Amazon link Annie Duke was a world-class poker player, having won the World Series of Poker as well as other prominent games, who has since shifted to sharing what she learned about decision making at the poker table in talks and workshops. This book is the collection of her wisdom. If you want a summary […]
Category: nonfiction
The Orchid and the Dandelion, by W. Thomas Boyce
Amazon link “Most children are more or less like dandelions; they prosper and thrive almost anywhere they are planted. Like dandelions, these are the majority of children whose well-being is all but assured by their constitutional hardiness and strength. There are others, however, who, more like orchids, can wither and fade when unattended by caring […]
7 Rules for Positive, Productive Change, by Esther Derby
Amazon link Book site Subtitled “Micro Shifts, Macro Results”, Esther Derby’s short but powerful book shares her wisdom on how to enable change in organizations. I first met Esther ten years ago at the Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference, and then got to know her better in 2015 while attending the Problem Solving Leadership workshop that […]
The Coddling of the American Mind, by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
Amazon link Book site This book started as an Atlantic magazine article that was later expanded into a book. Their thesis is that trends on college campus such as a greater awareness of microaggressions and emotional safety serve neither the students nor society at large, as those trends are driven by what Lukianoff and Haidt […]
The Power of Onlyness, by Nilofer Merchant
Amazon link Official book site When I met Nilofer Merchant at a Seth Godin workshop several years ago, I was impressed by her presence and her clarity of thinking on the emerging social-network-based world. I finally got around to reading her latest book, The Power of Onlyness, where she makes the emphatic case that each […]
Factfulness, by Hans Rosling
Amazon link Official book site I learned of this book through the blog of Bill Gates, where he temporarily offered to give it away to every college graduate this year. Rosling is famous for his TED talks where he uses graphs and data to show things are better than most people think they are…and yet, […]
Radical Candor, by Kim Scott
Amazon link Book site Kim Scott starts this book with the story of how she once had an employee Bob, who was really nice and had great credentials, but who did not deliver great results when he started working for her. At the first big review of his work, she was worried about being too […]
The Real Wealth of Nations, by Riane Eisler
Amazon link Book site n.b. I read and reviewed this book as part of my coaching program, hence the references to coaching throughout this post. Subtitled “Creating A Caring Economics”, Riane Eisler’s book is a fierce attack on the capitalist economy many of us take for granted. Her thesis is that we think that economics […]
Leadership Embodiment, by Wendy Palmer and Janet Crawford
Amazon link Book site n.b. I read and reviewed this book as part of my coaching program, hence the references to coaching throughout this post. Subtitled “How the way we sit and stand can change the way we think and speak”, this book is an introduction to how our physical presence influences how we act […]
Soul without Shame, by Byron Brown
Amazon link Book site n.b. I read and reviewed this book as part of my coaching program, hence the references to coaching throughout this post. Soul Without Shame deeply explores the inner judge (or inner critic), that voice in your head that says that you need to be better or different in order to earn […]