Four Books to Add to Your Reading List

Digital transformation and disruptive technology are changing the way we live and work. For many companies, it’s an uncertain yet exciting highly competitive time. That’s why strong leaders who know how to lead during times of change are needed more than ever before. So if you’re serious about your career, why not use your free time to learn from some of the best management gurus out there? We recommend the following books:

1. Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results by Judith Glaser. In today’s collaborative workplace, trust and communication are critical to getting results. Glaser discusses the science of conversational intelligence and gives tools, exercises, and practical tips to learn how to use conversations to empower people, build trust, and create empathy.

2. The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen. Though this book was first published in 2000, it’s incredibly relevant to the current era of technological disruption. Christensen aptly discusses how good companies fail when they don’t create solutions for the customer of tomorrow. It’s a well-founded warning for all business leaders that even if you’re doing everything right, failure to innovate strategically can be a disastrous mistake.

3. Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute. Self-deception is a fatal flaw for business leaders and can undermine everything they do. Unfortunately, most leaders don’t realize they suffer from self-deception until it’s too late. This book highlights how we become attached to skewed perspectives, how it impacts our lives, and how we can change things for the better.

4. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. This comic book by Zappo’s Tony Hsieh is highly relevant right now because by 2020, customer experience will be a more important brand differentiator than both quality and price. Enjoy a relaxing read while still getting actionable advice on how to build a successful company by putting customer experience and employee satisfaction first.

Finally, it’s interesting to note that according to Kate Kelland’s article for Reuters titled “Scientists find how relaxed minds remember better,” you retain more information when you’re relaxed. So whether you’re traveling to an exotic beach or enjoying a quiet staycation, spending a few hours a day reading is likely to be a worthwhile career investment.

Sources:

http://www.creatingwe.com/benchmark/conversational-intelligence

http://www.claytonchristensen.com/books/the-innovators-dilemma/

https://arbinger.com/product/leadership-and-self-deception/

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1610660242?tag=lifehack-20

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-memory-brainwaves-idUSTRE62N4VJ20100324