Personal Effectiveness Books

The Premise:Robert Kelsey is a former banker and financial journalist who found himself on a career path that felt like it was careening out of control. What’s Stopping You? essentially documents his personal journey into examining his own fear of failure and the techniques he discovered to help him overcome it. Kelsey asserts that, for people constrained by a deep fear of failure, the only way to move beyond it is to get to the root cause of their insecurities, accept who they are, and stop trying to be someone they’re not. The book combines Kelsey’s personal experience with mountains of references and research to provide readers (who he classifies as high FFs – high fear of failures) with tools to begin the journey of overcoming what’s holding them back both personally and professionally.

The Bottom-line: I found this book read like a Master’s thesis. There were so many references to research studies, experts and other sources that I almost wanted to provide Kelsey with a grade at the end of each chapter for appropriate source acknowledging. I certainly enjoyed reading his candid and honest description of his own career anxiety and definitely agree that many mainstream “self-help” books that tout “positive thinking” just don’t work for everyone. In that respect, Kelsey’s book is a great addition. If you can wade through the academia and his writing style (which I found to be very confusing in many places), you’ll find some very solid suggestions on how to start to process negative thought patterns and get a handle on any fears that may be holding you back. This definitely wasn’t an “easy” read for me because of the author’s style. That being said, if you’re waking up every day hoping that today isn’t the day that your employer figures out that you don’t have a clue what you’re doing (even though you have a successful 20 year career track record)… well, this might be a good investment of a few hours of your time. Imposter syndrome isn’t something that you need to live with. This book might help you wrestle it to the ground.

The Premise:In this age of “work-on-demand”, where lines between work and home are continually being blurred, Peter Bregman’s 18 minutes promises readers the opportunity to get a grip and regain control of their time. The book is written in very quick read 3-4 page chapters and mixes Bregman’s personal experience with some practical/tactical suggestions. Some of the suggestions veer into “motherhood” with statements like “life is a marathon, not a sprint” and “a brief pause will help you make a smarter next move”. Bregman’s writing style is friendly and conversational and, despite some of the strange chapter headings (The Girl Who Stopped Alligator Man), the personal stories and anecdotes do make for a quick and easy read.

The Bottom-line: My conclusion about most time management type books like 18 Minutes is this: if you’re a highly organized person, you probably don’t need it, and if you’re a highly disorganized person – assuming that you manage to read the entire book in the first place – success will hinge on whether you actually put any of the suggestions into action. Since I fall into the latter camp on this issue, I have found it’s best to focus on taking one thing and doing that well. For me, the takeaway from this book is to focus on the 5 things that matter the most with your job and make sure you focus your activities around them each and every day. Bregman suggests picking 3 things that are work related and 2 that are personal. I’ve spent the last 12 months trying to get relentless about my top 3 priorities and have definitely noticed a difference in my results. I like the addition of building in 2 personal things to that structure. Overall, this is a great book for business owners and any line leader who’s feeling constantly behind the 8 ball and struggling to prioritize activities. The exercise of identifying your 5 key focus areas and then bucketing your current to-do list into each area should be eye-opening and give you your money’s worth.

The Premise: Most organizational and personal problems result from a pervasive yet little-known problem called self-deception, say researchers from The Arbinger Institute. To oversimplify, the book explores how our underlying and potentially unconscious feelings about a person or situation will pervade the experience, no matter what we say or do. To avoid a never-ending cycle of negativity, we must understand what our underlying feelings are about the person and situation and address them in order to have meaningful relationships at work or at home.

The Bottom-line: This book was recommended to me by Kiran, one of our members, and I have to rank it up there as one of my new favourites. For either seasoned or novice students of leadership, this one will push your thinking about yourself and your actions to a deeper level. And for Type-A personalities, the applicability of the insights will help with relationships on the home front too. Always nice when we can kill two developmental birds with one stone, I say. The read is fast, although I did find myself reflecting back on various career points and identifying where I had been “in the box” with various individuals or situations. You may want to have a journal handy to capture any personal “a-ha” moments you get along the way. Again, for those of you who don’t enjoy the storytelling approach, some of the writing is clunky (why do these writers insist on describing how various characters walk over to the white board?), but the message is powerful – if you’re ready for it.

The Premise: Following up the best seller The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle provides a roadmap to show us how to reset our priorities, transcend ego-based reactions and achieve inner calm and a truly fulfilling existence. A powerful message of personal mastery in order to build a better way of life and a better world.

The Bottom-line: This month’s book may be a little “out of the box” for some of our readers, but for those who believe that truly impactful leadership begins with a keen sense of one’s self, this will be a thought-provoking journey. Definitely not a “quick read,” this is the type of book that you will want to return to again and again as you evolve your leadership legacy.

