Review by Alice Waagen
Book by Wayne Muller
I can think of no better book to remedy life stress than Wayne Muller’s “Sabbath.” This is a quiet book, and Muller’s message is unhurried and subtle, as anyone who celebrates the Sabbath would expect.
Do read it thoughtfully, though, and challenge yourself with some of the practices that Muller outlines. When you do, I am confident you will slowly learn how to create rest in your life.
Review by Alice Waagen
Book by Stewart D. Friedman
Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press, 2008
Not another leadership book, right? I too have grown weary of “leadership” books, which these days seem to grow on trees. Friedman’s’ book Total Leadership, however, puts the all-powerful concept of work on equal footing with the other domains that are important in a person’s life: home, community and one’s private world.
Plus, he explains that one can truly achieve a form of personal leadership that transcends the limited definition so often found in business books today.
I found Total Leadership illuminating for it gave me a new way to look at what is important in my life. I especially enjoyed the reflective exercises on taking inventory of the expectations of the other stakeholders that are impacting me.
Review by Alice Waagen
Book by Donna Fenn
I find myself pretty skeptical these days that yet another business book can present new ideas that have not already been churned out by the prolific business press. It is a tribute to the quality of Donna Fenn’s book UPSTARTS on GenY entrepreneurs that I read it cover to cover, taking notes and sharing her ideas with others in my network.
Fenn’s book stands out from the pack in a number of unique ways. First, her writing style is clean, clear and absent from the usual jargon and clutter. It makes sense, because she is a career journalist specializing in small business trends, so not only does she know her subject area well, she communicates it in an engaging manner.
Review by Alice Waagen
Book by Gordon MacKenzie
Books on corporate creativity mostly leave me cold. Spouting tired clichés about “out of box” thinking don’t do much more than repackage truisms. I was thusly wary when my book club picked Orbiting the Giant Hairball this month.
But thanks to Viking Press, Orbiting is bursting with quirky hand-drawn illustrations, many of them printed in brilliant colors. Text fonts vary for emphasis, and the book itself is a work of art — one that I found immensely enjoyable to read. The author, Gordon MacKenzie, is a former Hallmark Card executive and his message is an important one: Corporate hairballs are the entangled patterns of behavior and bureaucratic policies and procedures that create Corporate Normalcy and stifle creativity and imagination.
Review by Alice Waagen
Book by Tamara Erickson
Publisher: Harvard Business Press, 2008
I love a book with a simple, relevant message. Such is the case with Tamara Erickson’s new book, Retire Retirement.
Erickson explains that baby boomers will live two or even three decades beyond the traditional retirement age of 65, and as a result will be able to find work more easily during the so-called third phase of their lives.
Why? Because they will be able to negotiate the terms of their employment by providing employers with increased flexibility, experience and wisdom. In a nutshell she tells boomers: “Seize the day!”
Review by Alice Waagen
Book by Leslie R. Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant
Publisher: San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008
One of my first consulting clients was a small, struggling nonprofit. Being recently sprung from a career in the for-profit corporate world, I was certain that I could “fix” this organization’s internal issues. After all, I had a long career solving workplace issues for large businesses and believed the nonprofit world would certainly benefit from al this wisdom and experience.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Although there may be parallel functions and processes in both for-and nonprofit enterprises, in truth, the two sectors are distinctly and profoundly different.
Review by Alice Waagen
Book by Dan Pink
Publisher: Riverhead Books, 2005
In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that I am a fan of Dan Pink’s work. I started reading his articles years ago when he was a regular contributor to Fast Company magazine. Then, in 2001, he published Free Agent Nation shortly after I had been a free agent myself. Reading that book made me feel part of something big and current ‚Äî not just a loner who was crazy enough to leave the ranks of corporate America and venture out on my own.
So it was with eager anticipation that I picked up a copy of his new book, A Whole New Mind. Let me start with my overall impression: this is a great book. Dan’s writing style is easy to read, more journalistic than academic. He makes his points up front, and then supports them when needed with examples, stories and anecdotes.
Review by Alice Waagen
Book by Patrick Lencioni
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
When I first looked at “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” I felt that it had two major obstacles from being on my “books to recommend” list. First, it is a book about teams and second, it is a book about leadership. That’s a double-whammy right out of the gate. Given that there is such a plethora of written material on leadership and teams that I find it a rare occurrence when an author can present new information on these topics.
Although I cannot honestly say that Lencioni gives us new and original information, his presentation of the material is innovative. Plus, he unveils a simple model for team effectiveness by telling a story about a small business that is saved from disaster by a new CEO who transforms the senior team from isolated individual contributors to a high-functioning leadership team.
Subscribe to Newsletter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter