Book recommendations for business leaders: 1/4/21

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Leaders are readers. Reading helps you discover ideas to try and expand your mental models. In this post I point you to reviews of recent business books. You’ll find pointers to reviews of Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity, The Company I Keep: My Life in Beauty, Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace: How to Use EQ to Build Strong Relationships and Thrive in Your Career, and Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay on Top Forever. I also point you to Michael McKinney’s “First Look: Leadership Books for January 2021.”

From Bob Morris: Post Corona

“The future isn’t whatever happens; rather, what we make of it…for better or worse. The character for the Chinese word for ‘crisis’ has two meanings: ‘peril’ and ‘critical juncture.’ I was again reminded of that as I began to work my way through Scott Galloway’s book. He wrote it in order to inspire in his readers — indeed, in as many people as possible — ‘greater comity, more empathy for the disenfranchised, and a greater need for what it means to be an American.’ He hopes they will reinvest in the greatest source of good in history — the U.S. government.”

From Michael McKinney: The Company I Keep: How Leonard Lauder Built Estée Lauder

“ESTÉE LAUDER founded what would become the Estée Lauder Corporation in 1933 on the conviction that ‘every woman can be beautiful.’ Her ambition was to have a life filled with beautiful things, and that ‘rested entirely on her ability to sell her skincare products.'”

Wally’s Comment: Nancy Koehn wrote an excellent profile of Estee Lauder in Dr. Koehn’s book, Brand New.

From Kevin Eikenberry: Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World

“Before the coronavirus, we were facing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation. And we all know what happened after that. During this time, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy released Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. The timing could not have been more fortuitous. You or someone you know is living with loneliness now – which is the perfect reason to read it.”

From Mark Craemer: The Importance of Strong Working Relationships

“Today’s technology enables you to meet face-to-face far less often. However, this can actually make it harder for you to communicate in an effective manner. Connecting virtually—even through video conferencing—means you are missing essential elements of truly effective communication. That’s because it can be difficult to pick up nonverbal clues in body language, such as posture, micro-expressions, and eye movement. It’s also more challenging to establish rapport and build trust when you are not in the same physical space.”

From Skip Prichard: Use the ‘Always Day One’ Mindset to Power Innovation

“In his new book, Always Day One, award-winning Silicon Valley journalist Alex Kantrowitz takes readers deep inside the tech giants, revealing the leadership and culture practices that have helped them dominate the economy. Through 130 interviews, with everyone from CEOs to rank and file employees, Kantrowitz reveals how we can co-opt the tech giants’ practices to give our companies an edge.”

Michael McKinney’s First Look: Leadership Books for January 2021

Reading recommendations are a regular feature of this blog. Want more recommendations about what to read? Monday is “Book Day.” Come back for book reviews, reading lists and other reading-related posts.

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