Wisdom of Teams, by Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith

Teams are fast becoming a flexible and efficient way to enhance organizational performance. Yet today’s business leaders consistently overlook opportunities to exploit their potential, confusing teams with teamwork or sharing.

In this book, two senior McKinsey & Co. partners argue that we cannot meet the challenges ahead, from total quality to customer service to innovation, without teams. The authors talked with hundreds of people in more than fifty different teams in thirty companies to discover what differentiates various levels of team performance, where and how teams work best, and how to enhance their effectiveness. Among their findings: formal hierarchy is actually good for teams; successful team leaders fit no ideal profile; commitment to performance goals is more important than commitment to team-building goals; top management teams are often smaller and more difficult to sustain; and team endings can be as important to manage as team beginnings. The wisdom of teams lies in recognizing their unique potential to deliver results and in understanding their many benefits.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jon R. Katzenbach is a founder of Katzenbach Partners, consultants in the areas of team, leadership, and workforce performance. His published works include Real Change Leaders, Teams at the Top, The Work of Teams, and Peak Performance. Mr. Katzenbach and Mr. Smith are both formerly of McKinsey & Company.

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Leadership on the Line, by Ronald Heifetz and Mary Linsky

Every day, in every facet of our lives, opportunities to lead call out to us. At work and at home, in our local communities and in the global village, the chance to make a difference beckons. Yet often, we hesitate. For all its passion and promise, for all its excitement and rewards, leading is risky, dangerous work.

Why? Because real leadership-the kind that surfaces conflict, challenges long-held beliefs, and demands new ways of doing things-causes pain. And when people feel threatened, they take aim at the person pushing for change. As a result, leaders often get hurt both personally and professionally.

In Leadership on the Line, renowned leadership authorities Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky marshal a half century of combined teaching and consulting experience to show that it is possible to put ourselves on the line, respond effectively to the risks, and live to celebrate our efforts. With compelling examples including the presidents of countries and the presidents of organizations, everyday managers and prominent activists, politicians and parents, the authors illustrate proven strategies for surviving and thriving amidst the dangers of leading.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky are on the faculty at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Heifetz is the author of Leadership Without Easy Answers and Co-director of the school’s Center for Public Leadership. Linsky is Faculty Chair of many of the school’s executive programs, including Senior Officials in State and Local Government and Leadership for the 21st Century.

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The Art of Possibility, by Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander

In their playing you hear not only precision, color and balance, but thunder, lightning and the language of the heart. This is what the Boston Globe said about a performance by conductor Benjamin Zander with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, but it could apply equally to the Zanders’ inspirational book, the product of a synthesis of the diverse worlds of the symphony orchestra and cutting-edge psychology.

The Art of Possibility offers a set of breakthrough practices for creativity in all human enterprises. Infused with the energy of their dynamic partnership, the book joins together Ben’s extraordinary talent as a mover and shaker, teacher, and communicator, with Rosamund Stone Zander’s genius for creating innovative paradigms for personal and professional fulfillment. In lively counterpoint, the authors provide us with a deep sense of the powerful role that the notion of possibility can play in every aspect of our lives.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Rosamund Stone Zander is a family therapist and a landscape painter. Benjamin Zander is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music.

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Heart of Change, by John Kotter

John Kotter’s international bestseller Leading Change struck a powerful chord with legions of managers everywhere. It acknowledged the cynicism, pain, and fear they faced in implementing large-scale change-but also armed them with an eight-step plan of action for leaping boldly forward in a turbulent world.

Now, Kotter and coauthor Dan S. Cohen delve deeper into the subject of change to get to the heart of how change actually happens. Through compelling, real-life stories from people in the trenches, in all kinds of organizations, the authors attack the fundamental problem that underlies every major transformation: How do you go beyond simply getting your message across to truly changing people’s behavior?

Based on interviews within over 100 organizations in the midst of large-scale change, The Heart of Change delivers the simple yet provocative answer to this question, forever altering the way organizations and individuals approach change. While most companies believe change happens by making people think differently, Kotter and Cohen say the key lies in making them feel differently. They introduce a new dynamic-”see-feel-change”-that fuels action by showing people potent reasons for change that spark their emotions.

Organized around the revolutionary eight-step change process introduced in Leading Change, this story-driven book shows how the best change leaders use not just reports or analysis, but gloves, video cameras, airplanes, office design, and other concrete elements to impel people toward positive action. The authors reveal how this appeal to the heart-over the mind-motivates people to overcome even daunting obstacles to change and produce breathtaking results.

For individuals in every walk of life and companies in every stage of change, this compact, no-nonsense book captures the heart-and the how-of successful change.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

John P. Kotter, world-renowned expert on leadership at the Harvard Business School, is the author of many books, including the award-winning, best-selling Leading Change. Dan S. Cohen is a Principal with Deloitte Consulting LLC.

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Primal Leadership, by Dan Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee

A National Bestseller

“Just as Goleman’s first book redefined intelligence, his new treatise…reassesses what makes a great leader.” –Time

Drawing from decades of research within world-class organizations, the authors show that great leaders excel not just through skill and smarts, but by connecting with others using Emotional Intelligence competencies like empathy and self-awareness. The best leaders, they show, have “resonance”–a powerful ability to drive emotions in a positive direction to get results–and can fluidly interchange among a variety of leadership styles as the situation demands. Groundbreaking and timely, this book reveals the new requirements of successful leadership.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Daniel Goleman is codirector of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers University and is the author of the international best-selling books Emotional Intelligence and Working with Emotional Intelligence. Richard Boyatzis is professor and chair of the Department of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Annie McKee serves on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and consults to business and organization leaders worldwide.

