with a moving story about parents who are struggling with various aspects of their lives. While their children are a piece of it, many other factors enter the picture and consume their lives. From their story, you’ll learn how to tackle not only personal and professional conflicts but global conflicts as well.
5. The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team
In this tale, Patric Lencioni puts a wide lens over the complex world of teams. The story focuses on Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech’s CEO, and her leadership crisis: Uniting a team that has the potential to bring down the entire company. Will she be able to unite this team successfully or will her career meet an imminent demise?
Throughout the tale, Lencioni presents the five dysfunctions of teams and uncovers the root problems, which hinder many teams. Lencioni lays out a valuable model accompanied with steps that can be used to get past these obstacles and create a united and effective team.
6. The Speed of Trust
Unveil a new path to achieve both productivity and satisfaction in this fascinating book, written by Stephen M.R. Covey. In the book, Covey shows the value of trust and its place in client and employee relationships. Covey, challenges his readers to explore the multiple actions made each day that establish trust.
With trust acting as the main ingredient to achieve success in any organization Covey unveils exactly how trust has taken center stage in all relationships. From learning how to establish trust and uncover its value readers learn the importance of establishing trust early on and implementing it in any organization to achieve organizational harmony.
It’s that time of the year again, a time for a little bit of relaxation and maybe a good read or two. Make sure at least one of these get’s into your beach bag. You won’t regret it, and maybe you might find the answers you’ve been looking for.