Contributors to the January 2019 issue of TD magazine offer their book recommendations.

Jon Gornstein

The Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod

This is the foundational academic study on cooperation. It clearly delineates why cooperation is the cornerstone of creating better and more sustainable results than competition. It's an early work that doesn't get the attention it should.

Beyond Negotiation: Redeeming Customer-Supplier Relationships by John A. Carlisle and Robert C. Parker

In an increasingly competitive world, this book delineates that it is in the interest of parties to any negotiation (sellers and buyer for example) to cooperate to create a better, longer-term result for both parties.

Russell Robinson

The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, and Chris Yeh

Larger than communication, this argues a new way of talent management where the supervisor becomes the advocate for his or her staff to feel empowered to take control of his or her career.

Holly Maurer-Klein

The Winning Manager: Leadership Skills for Greater Innovation, Quality, and Employee Commitment by Julius E. Eitington

This book is a one-stop how-to manual for managers and trainers, chock full of training activities, quizzes, exercises, quotes, and information on every aspect of management. It will be relevant as long as people are striving to motivate and engage their workforce.

Beyond the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

I attended a talk by the author and was struck by her sincerity and smarts and by her admiration and respect for the people that she profiled in this book. Boo spent three years with some of the families who live in Annawadi, a slum located in a trash heap next to the Mumbai airport, and writes about their lives, filled with violence and danger at a level that is are almost impossible for a Westerner to imagine. It is an amazing book.