There are, conservatively, 300 gazillion books published every year. No one has the time to list them, let alone read them or review them. That’s a problem because there’s a lot of value in many books that you may not hear about.

“Short Takes” is my small effort to highlight excellent books that you may not see fully reviewed. Here are mini reviews of Beyond Burnout: How to Spot It, Stop It and Stamp It Out by Suzi McAlpine, Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason Riley, and Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything by David Grossman.

Beyond Burnout: How to Spot It, Stop It and Stamp It Out

Full disclosure. I coached Suzi McAlpine as she was planning and writing this book. That’s why I know how good it is, how deep the research is, and why you ought to trade some of your hard-earned dollars for a copy of Beyond Burnout.

This book will help you if you’re in the midst of burnout. It will help you if you’re a boss and burnout is happening to a team member.  And it will help you understand the role leaders and organizations play and can play. Here’s a quote from the Preface.

“Leaders and organizations are necessarily at the crux of any discussion of burnout. For too long, we’ve placed far too much onus on the individual who is suffering burnout for both its avoidance and its remedy – and not enough on the organizations and leadership practices which have, in many cases, caused it in the first place.”

Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell is an insightful economist who also writes well. That’s rare, indeed. He writes about a wide range of subjects. That, too, is rare. Sowell’s books and other writings are logical, buttressed by evidence, and enriched by historical perspective. You may not know about him because, as the title of Jason Riley’s biography says, Sowell is a maverick.

Maverick is an intellectual biography. Jason Riley traces the development and expression of Sowell’s thinking. You will learn a lot about the topics he writes about and how he agrees with and differs from other writers and thinkers.

Heart First: Lasting Leader Lessons from a Year that Changed Everything

I’ve followed David Grossman on Twitter for many years. He writes and tweets about leadership and communication. You get a sense of what David is like from his Twitter handle. Other experts like to portray themselves as a “thought leader.” David tales a different tack and calls himself a “thought partner.”

This is one of those books you can either read through or dip into as needed. There’s a ton of good information, ideas, and insight about leadership and communication packed into this book. I’ve practiced and written about leadership for over half a century, and I picked up many things to try. You will, too.

That’s if for now. If you’ve got a book you think I should review, use the contact form to tell me what it is.