If I’m not reading, it’s like not breathing. I mentally suffocate, or at least my brain feels like it’s shutting down. If you subscribe to the Leadership Caffeine newsletter (subscribe via LinkedIn), you know that I search for and share five fabulous articles intended to help you in your career weekly. I also try to read at least one business book every other week. For the latter, here are three of my favorite reads this year! There’s more, but if you have a stocking to fill or a professional on your gift list, you cannot go wrong starting with one or all of these three.
Use the ideas and insights of these fantastic thinkers in great health and growth!
Survive, Reset, Thrive—Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times by Rebecca Homkes.
This was the golden nugget I retrieved from a stack on my bookshelf. I regret letting it sit for a few months, as Rebecca Homkes has given us the next great, powerful, practical strategy book and framework in Survive, Reset, Thrive.
The key insight is how Homkes challenges us to embrace change and leverage uncertainty. We tend to build a strategy to mitigate the volatility created by these factors, yet it’s like trying to tame the weather. There were only three business books on strategy I cared about until I read this one. (Want that list? Drop me a note.) If you are leading a business, running a unit or segment, or managing markets and products, this is a must-own-read-use resource! See the book at Amazon.
See my interview with Rebecca via my Experts Series on YouTube.
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Supercommunicators—How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg.
I love this for the great, research-backed guidance on genuinely connecting with coworkers. The key insight: we’re all having different conversations, and we have to find a way to match the conversation of the other party to connect before we bridge to our desired conversation. Every professional striving to gain support, deepen their working relationships with their colleagues, and do a better job growing their influence will benefit from this book. See the book at Amazon.
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Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, Third Edition—Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Still Want by Julie Winkle Giulioni and Beverly Kaye.
Already a classic via editions one and two for managers striving to do a better job helping coach their team members in their career development, this updated third edition is worth repurchasing if you already own a copy. Giulioni and Kaye offer practical, powerful guidance for every leader, manager, supervisor, and contributor on career development. Buy, read, reference-often, and share. You and your team members will be glad you did! See the book at Amazon.
See my interview with Julie Winkle Giulioni via my Experts Series on YouTube.
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