Book Reviews
Elements of Influence: The Art of Getting Others to Follow Your Lead Terry R. Bacon AMACOM (2011) “Despots coerce; managers control; leaders influence.” First and foremost, Bacon insists that leaders must be authentic. Otherwise, they will be unable to attract…
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Masters of Sales Ivan Misner and Don Morgan Entrpreneur Press (2007) Invaluable advice from 73 sales mentors Ivan R. Misner and Don Morgan have co-authored several books, including Masters of Success as well as this one in which 73 “masters…
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Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis Portfolio/Penguin Group (2007) Why a great leader “is the Copernican pivot at the center of the decision-making process” This is the first book on which Noel…
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Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy, Focusing Your Resources, and Taking Smart Action Rich Horwath Greenleaf Book Group Press (2009) Attitude and preparation determine altitude…and also depth There are business situations in which the goal is to ascend…
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The Boundaryless Organization: Breaking the Chains of Organization Structure, Revised and Updated Ron Ashkenas, Dave Ulrich, Todd Jick, and Steve Kerr Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons (2002) Yes and No The title is a misnomer: Although the authors do indeed suggest…
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HBR on Thriving in Emerging Markets Various Contributors Harvard Business Review Press (2011) “The early bird may get the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese.” Steven Wright This is one of the volumes in a series of anthologies…
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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni Jossey-Bass (2002) In this “leadership fable,” Lencioni focuses on “the rarity” of effective teamwork, noting that “teams, because they are made up of imperfect human beings, are inherently dysfunctional.” Is teamwork therefore…
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Silos, Politics and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable About Destroying the Barriers That Turn Colleagues Into Competitors Patrick Lencioni Jossey-Bass (2006) Here’s the situation. Jude Cousins is a talented, energetic, and ambitious young marketing executive at Hatch Technology who, with…
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The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success Carmine Gallo McGraw-Hill (2011) Actually, what Carmine Gallo examines with both rigor and eloquence are no longer “secrets,” nor are they insights of proprietary significance to Steve Jobs.…
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Inside Larry and Sergey’s Brain Richard L. Brandt Portfolio/The Penguin Group (2009) When discussing Google’s supernetwork and its significance (and potential vulnerability) as a competitive advantage, Brandt observes, “Anyone who uses an application from Google is tapping into this incredible…
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