By Melissa Davies, Wise Ways Consulting
We’ve hit the summer mid-point in the DMV. The heat is still on, so learn to cool some of your workplace conflicts with a great business book. Head to your favorite quiet spot during lunch and do some reading.
Some books to consider for your list:
- The Book of Hard Choices. James Autry and Peter Roy’s book is a great source for the internal dilemma. Each chapter provides a specific situation that requires making a hard choice. It examines topics from all sides and provides points to consider before making the decision. Topics include, “Intervene on Behalf of the Employees or Tolerate an Executive Bully;” “Protect Your Career or Do Your Duty;’” “Take Responsibility or Rationalize Your Mistakes.” At the end, the authors include a chapter on the decisions the authors made. Great read and would be a source of interesting discussion for team meetings.
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Patrick Lencioni’s leadership fable centers on one of the ultimate leadership crises – uniting a team before it brings down the entire company. Lencioni discusses what he believes to be the five reasons teams, even the best ones, struggle. Trust is a critical element for every organization and group, yet one that is often overlooked in pursuit of production and profits. Without trust, you’ll never fully develop your people and the bottom line will suffer anyway. He outlines a successful model and steps to build a cohesive team and meet the organizational mission.
- The Soul of Leadership. When considering leadership authors, Deepak Chopra’s name wouldn’t typically come up. Yet his 2010 book offers many nuggets for consideration. His aim is to give readers the skills and insights to be an inspired leader. His belief that inspired leaders demonstrate creativity, intelligence, organizing power, and love, permeates throughout the book and his own personal style. Older, more traditional definitions of leadership come from power models and for some, have been directly linked to its abuse. This model comes from a different perspective – Great leaders are those who can respond to their own needs and the needs of others from the higher levels of spirit with vision, creativity, and a sense of unity with the people they lead.
And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t suggest you pick up a copy of How Not to Act Like a BLEEP at Work! Read about Lou Jackson, a mid-level manager who, while she is technically proficient, is behaviorally a disaster. Follow on her journey as she learns just how important her people are and how to lead from in front: bleepatwork.com.
Melissa Davies is an executive leadership coach and facilitator as well as the author of How Not to Act Like a BLEEP at Work. She lives in Prince William County and runs Wise Ways Consulting, which specializes in leadership, management and team development, executive coaching, group facilitation and high-engagement training. She can be reached at info@wisewaysconsulting.com or through wisewaysconsulting.com.
