Books

The Power of Appreciative Inquiry:  A Practical Guide to Positive Change – by Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom Many of our clients spend huge amounts of time focusing on what is going wrong and little time thinking about what is going well.  Aside from the inherent downer in this approach, there is significant value to…

Fierce Conversations:  Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time – by Susan Scott In almost all of our client organizations, one of the most critical problems is the lack of open and honest feedback about tough subjects. This isn’t about not wanting feedback – almost everyone does. What it’s about…

The Leadership Pipeline:  How to Build the Leadership Powered Company – by Stephen Drotter, Ram Charan and James Noel This book is a must read for any manager or executive who is struggling to stay strategic. Many of the leaders we consult with are working one or two levels below where they should be working.…

Good to Great:  Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t – by Jim Collins We find two of Collins’ main ideas highly relevant to our clients’ leadership teams: 1) when is responsibility taken or credit given, and 2) are they serious enough about making sure the right people are on (and off)…

Creating a LEAN Culture:  Tools to Sustain LEAN Conversions – by David Mann This is a great book on the leadership side of LEAN – an essential piece of the overall LEAN equation that doesn’t get as much attention as doing the technical side of the job better, faster and more efficiently. Without LEAN leadership…

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team:  A Leadership Fable – by Patrick Lencioni A surprising number of the leaders we work with talk about the need for teamwork with their peers but manage from a silo mentality. This book clarifies the issues that get in the way of an effective leadership team and provides great…