Month: May 2014

We have the wrong brain and the wrong education to get people decisions right, according to Claudio Fernández-Aráoz in his book It’s Not the How or the What but the Who: Succeed by Surrounding Yourself with the Best. We distrust people who are not similar to us, but to succeed in a globally minded environment we need to surround ourselves with people who have diverse backgrounds and complementary skills. And the vast majority of managers have not received proper training on assessing others and helping them reach their highest potential.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

Even well-thought-out incentives lose effectiveness over time, and traditional practices of rewards programs often feel mechanical, manipulative and bureaucratic, according to George Langelett in his book How Do I Keep My Employees Motivated?: The Practice of Empathy-Based Management. Employees are influenced by emotions as well as logic in their decision-making, so managers need to develop their empathy skills to help employees make sound decisions and to influence long-term motivation.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

Getting bought is better than selling. Although our business culture promotes closing as the most vital element of selling, it is far more important for professional service providers to concentrate on opening a relationship in the right way and keeping it open for the long run, according to Andrew Dietz in his book The Opening Playbook: A Professional’s Guide to Building Relationships that Grow Results.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

If we have an outcome-driven view of leadership, that means we have forgotten who we have become in Christ – that as leaders we are first and foremost followers of Jesus and as such that we are citizens of his kingdom, according to Joseph Stowell in his book Redefining Leadership: Character-Driven Habits of Effective Leaders. Secular leaders can identify themselves as leaders, but Christian leaders must identify themselves primarily as followers.

The book goes on to provide plenty more advice which those of us in church world who have been swallowing secular leadership books whole will find somewhat uncomfortable to digest. Followers of Jesus should be kingdom leaders pursuing character-driven leadership, rather than instinctive leaders pursuing outcome-drive leadership. Instead of using people to build the enterprise, we should be using the enterprise to build people. Instead of the leader being the centre of the organisation, Jesus should be the centre.

The book is challenging and convicting, but so is the New Testament, which the author quotes extensively. It is so easy for leadership practices and priorities in churches and Christian organisations to copy those of secular organisations; this book provides a thoughtful corrective to that tendency, and I highly recommend it.

Every career will have bumps and surprises along the way, but by building a plan for your trajectory you can mitigate those problems by moving through a series of manageable steps that are much more within your line of sight and immediate control, according to David Van Rooy in his book Trajectory: 7 Career Strategies to Take You from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. The book provides a range of hints for managing a successful career.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

Every day great ideas fall by the wayside because they were not properly explained, according to Frank Pietrucha in his book Supercommunicator: Explaining the Complicated So Anyone Can Understand. To be successful in an increasingly competitive marketplace, you need to articulate a clear and easy-to-understand message to all relevant parties. The book aims to show how to communicate complicated ideas in a society where complicated material is abundant.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

Power in human communications and relations is determined largely by the interplay of our unconscious minds, according to Nick Morgan in his book Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximising Your Personal Impact. If you can understand how that unconscious interplay works and exercise some control over it, you may become more effective in the ways you relate to other people.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.