Try a Little Inspiration
Books Worth Reading
April / May 2009
Volume 7 Number 2
The Secret Language of Leadership
This isn't just another book about how to become a better manager; it's about how to use language to become an "inspirational leader" who can bring about transformation and lasting change. Why did Vice President Al Gore fail to become president in 2000, even though he was able to inspire international passion six years later with his environmental advocacy and his movie, An Inconvenient Truth? During his campaign, Gore made 10 common leadership mistakes; if you come to understand them, Stephen Denning maintains you will know how to use the secret language of leadership. Denning explains that transformational leadership is not the sole providence of an extraordinary few. Anyone with enough vision, commitment and grit to master a basic set of skills that he calls the "language of transformational leadership" can become a leader who creates change. Denning turns away from aloof reasoning and dusty information, and advocates being provocative and inspirational instead. His only lapse is a love of repetition. Leaders who want to master persuasive advocacy will enjoy this in-depth guide.
Stephen Denning. The Secret Language of Leadership: How Leaders Inspire Action Through Narrative. Jossey-Bass, 2007. List Price: $27.95. ISBN-13: 9780787987893.
Firms of Endearment
As the U.S. population gets older, more people are reaching the "Age of Transcendence," when they begin to focus on serving the needs of those around them rather than being motivated primarily by self-interest or ambition. This development, dubbed "self-actualization" by psychologist Abraham Maslow, has spread to the business community. More companies are building corporate cultures around service to society even as they continue working to earn profits. Such companies are called "firms of endearment" or "FoEs." Authors Raj Sisodia, David B. Wolfe and Jag Sheth contend that as U.S. society becomes more concerned with caring, responsible practices, businesses are becoming more aware of serving the society around them, rather than being motivated only by profit. More companies now are building corporate cultures around humanistic values. They provide equal service to each stakeholder group: society, employees, customers, partners and investors. This creates lasting loyalty and even earns a profit. Despite a bit of jargon, the book paints an idyllic but desirable business portrait. Readers might even see its optimism and altruism as a balance to the prevailing negativity. getAbstract suggests this book to executives, entrepreneurs and business theorists.
Raj Sisodia, David B. Wolfe and Jag Sheth. Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose. Wharton School Publishing, 2007. List Price: $19.95. ISBN-13: 9780131873728.
Here Comes Everybody
"Human beings are social creatures—€”not occasionally or by accident but always" —€”and depend on group interaction. Emerging technologies are changing how people interact with their social groups and how new groups form. Now, because email and instant messaging are fast and cheap, time costs are evaporating. Since you can send an electronic message to many people as easily as to one, everybody has access to groups that once only leaders could reach. This fundamental change will produce tremendous upheaval throughout society. Author Clay Shirky tackles a daunting task: To explain how new electronic media are transforming society. Shirky's focus and specificity raise his book to a level of much greater value and utility than its peers. He examines the social nature of human beings, and analyzes how tools ranging from email to text messages change the way people organize into groups. His style is easy, and he tells vivid, interesting and highly convincing stories to illustrate the changes he observes. The result is a book that anyone dealing with group organization and communication should read. we recommend this innovative work to marketers, social critics, readers interested in human nature, and entrepreneurs who hope to tap into or develop new social structures.
Clay Shirky. Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. The Penguin Press, 2008. List Price: $25.95. ISBN-13: 9781594201530.
Little Green Book of Getting Your Way
Jeffrey Gitomer has written numerous "Little" books on sales and motivational techniques, all titled with signature colors. These books provide straightforward encouragement in a jovial tone. Gitomer offers you information and confidence; he's not so interested in depth. His mission is to teach the uninformed, the unskilled, the shy and the wary how to be persuasive for their own profit. He opens the door into public speaking and presentations, and tries to imbue his readers with self-assurance by being visually jazzy, super accessible and totally elementary to read. His weapons of choice include full-page big-type quotations (often of his own aphorisms), emphatic repetition of basic advice, plenty of capital letters and pages of informative check-off lists. getAbstract invites novice salespeople (in particular) as well as new speakers and presenters to find a cheerleader here, waving his green pom-poms and yelling catchy advice to help you muster your personal power in public.
Jeffrey Gitomer. Little Green Book of Getting Your Way: How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell Your Point of View to Others. FT Press, 2007. List Price: $19.99. ISBN-13: 9780131576070.
GetAbstract is a leading provider of business book summaries with more than 5,000 titles covered. www.getabstract.com
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