The Premise: The capitalist factory orientation towards work is fundamentally broken. There used to be two teams: management and labour. Now there is a third team: linchpins. And so begins Seth Godin’s latest thought-provoking contribution. Thanks to the industrial age, we have been trained through school and corporate systems to be a replaceable cog in the wheel. Many of us are glorified factory workers with credentials. As corporations downsize MBAs, CGAs, BAs and “solid performers with 25 years tenure,” Godin’s book challenges you to think about job security differently. True security comes from being unique. And to be unique (and indispensable) you need to bring your best self to the marketplace. Linchpin explores how you can turn your “job” into “art” and enrich every interaction you make by changing people for the better. Godin dives into the internal barriers that hold us back and inspires readers to make some bold choices about how to engage more fully in their careers. Although not a “how to” manual, Linchpin does provide a few tips on how to make yourself indispensable and – as with most of Godin’s books – gives you lots of brain candy to chew on.

The Bottom-line: I am a self-professed Seth Godin junkie. What I love about him (and other writers of this genre – Gladwell, Pink, Buckingham) is that he’s a thought provoker. Linchpin is a bit of a rambling read but filled with insights and observations about the state of today’s workplace that are worth paying attention to. Given last year’s economic meltdown, most people would agree that the motto for most organizations is “what have you done for me lately.” Godin encourages readers to think beyond the job description and look closely at the value they can bring to the table. Just doing your job well doesn’t cut it anymore. To ensure your job security you need to standout from the crowd; you need to become a linchpin. This book is about being brave. It’s about overcoming your fears and bringing your greatest talents to work. After reading books like this, I always wonder how many people will actually embrace the message. Books like this challenge the status quo which can make them both scary and exhilarating at the same time.

The Premise: In his third offering, Malcolm Gladwell explores the hidden contributors that allow certain people to attain high levels of success. Challenging the assumptions that intelligence and ambition are the main ingredients that foreshadow future success, Gladwell paints an interesting – and somewhat disturbing – provocation that maybe timing, culture, upbringing and pure luck have bigger impacts than we realize on one’s ability to achieve big success. Through a series of examples, the book explores the back stories of some famous achievers including Bill Gates and the Beatles and also looks at individuals who had all the right ingredients – intelligence, ambition – but never quite seemed to make the leap to the big leagues.

The Bottom-line: As a member of my book club aptly stated: “books like this are like brain candy.” Don’t buy this book and expect to uncover the formula to help you achieve higher success in your career. If anything, you may find yourself cursing your bad luck for being born in October versus January (depending on what your NHL ambitions were). What Outliers does is point to some of the structures that we put in place that, frankly, limit talent. From hockey drafts, to streaming kids into “gifted” programs to the effects of cultural upbringing/language, Gladwell produces some fascinating arguments that make you question long-held assumptions about what allows for success. It may make you think about the “what if’s” in your own life. For those of you who also read Geoff Colvin’s book Talent is Overrated, you will see similarities in the findings around racking up hours of practice (Gladwell defines it at 10,000 hours) but Gladwell’s book delves much deeper into the idea that luck may play a bigger factor than we want to admit. Scary stuff.

The Premise: Just in time for your New Year’s resolution, we dust off a bookshelf classic for our final book review of 2008. Before Marcus Buckingham brought commercial success to this concept, Donald Clifton and Paula Nelson’s 1992 pocket book challenged readers with the simple philosophy: find out what you do well and do more of it; and, find out what you don’t do well and stop doing it. Filled with decades of Gallup research and observation, this book shattered previously-held myths about success and provides readers with a clear roadmap to achieve their best in business and life.

The Bottom-line: Unless you were one of the fortunate few who knew exactly what you were going to be when you grew up, most people in business simply stumble into their careers. And, once there – thanks in large part to remedial performance review systems – we spend an inordinate amount of time focused on what we aren’t doing particularly well. Strengths-thinking challenges us to consider what would happen if we put the same amount of energy into leveraging our talents as we have attempting to fix our weaknesses. Why not make 2009 your year to explore and reflect on your talents? Consider Soar with Your Strengths as a combination of career counsellor, therapist and executive coach all rolled into one. And, if you get inspired by the subject matter, continue on with Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman’s best selling contribution: First Break All the Rules.

