A list of my favorite books by topic

Assessing Talent

Grit by Angela Duckworth: Talent x Effort = Skill. Skill x Effort = Achievement. Incorporating Grit into the interview process will yield high level talent that will lengthen employee lifetime value.

Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin: Knowing what makes some of us high performers vs. others used to be a mystery. After decades of research, it’s now clear that it’s not necessarily raw talent that serves as the major factor to being the best of the best. It’s more. What’s even more intriguing it’s a quality that anyone can surface. If you are in the recruiting industry and/or are a hiring manager, this book is a powerful tool in building your organization.

Leadership Development

Dare to Lead by Brene Brown: Vulnerability takes courage to exude in the most genuine way. Strong leaders are able to be vulnerable and elicit vulnerability in ways that build strong teams. Daring leadership is a rare quality that packs a powerful punch. If you want to peel the onion with each of your team members and build loyalty, trust and commitment, pick this one up!

Radical Candor by Kim Scott: Be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity. Don’t be the obnoxious asshole as Kim calls it. Care personally while challenging directly. Without both elements to management, you will jeopardize being too nice which doesn’t drive performance or being a jerk and scaring people away.

Cultivating Strong Teams

Overcoming the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide Patrick Lencioni sets a foundational pyramid with the following tiers from bottom to top: Building Trust, Mastering Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, Attention to Results. This field guide offers an array of team building activities to work your team up the pyramid.

Communication

Crucial Conversations Knowing how to communicate when the stakes are high. Get the tools top prepare for high-takes situations, transofrm anger and hurt feelings into powerful dialogue, creating a safe place to share perspectives and how to be persuasive, not abrasive. A must read for cross department collaboration.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society. In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.

Workplace Organization

Read This Before Your Next Meeting: How We Get More Done. The Author, Adam Pittampalli, will be your hero after you read this book. Too much of our work day is locked up in unproductive meetings. It’s draining, costly and a waste of precious time. In this short read you will learn how to transform your organization and culture to only use meetings in the “service of winning”. If the meeting doesn’t move the needle, don’t have it. Al outlines what he calls “The Modern Meeting Standard”. See why!

O ya, I’m a Mom. These are my top faves of all time!

Llama Llama Red Pajama In this infectious rhyming read-aloud, Baby Llama turns bedtime into an all-out llama drama! Tucked into bed by his mama, Baby Llama immediately starts worrying when she goes downstairs. Mama returns to set things right. My son’s favorite book to read every night again and again and again!