Multipliers

October 2010's book is Multipliers by Liz Wiseman. More information on the book can be found here.

Book Club: What Got You Here Won't Get You There

What Got You Here Won't Get You There is the best business book I've read in a long time. The premise is that executives (and managers) will be more successful leaders if they quit being jerks. Sounds simple, but he enumerates exceptional examples of his canonical "20 reasons why leaders fail."

It includes things like "always having to be heard," "shooting the messenger," and "not saying thank you."

Not only does he give hard hitting examples, but he talks about how to start getting rid of these personality and leadership flaws.

Here's the one I'm going to work on: "saying but."

Scenario: Colleague comes in with great idea. Instead of saying "thank you" and expressing the enthusiasm that I actually feel, I say something like: "That's really cool, but..." and then proceed to make my mark on the conversation by bringing up some reason why the idea is partially flawed or a "counterpoint to think about" or just some general critique.

What's the point? Think before you talk and thank people for speaking up! Don't be Mr. Debate all the time! I'm resolving to quit.

Book Club: Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring

Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring is the latest book I'm reading. Henry Eyring was a pretty remarkable scientist, garnering many of the most distinguised prizes for scientific contribution, and was a faithful Latter-day Saint. He spent a great deal of energy convincing people that science and religion are fundamentally different pursuits and can therefore co-exist peacefully.

The book is written by his grandson, Henry J. Eyring, who takes an interesting approach to detailing Erying's life. Rather than proceeding through a chronology, Eyring divides the chapters by attributes he might have gained from his forefathers.

Here's a quote from the book:

"The lesson of Henry Eyring’s life is that simple people, people just like you and me, can change the world. We do it a little bit every day. And we have the potential to change the world much more, if we can better understand and use our unique gifts."

Book Club: The Culture Code

The Culture Code is an amazing read. I don't claim to agree with everything that Rapaille writes, but it's undeniably interesting. The author comes off as a little cocky and presumptuous. If you can get past that, then if part of what you do requires understanding a market then you would do well to read this book.

Book Club: Primal Leadership

I've been reading Primal Leadership and it is exceptional.

It's written by the same gentleman who wrote Emotional Intelligence. He discusses why some people are better at dealing with emotional issues like empathy and self-awareness then others and also discusses how to improve our skills in these areas, both as individuals and as groups.