Archive for the ‘Business Books’ Category
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
Power Listening: Mastering the Most Critical Business Skill of All by Bernard T. Ferrari (©2012, Portfolio/Penguin: New York, NY) provides specific lessons in how to improve what may be the single most undervalued and underdeveloped skill for leaders, educators, parents, and students. Bernie makes a compelling case that anyone can improve from a mediocre listener to a power listener. It just takes commitment and practice. This is the rare resource that goes beyond just telling you that listening is important to telling you how to do it well. Every organization should click the icon below to buy more copies of this vital book for everyone in a position of leadership.
Tags: Bernard T. Ferrari, Listening, Power Listening
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books, Leadership Books | No Comments »
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself, by William C. Taylor lives up to its title. Daniel Pink calls it “the most powerful and instructive change manual you’ll ever read.” Taylor, the cofounder of Fast Company Magazine tells engaging stories of the successful companies he studied and generalizes from their successes. Any leader or aspiring leader should read this book.
Click here for my summary of Practically Radical.
Tags: Change, Leadership, Practically Radical, William C. Taylor
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books | No Comments »
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
QUIET: The Power of Introverts In a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain (© 2012, Crown Publishers: New York, NY) tells the story of how being introverted has its advantages and how the extrovert ideal is over rated. Learn how forced collaboration can stand in the way of innovation, and how the leadership potential of introverts is often overlooked. This book is passionately argued and draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience. Leaders, educators, and parents need to pay attention to Cain’s findings. Also check Susan’s TED talk.Click the icon below to purchase this vital book from Amazon.
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books, Education Books, Leadership Books | No Comments »
Friday, March 18th, 2011
This book by Frans Johansson looks at breakthrough insights at the intersection of Ideas, concepts, and cultures. He recommends that you expose yourself to a range of cultures, learn differently, reverse your assumptions, and take on multiple perspectives. The tips on brainstorming research are worth the price alone. Although this book was published in 2004 by Harvard Business School Press, it is just as current today as when it was written. Johansson is a writer and consultant who lives in New York City.
Tags: Frans Johansson, Innovation, Medici Effect
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Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work (©2011, Harvard Business Review Press: Cambridge, MA) by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer is based on an extensive study that tried to find out what it takes to be highly productive. What they found was that most of what matters is below the surface and not well understood by most of today’s managers. You can find a summary of their secrets here, and get the entire picture in this must have book. While it is not an education book, I find that the principles they have discovered apply well in school settings for use by teachers and administrators.
Tags: Harvard Business Review, Inner Work Life, Motivation, Progress Principle, Steven Kramer, Teresa Amabile
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books, Leadership Books | 1 Comment »
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
The first part of this summary was posted last week. If you already read it you can pick up where you left off on page 16. Thinking Fast and Slow (©2011, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux books: New York, NY) by Noble Prize winner Daniel Kahneman takes us on a ground breaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. The fast system is intuitive and emotional, The slow system is more deliberative and more logical. This highly anticipated book can help you better understand your own thinking and make better decisions.
Tags: Daniel Kahneman, Thinking Fast and Slow
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books, Education Books, Leadership Books | 2 Comments »
Monday, October 10th, 2011
InThe Zig Zag Principle: The Goal-Setting Strategy That Will Revolutionize Your Business and Your Life, Rich Christiansen (© 2012 Mountain Grabbers, a McGraw-Hill Company: New York, NY) offers a goal setting strategy that he believes will revolutionize your business and your life. This book is a step-by-step tactical book. It is not a theory or a vague concept. It offers practical application tips you can use to succeed on the job and in life. While is ostensibly a business book, I believe the concepts apply well to the field of education.
Tags: Rich Christiansen, Zig Zag Principal
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Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
Cathie Black, the head of Hearst Magazines, has been appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to replace Joel Klein as chancellor of the New York City School System. Critics site her lack of work in the field of education, while proponents feel that she is the type of all-star manager that the system needs. Regardless of your opinion, check out my summary of her 2007 leadership book. The New York Times criticized it as being “full of platitudes,” but what leadership book isn’t?
Click here for my summary of Basic Black.
Tags: Cathie Black
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books, Leadership Books | 1 Comment »
Friday, September 10th, 2010
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is Malcolm Gladwell’s second bestseller. Even though it was written in 2005, the information remains current and valuable. This summary is written with educators in mind. His 3rd book, Outliers, is also available here.
Click here to see my summary Blink.
Tags: Blink, Malcolm Gladwell, Rapid Cognition
Posted in Book Summaries, Business Books, Education Books, Leadership Books | No Comments »
