“There is no group of Americans more pessimistic than working class whites.” As is true for most of the books shared here, this one was referred to me as the story of a lawyer who grew up in rural Kentucky (I was born in Kentucky, so it had immediate interest to me). He eventually found [...]

Our society gives accolades to those who accomplish, achieve, and win. Mr. Leonard suggests that mastery happens in the plateaus, the places where we are practicing over and over with only the desire to practice, not achieve. This book is not new, and the message is consistent – loving what you do provides the sustaining [...]

I met Rhodes Perry at a conference a few years back and I remain impressed with every new contribution he creates. In this book, he mixes personal story with practical and actionable strategies to make Belonging at Work a reality for everyone. From the consideration of the implicit culture being created when there is no [...]

This book is one woman’s quest to live differently -less responsible and capable and more passion and connection. Your life is your creation - and Shauna challenged me to consider if I had a blank calendar and a infinitely full bank account, what would I do? Seems a terrific question in a world where we [...]

If you're looking for a book to use in discussing change with your team, this is a good choice. It's not lengthy in pages, and each page has powerful words for consideration and application. "Strengths become weaknesses when circumstances change but behavior doesn't." This simple statement is a conversation starter to consider what circumstances have [...]

You might think that you don’t need to read about self-esteem, or that you aren’t suffering from a lack of it.  This book isn’t actually focused on measuring yours – it’s focused on accepting yourself where you are, and growing the awareness that propels you forward. “Self-acceptance is the precondition of change and growth.” In [...]

We are more focused on team productivity every day, and are creating work “groups” for most every project. How effective are these groups/teams? What would it be worth to you to be intentional in developing them from the beginning?  Patrick suggests its worth a lot. Looking at only five elements that construct or destruct teams, [...]

Hard to believe this book is over a decade old, and the principles are finally applying across all sectors (hello legal!). These authors are addressing the nature of decentralization – moving away from a traditional hierarchy and into an open system. This provides agility and scalability because the “red tape” has been removed. Starfish grow [...]

“...winning requires an entirely different mind-set than not losing.”  Winning is more about character than finish time, and Robyn talks about teams that win through her stories of ultra-races and her firefighting career. Two quote worthy statements from the book: the best teams share their strengths and weaknesses, and inspiration comes from showing your teammates how [...]

This book is fascinating to read in the references of addiction as it applies to technology. One fact (and I’ll save the rest for you to discover yourself): “70% of office emails are read within 6 seconds of arriving. It takes up to 25 minutes to re-immerse yourself in a project.”  This book changed my approach [...]