Recommended Reading

As professionals in the area of leadership, learning and development we work hard to keep up to date with current thinking and research around the topics. One way to do that is through reading. Yet there are so many books on the shelves that it can be difficult to select the ones that are going to be most useful. So here are the books that we have been reading recently. The topics may be varied but a common theme is that they are fairly short, like most people it can be difficult to find the time to read-and they all have useful and practical ideas that we use on a week by week basis.

We hope you find our recommendations useful and we would love to hear your feedback and of course we would really value your personal reading suggestions.

Crucial Conversations - Tools for talking when stakes are high: Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler

For those who have found the Stephen Covey’s writings useful then this would be a useful addition to your reading. The focus is on those conversations that we sometimes dread - that make our stomachs churn and that we may have been putting off for months - even years!  Whether the crucial conversations that you need to have are at work or in your home life, this book gives some useful insight and practical techniques to help you have positive conversations.

The book is also linked to the Vital Smarts website www.crucialconversations.com which has regular news letters and articles- including a ‘problem page’ approach with ideas and suggestions from the authors on how to tackle a variety of difficult conversations.

Servant-Leadership: Bringing the spirit of work to work: Edited by Ralph Lewis and John Noble

This recently published book brings a fresh look at Servant Leadership and includes a series of chapters from current business leaders who have tried the approach to leadership and talk through their experiences-both the successes and the difficulties. Those who have read Jim Collins’ ‘Good to Great’ will find the themes familiar – however the approach is fresh and the examples are especially powerful.

The Tao of Coaching: Max Landsberg

This has to be a classic for us. Landsberg bases this book on the GROW coaching model used in so many organisations today and really brings it to life. It is short-easily read in an hour or so, practical and even has some great cartoons! The chapters on how to coach your boss and how to coach when you only have ten minutes are especially useful.