Now Read This!
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The New York Times Best Selling Self-Help Business Books
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verybody can use a little help. Be it in
relationships, motivation, or even general selfimprovement, it can be very challenging to find
one’s own abilities and take advantage of them to be
successful.
Nowhere is this truer than in the workplace.
As a result, a major industry has developed wherein
business and motivational specialists, from psychologists
to presidents, from career coaches to spiritual seekers,
share their knowledge to help people make the most of
their lives.
The following best selling books represent some of the
wealth of words out there to help readers achieve their
highest aspirations. Or, at the very least, these books
can help businesspeople recognize that with millions of
people paying for written wisdom, it’s clear that nobody
knows all the answers.
Happy reading!
By Wallace Morgan
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This sequel to the Dalai
Lama’s book The Art of
Happiness explores spiritual
practice in the workplace. It
represents a collaboration
the Nobel Prize
Lama,
Dalai
between the
winning Tibetan spiritual leader, and Dr. Howard
C. Cutler, a diplomat of the American Board of
Psychiatry and Neurology.
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THE FIVE
DYSFUNCTIONS OF
A TEAM by Patrick
Lencioni (Jossey-Bass)
This book marks
author Patrick Lencioni’s
conclusion to a trilogy
that includes The
Four Obsessions of
an Extraordinary Executive and The Five
Temptations of a CEO. In The Five Dysfunctions
of a Team Lencioni draws from his experience
advising hundreds of executive teams and
CEOs as president of San Francisco Bay Area
management consulting firm The Table Group.
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The book explores three topics faced by
people in the workplace: survival, career,
and calling. The book takes form through an
interview Dr. Cutler conducts with the Dalai
Lama, in which he asks such questions as: What
is the relationship between self-awareness and
work? How do we deal with jealousy, anger, or
hostility at work? How does the lack of freedom
affect our levels of happiness?
see, whether they are picking oranges or writing
a novel, that the highest purpose of work and,
indeed, of life is the helping of others.”
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THE ART OF HAPPINESS
AT WORK by the Dalai
Lama and Howard C. Cutler
(Riverhead)
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Spirituality & Health Magazine reviewers
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat write, “A key
theme of this book is that self-understanding
is critical to finding ultimate happiness at
work. The Dalai Lama is convinced that both
an inflated sense of self (arrogance) and a
diminished sense of self (low self-esteem) are
destructive.” They add, “The Art of Happiness
at Work makes a convincing case for inner
transformation and mind training as preludes to
both freedom and fulfillment on the job.”
Publishers Weekly offers, “What will surprise
many is the prime importance the Dalai Lama
places on reason and analysis, and on the need
to acquire ‘a sense of self that is grounded in
reality, an undistorted recognition of one’s
abilities and characteristics.’” The magazine
adds, “And what may be most moving is this:
if the Dalai Lama is right, and if people do as
he suggests – if they learn to see themselves
impartially and to analyze their work in light of
how many people it touches – they will begin to
Lencioni tells a fable about a retired
executive who takes a job as CEO of a talented
but struggling Silicon Valley company. Her
duties become focused on restoring the qualities
of teamwork to a group mired in bad habits.
Lencioni illustrates the story by solving what
he calls “the five dysfunctions” which include
absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of
commitment, avoidance of accountability, and
inattention to results.
“Succinct yet sympathetic,” writes Publishers
Weekly, “this guide will be a boon for those
struggling with the inherent difficulties of
leading a group.”
Bellinda Wise with Library Journal
recommends the easy-reading book for anyone
whose team needs improvement. “The
scenarios,” she writes, “are recognizable and
can be applied anywhere teamwork is involved,
whether it is a multinational company, a small
department within a larger organization, or a
sports team.”
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by Jim Collins
(HarperBusiness)
“That Collins is able to distill the findings
into a cogent, well-argued and instructive
guide is a testament to his writing skills,”
opines Publishers Weekly. “While some of
the overall findings are counterintuitive (e.g.,
the most effective leaders are humble and
strong-willed rather than outgoing), many of
Collins’s perspectives on running a business
are amazingly simple and commonsense.”
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Jim Collins, the
coauthor of longtime
wrote this book after
Last,
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his management research firm conducted
extensive study of all 1,435 companies that
have been part of the Fortune 500. They were
searching for sustained success embodied by
a 10-year fallow period followed by 15 years
of increased profits. Only 11 corporations met
the requirements, and this book discusses the
sometimes unexpected management work that
led to those success stories. “Some of the key
concepts discerned in the study,” says Collins,
“fly in the face of our modern business culture
and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”
One point that Collins found universal
is “the Hedgehog Concept” in which a
unique and strongly supported service
or product distances a company from its
competitors. He also talks about the necessity
of a disciplined culture, the importance of
embracing technology, and the perils of radical
restructuring.
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GOOD TO GREAT,
WHY SOME
COMPANIES MAKE
THE LEAP… AND
OTHERS DON’T
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HOW FULL IS
YOUR BUCKET?
POSITIVE
STRATEGIES
FOR WORK AND
LIFE by Tom Rath
WHO MOVED
MY CHEESE? by
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Randy Harris, former Vice-Chairman
of Merrill Lynch International, endorsed
Who Moved My Cheese, saying, “I’m
giving this book to colleagues and
friends because Spencer Johnson’s
storytelling abilities and unique insights
make this a rare book that can be read
and understood quickly by everyone
who wants to succeed in these changing
times.”
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Coauthor Donald O. Clifton, with his
grandson Tom Rath, brings to this book
his experience as chair of the Gallup
International Research and Education
Center and the pedigree of having
coauthored the bestseller Now, Discover
Your Strengths. In How Full Is Your
Bucket? the writers take the metaphor
of dipper and bucket to show the deep
effect of every one of life’s interactions.
Clifton’s half-century of work studying
emotions helped develop the field of
“positive psychology”. That philosophy
fills this work, which includes
anecdotes and strategies for developing
positive emotions.
Dr. Spencer
Johnson gained
fame as the
coauthor of the
best selling The One Minute Manager
Manager.
In his 17 million-plus selling Who
Moved My Cheese? Johnson addresses
change in the workplace and life, and
the necessity of embracing it as a
constant presence. Johnson tells the tale
through the cheese-seeking characters
of two mice that unquestioningly chase
sustenance and two “littlepeople”
– mouse-size humans that have their
own reasons.
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and Donald O.
Clifton (Gallup
Press)
Spencer Johnson,
M.D. (Putnam)
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A wide variety of people have
praised the book, including popular
spiritual advisor Deepak Chopra, who
says, “I’d recommend it to anyone
who wants to dramatically improve
their work life and strengthen their
relationships.” Lea E. Williams,
Executive Director of the National
African-American Women’s Leadership
Institute, Inc. says, “This book’s
heartwarming message has a spiritual
quality, yet it is grounded in decades of
research.”
Publishers Weekly calls this a “brief
but significant book,” adding, “While
acknowledging that most lives have
their share of misfortune, the authors
also make clear that how misfortune
affects individuals depends largely
on their level of positive energy and
confidence. The authors also underscore
that our human interactions provide
most of the joys or disappointments we
receive from life.”
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In a Library Journal review, Mark
Guyer writes, “Change occurs whether
a person is ready or not, but the author
affirms that it can be positive. His
principles are to anticipate change, let
go of the old, and do what you would
do if you were not afraid.” Guyer adds,
however, that people who experience
Who Moved My Cheese? “are still left
with questions about making his or her
own specific personal changes.”
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The End