New on the Bookshelf!

The Story of Three Brothers, by Karen Bading, Dee Kinder, and Ugis Strauss

When you or your organization is unfocused, blaming, discouraged or stuck, Success Thinking Strategy can help you:

• set clear directions,
• tap into deep motivation, and
• define observable evidence of progress toward your goals.

The story of Three Brothers illustrates the concepts that will put you or your team back on a more focused, resilient and productive track. Download your free e-book by clicking here >

 

Saying No, A User's Manual, by Karen V. Bading
Saying No is the first is a series of "user's manuals" for the five fundamental declarations, no, yes, I don't know, gratitude and forgiveness. Part instruction manual, part reflection guide, these books are an invaluable resource and a critical tool on the journey of personal development.

If you prefer to pay by check or for volume discounts, download this form.

Saying Yes, A User's Manual, by Karen V. Bading
In Saying Yes, the author, a leadership coach, explores saying Yes from day to day practices for asking for what you want and negotiating promises you can keep to the Radical Yes of your mission and purpose in the world. This book is like having a coach in your pocket.

If you prefer to pay by check or for volume discounts, download this form.

Speak the Truth and Point to Hope: The Leader's Journey to Maturity, by Lisa J. Marshall
If we learned to recognize that love was at the core of all truly mature leadership - leadership that is generous and generative, forgiving and disciplined, leadership that creates the worlds we secretly yearn for - we would indeed pose problems. Because we would not settle for the Peter Pan leadership we currently have.

We would ask our leaders to ask us the hard questions. We would ask our leaders to invite us into the conversations where meaning gets made and value established. We would recognize that the famous leaders are rarely the great leaders. We would not allow leaders to play the same games over and over.

This then is not a story about leadership as commonly practiced today. The way most leaders currently behave does not meet our needs, let alone the needs of tomorrow. This is a book about genuine and mature leadership, about leaders who engage people and elicit their commitment without needing scapegoats, leaders who can hold both boundaries and connections. This is the new story that our understanding of leadership needs - a story of leaders who speak the truth and point to hope.

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity , by David Allen. I'm still pretty new to David Allen's system for getting things done, but I've watched a colleague transform with these practices. Already I'm experiencing a kind of mental quiet that is intriguing. I can put incoming stuff—paper, e-mail, ideas—where they belong, the first time they appear. They are not cluttering up my brain or my desk. If I can take action immediately, it's done. If it requires more time, it's on my calendar or on one of several lists like phone calls, e-mails, or errands, which I can refer to easily. Those lists help make use of the bits of time that could easily be wasted waiting for people or hanging out in airports. For example, the other day I took my dad to the grocery store. I remembered to buy cards for several people and wrote them while he finished his shopping. A small thing, but it felt good to have done it. In the past I would more likely have thought about it several times without access to cards or pen and eventually just not done it, losing that opportunity to connect with my community.

One caution: if you are at all a big picture person do not, I repeat, do not, begin on page 1 and expect to make it through the book. Go to Part 3. After you digest that, you will be eager for the previously overwhelming detail in Parts 1 and 2. I also found it useful to have my organizing wizard, Rebecca Beauman of Virtually Detailed, work with me for the initial phase of the process. It's good to have support for the initial set up.

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen. I heard the authors in a radio interview and went out and bought the book, thinking that it would be a useful model in working with clients. The authors, who are part of the Harvard Negotiation Project, have a thorough approach to difficult conversations with the best process for preparing yourself that I've found. It was worth the investment for me personally before I'd had it a week. My husband said something that made me so angry I could not even speak. Using the distinction between intention and impact, I was able to calm down and talk to Jim in a way that he could hear, while saying all of what I needed to say. So if you deal with conflict either at home or on the job, I heartily recommend this book. There are lots of both personal and professional examples that make it easy to practice the conversational moves.

Leadership and Self-Deception, by The Arbinger Institute. This volume is a short read (I read most of it on a flight from LA to Phoenix). It may be the most convicting book I've ever read. I recognized myself in several of the examples and have found it a powerful tool for changing my attitude toward others and recognizing my stories that keep me stuck in old patterns. The authors, who are not individually identified, put the choice squarely in your hands: in any moment, do you treat other people as humans or as objects? They show how that choice defines relationships at work and at home. It is the best description of how to live the golden rule that I have ever found.

I have given this book to several clients. One person's admin recognized the change in her overnight. The client herself said Leadership and Self-Deception came at the perfect time, just as her company was doing layoffs for the first time in their history. Reading it put her back in touch with her values as a leader in her organization.

Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future, by Margaret Wheatley. On the topic of building community through conversation, check out Margaret Wheatley. She writes poignantly and poetically about the conversations that need and want to happen.