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The First 90 Days, by Michael Watkins

“Watkins provides enough statistics, charts, and checklists to help any newly minted boss roam the halls with confidence.” – Fortune

Fully a quarter of all managers in major corporations enter new leadership roles each year. Whether their assignments involve leading a work group or taking over a company as CEO, they face very similar challenges–and risks–in those critical first months on the job. How new leaders manage their transitions can make all the difference between success and failure. In this hands-on guide, Michael Watkins, a noted expert on leadership transitions, offers proven strategies for moving successfully into a new role at any point in one’s career. Concise and practical, The First 90 Days walks managers through every aspect of the transition, from mental preparation to forging the right alliances to securing critical early wins. Through vivid examples of success and failure at all levels, Watkins identifies the most common pitfalls new leaders encounter and provides tools and strategies for how to avoid them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Watkins is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where he does research on leadership and coalition building. He is the coauthor of Right from the Start: Taking Charge in a New Leadership Role (HBS Press, 1999), and the author of Leadership Transitions, an HBSP eLearning Program.

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Leading Change, by John Kotter

In Leading Change, John Kotter examines the efforts of more than 100 companies to remake themselves into better competitors. He identifies the most common mistakes leaders and managers make in attempting to create change and offers an eight-step process to overcome the obstacles and carry out the firm’s agenda: establishing a greater sense of urgency, creating the guiding coalition, developing a vision and strategy, communicating the change vision, empowering others to act, creating short-term wins, consolidating gains and producing even more change, and institutionalizing new approaches in the future. This highly personal book reveals what John Kotter has seen, heard, experienced, and concluded in 25 years of working with companies to create lasting transformation.ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John P. Kotter is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus at Harvard Business School and is a frequent speaker at top management meetings around the world.

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Through the Labyrinth, by Alice Eagly and Linda Carli

Despite real progress, women remain rare enough in elite positions of power that their presence still evokes a sense of wonder. In Through the Labyrinth, Alice Eagly and Linda Carli examine why women’s paths to power remain difficult to traverse.

First, Eagly and Carli prove that the glass ceiling is no longer a useful metaphor and offer seven reasons why. They propose the labyrinth as a better image and explain how to navigate through it. This important and practical book addresses such critical questions as: How far have women actually come as leaders? Do stereotypes and prejudices still limit women’s opportunities? Do people resist women’s leadership more than men’s? And, do organizations create obstacles to women who would be leaders?

This book’s rich analysis is founded on scientific research from psychology, economics, sociology, political science, and management. The authors ground their conclusions in that research and invoke a wealth of engaging anecdotes and personal accounts to illustrate the practical principles that emerge.

With excellent leadership in short supply, no group, organization, or nation can afford to restrict women’s access to leadership roles. This book evaluates whether such restrictions are present and, when they are, what we can do to eliminate them.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Alice H. Eagly is professor and chair of psychology and faculty fellow of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. Linda L. Carli is an associate professor of psychology at Wellesley College.

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Failure to Communicate, by Holly Weeks

Your stomach’s churning; you’re hyperventilating — you’re in a badly deteriorating conversation at work. Such exchanges, which run the gamut from firing subordinates to parrying verbal attacks from colleagues, are so loaded with anger, confusion, and fear that most people handle them poorly: they avoid them, clamp down, or give in.

But dodging issues, appeasing difficult people, and mishandling tough encounters all carry a high price for managers and companies — in the form of damaged relationships, ruined careers, and intensified problems.

In Failure to Communicate, Holly Weeks shows how to master the combat mentality, emotional maelstrom, and confusion that poison difficult conversations. Drawing on her many years as a consultant and coach to leaders and executives, the author explains:

· Why we turn to ineffective tactics when the heat is on

· How to avoid the worst pitfalls of difficult conversations, and how to pull yourself out if you fall in

· Ways to regain your balance and inject respect into stressful conversations, even when you’ve been confronted, infuriated, or wronged

· Strategies for mitigating aggression and defensiveness, and for clearing the fog of misconceptions

· How to get through the hardest conversations with your reputation and relationships intact

Using proven techniques paired with detailed real-life examples, Weeks equips you with the strategies and practices you need to transform even the toughest conversations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Holly Weeks is an independent consultant and the president of Holly Weeks Communications in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She teaches at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge.

A Sense of Urgency, by John Kotter

Most organizational change initiatives fail spectacularly (at worst) or deliver lukewarm results (at best). In his international bestseller Leading Change, John Kotter revealed why change is so hard, and provided an actionable, eight-step process for implementing successful transformations. The book became the change bible for managers worldwide.

Now, in Urgency, Kotter shines the spotlight on the crucial first step in his framework: creating a sense of urgency by getting people to actually see and feel the need for change.

Why focus on urgency? Without it, any change effort is doomed. Kotter reveals the insidious nature of complacency in all its forms and guises.

In this exciting new book, Kotter explains:

· How to go beyond “the business case” for change to overcome the fear and anger that can suppress urgency

· Ways to ensure that your actions and behaviors — not just your words — communicate the need for change

· How to keep fanning the flames of urgency even after your transformation effort has scored some early successes

Written in Kotter’s signature no-nonsense style, this concise and authoritative guide helps you set the stage for leading a successful transformation in your company.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John P. Kotter is Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School, and is widely regarded as the world’s foremost authority on leadership and change. His has been the premier voice on how the best organizations actually do change.