The Premise: Think that certain people are born with natural gifts and talents and that’s what makes them so successful? Think again, says Geoff Colvin, senior editor at Fortune, in this provocative read. Colvin explores some of our world’s iconic “natural” talents and provokes a different perspective: maybe all the great success is mostly a result of (insert shudder here) really hard work. The implication being that pretty much anyone could become a maestro in their field if they were willing to undertake the mind-numbing efforts of “deliberate” practice in order to get there. Fortunately for Tiger Woods and the like, most of us aren’t willing to invest the physical or mental effort required to become exceptional. Through a variety of examples, Colvin builds his case around why genes and “gifts” may not be all they’re cracked up to be. He also breaks down what “deliberate” practice looks like and how you can adopt it in your chosen field. He even offers up tips on how organizations can apply the same principles to boost overall corporate performance.

The Bottom-line: This book has caused me more than one tense debate over natural vs. learned ability. Depending on whether you’re currently living your career dream or not, you’ll find it may cut a little close to the core thanks to the assertion that maybe lack of natural talent isn’t what’s held you back. According to Colvin, you really could have been the next Hendrix/Piccasso/Jack Welch/Barack Obama… if only you’d just worked a lot harder. The primary concept Colvin puts forward is that “deliberate” practice is what separates exceptional people from the rest of us. I found this a really interesting assertation that helped me see how I could increase my own effectiveness by really delving into my weaknesses. This feels a bit counter to much of the “work with your strengths” material that’s out there, but makes lot’s of sense as Colvin shares his various stories and examples. The reality is that most of us choose the easy path… avoiding things that we are less successful at and, instead, sticking with what’s comfortable. Exceptional performers don’t do that. No matter what your “natural” ability is, getting to the top of your chosen profession isn’t easy. It takes hard work and deliberate practice and – don’t kid yourself – even if you love what you do, most of that practice is not going to be a lot of fun.

The Premise: Rolling Stones co-founder and guitarist Keith Richards’ biography takes you on a meandering ride from his early childhood through the ups and downs of success, addiction, parenthood, recovery and more. Co-written with James Fox, the book does a great job of capturing Richards’ world-weary voice and flavour of the times. Richards provides a candid look at his drug use, relationships, passion for music and views on fame and celebrity. Life provides a fascinating window into the mind of arguably one of music’s greatest guitar influencers of all time and, for this reader anyway, a different perspective on the guitar icon.

The Bottom-line: Perhaps not a conventional pick for a leadership platform, Life is actually full of great insights into the secrets of the Stones (and Richards’ own) long-term success. If you can get through the detailed discussions on guitar chords and meandering style of the book, you’ll find some common truths that anyone interested in having a long lasting career can learn from. The first, for me, was the overall importance of continuous learning. Richards is a true artist and has never stopped embracing his craft. Reading his story is like seeing Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers theory of 10,000 hours in a play by play. And, the window on team dynamics is fascinating. The juiciest parts of the book are the direct jabs at former (deceased) member Brian Jones and the ongoing ups and downs between front-man Mick Jagger and Keith. Richards has some great observations on how the Stones have pulled through plus some insightful comments on leadership in the ultimate team environment. It made me think about the importance of a shared vision amongst team members (which the Stones clearly lost during the 80′s.) Richards is surprisingly insightful (although expect to be laughed at by your spouse if you start quoting him, as his “junkie” history looms large.) Definitely a good read, but gets a little draggy in spots for non-music aficionados like yours truly.

The Premise: Written for managers, mentors, coaches and HR professionals, FYI is a comprehensive playbook on every action an individual needs to take to increase their personal effectiveness. The book breaks down a multitude of business competencies (things like Action Orientation, Career Ambition, Ethics & Values, Strategic Orientation… even Humour) and provides the reader with a checklist to help you determine your (or your colleague’s) proficiency (or competence) in each area. For each competency, the authors define what “unskilled” looks like, what “skilled” looks like and take it one step further to show what “overuse” can look like. In addition to the “core” competencies, the book explores “Performance Dimensions” (things like “quality of output”, “quantity of output”, “productive work habits”, etc.) and “Career Stallers and Stoppers” (eg: lack of composure, arrogance, insensitivity to others). At the back of the book are a set of simple action planning templates to help the reader identify specific changes they’d like to implement. In addition, the book features some International Focus Areas, recommended readings and a host of “on the job” application ideas.

The Bottom-line: As a manager, this is one of those books that you will likely find yourself going back to again and again. If you’ve ever struggled to explain to someone who wasn’t “strategic” exactly what the problems were that they needed to work on, then this book is for you. The step by step breakdown of concepts like “Career Ambition” into tactical, actionable steps is a hugely helpful coaching support for anyone. Certainly a great resource for anyone to look at for their own development (the Career Stallers and Derailers area contains 19 behaviours of which most of us are probably guilty of on a more than regular basis), the power of the book is in the simplicity of some of the actions that one can take. Don’t be deterred by the price. For anyone looking forward to a long career in management, the FYI guide will be something that will pay for itself in improved coaching conversations and helping you avoid your own career derailers again and again.