Contributors to the March 2024 issue of TD magazine offer their book recommendations.
Ryan Gottfredson
Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
This book—from Kegan, a pioneer in the vertical development space—clearly explains the theory behind vertical development and provides great guidance on exercises to foster it.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
By Carol S. Dweck
To understand the foundational power and importance of mindsets, you need to read this great book from the person who put mindsets “on the map” of our awareness (Carol Dweck). This book has been pivotal in many organizational turnarounds, including Microsoft (as articulated in Satya Nadella's book Hit Refresh).
Bethany Adams
No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy
This book is for anyone looking to navigate the never-ending emotional challenges of the workplace. Explore why our emotions belong in the workplace and how to manage them reasonably. Deepen your knowledge of emotional intelligence with humor and some amazing visuals.
Wendy Gates Corbett
The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalismby Hubert Joly
Joly, the former CEO of Best Buy, is responsible for the company's incredible turnaround, incorporating a purpose- and people-first approach. For me, his focus on intrinsic motivation, personal connection, and what he calls "human magic" are a fresh look at leadership and leadership development.
Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well
By Amy Edmondson
I love Amy’s aim to go beyond challenging to disrupting how we think about failure. She provides a fascinating framework to examine failure and adopt a mindset that embraces our (and others’) fallibility. We all fail at something or at some point. This book helps us learn how to look at failure in a much healthier way.
ReCulturing: Design Your Company Culture to Connect with Strategy and Purpose for Lasting Success
By Melissa Daimler
I love Melissa’s style of writing and storytelling. Her framework gets to the behavior level and strategies for integrating “why,” “how,” and “what” into the employee experience.
Wagner Denuzzo
Open Talent: Leveraging the Global Workforce to Solve Your Biggest Challenges
By John Winsor and Jim H. Paik
In this book, John Winsor and his colleagues provide a roadmap to the composition of a workforce that includes independent talent as a new strategy for organizations to accelerate time to value and access the skills they need when they need it.
Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work
By Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock, and Emily Field
In this timely book, the authors describe the value that middle managers provide in organizations that are complex and adaptive to disruptions. This book integrates best practices in management for the new workplace.
