Kathy Flora is a Career and Executive Coach and AJO Blogger who is actively pursuing her life’s passion, helping others find and fulfill theirs.Ahhhh! Summer! That luscious, ripe time of rest and renewal. At least we hope for a week or two in July or August that fulfill that promise. If you are anything like me, you savor the chance to turn off the daily pressures and spend some unscheduled time diving into a great book.
“If you could recommend just one newly published volume that changed the way you look at your world, what would it be? What’s new? What’s hot? What gave you fresh insight and stretched your thinking?”
I recently posed these questions to colleagues, asking them to mine their bookshelves and e-readers for some powerhouse recommendations. The first two of those recommendations top the list below.
I’ve also scoured some top leadership resources, including adding a few from my own “must read” list. I invite you to contact me with your favorites, too. We’ll share more endorsements from our readers and AJO coaches in Summer Reading Part 2 as well as future posts.
Here are a few of the best new “business beach reads” that rose to the top of the list, with comments from the AJO team and notes gleaned from published reviews. Take a look, pick one that intrigues you and pack it in your carry-on bag for easy access on the trip. You’ll be glad you did.
 Published May, 2016 136 pp. From the jacket:“We have a strong instinct to belong to small groups defined by clear purpose and understanding – ‘tribes.’ This tribal connection has been largely lost in modern society, but regaining it may be the key to our psychological survival.” | Recommended by Renee Guzanek AJO's Manager, Curriculum Development Says Renee: “It’s 136 pages of protein for the brain! There are so many implications for the ideas presented in this book that I can’t stop talking and thinking about it. Nearly every day I have a new ah-ha as I continue to chew on the ideas and stories. The author (a journalist by trade, who also wrote The Perfect Storm) aims to provide thought-provoking explanations for PTSD caused by trauma. But really, there are even broader implications for self, community, workplace, and world.” I heard the author speak a month or so ago. After reading Renee’s review, I ordered the book. This one I don’t want to miss. How about you? |
 Published: October, 2014 300 pp. From the Jacket:“In Being Mortal, bestselling author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending.” | Recommended by Oneida Cox Werger AJO's Vice President, Team and Leadership Development Says Oneida:“…written by a Harvard physician who gains insight through his father’s and his patients journey through life’s end, and the limits of medicine and medical training. It’s beautifully written and inspiring for those touched by loss, contemplating late life, or trying to navigate medical decisions with or for loved ones at the end of life. “ From the Publisher:“Full of eye-opening research and riveting storytelling, Being Mortal asserts that medicine can comfort and enhance our experience even to the end, providing not only a good life but also a good end.” From Sara Nelson, Amazon’s Book of the Month Review:“In his compassionate, learned way, Gawande shows all of us—doctors included—how mortality must be faced, with both heart and mind.” |
 Published: July, 2016 240 pp. From the jacket: “So often in business, we’re encouraged to go after the low-hanging fruit. But when you choose to reach higher, you can build an incredible business, make money and maybe even change the world.” | Author, Mark Rampolla, is the founder and former CEO of ZICO Beverages, and the first to introduce coconut water to the American market. While building this brand, he encouraged developing-world growers and suppliers, helping them to grow their businesses and achieve success. From the Publisher:“Rampollo wrote High-Hanging Fruit for others who want to succeed because of, not in spite of, their values. This book is for people who believe that it’s their duty to reach higher than just the bottom line to build businesses driven by passion, purpose, and integrity.” From Blake Mycoskie, founder and chief shoe giver, TOMS, and author of Start Something That Matters: “Wise and refreshingly human. High-Hanging Fruit is more than surefire insight into building a successful business; it’s a call to action to start something that matters and use business to fuel social change.” |
 Published: June, 2016 176 pp. From the jacket:“This book distills Kotter’s decades of experience and award-winning research to reveal why organizations rise and fall, and how they can rise again in the face of adversity.” | Author, John Kotter, professor emeritus at Harvard Business School is one of the world’s foremost authorities on leadership and change, and also author of Leading Change and Our Iceberg is Melting, among others. Holger Rathgeber is the co-author of Our Iceberg is Melting, former executive in the medical products field and is a principal at Kotter International. From the Publisher:“John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber “are back with another must read story that will help any team or organization cope with their biggest challenges and turn them into exciting opportunities.” From Leigh Morgan, COO, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation:“John Kotter does it again. His use of metaphor helps readers distill down to the fundamental requirements for a high-performing organization; tapping the hearts and minds of team members in service to a compelling purpose. Leadership enables this, and in doing so unlocks tremendous creativity and potential.” |
 Published: February, 2016 309 pp. From the jacket: “The #1 National bestseller and New York Times bestseller that examines how people can fight groupthink.” | Author, Adam Grant, “…has been Wharton’s top-rated teacher for four straight years. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 25 most influential management thinkers and the world's top 40 business professors under 40.” From Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and author of Lean In, and author of the Forward for Originals: “Originals is one of the most important and captivating books I have ever read, full of surprising and powerful ideas. It will not only change the way you see the world; it might just change the way you live your life. And it could very well inspire you to change your world.” From Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers and The Tipping Point: “Reading Originals made me feel like I was seated across from Adam Grant at a dinner party, as one of my favorite thinkers thrilled me with his insights and his wonderfully new take on the world.” |
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