How could we possibly top last year, you ask? Whether you're a long-time BK community member or just joining us today, one thing has remained true—we are always working to bring you the next idea that might change the world.
As reflected in our recent roundup of the 5 Biggest Change-Making Ideas from 2018, the movement for change is only growing. And Berrett-Koehler authors are hard at work making that change a reality! Just this month breakout Berrett-Koehler author Edgar Villanueva will join President Obama to speak at My Brother's Keeper Rising!, an event celebrating the achievements of organizations and communities leading the way in reducing youth violence, growing impactful mentorship programs, and improving life outcomes for boys and young men of color. Edgar's breakout book Decolonizing Wealth is a provocative analysis of the dysfunctional colonial dynamics at play in philanthropy and finance—and has been making waves since its release in 2018.
In other news, Bedtime Stories for Managers, a collection of deceptively light, sometimes heretical reflections on management from world-renowned expert and scholar Henry Mintzberg, dropped earlier this month, and it is already racking up rave reviews from everyone from Inc. Magazine to Ms. Career Girl. What do scrambled eggs have to do with management? You'll have to read the book to find out.
Oh! And just to keep you all on your toes, we released first-ever Spanish-language edition of a BK classic, El Corazón del Liderazgo
Ready for January's bestsellers? Read on!
1. The Arbinger Institute Suite: Leadership and Self-Deception, The Outward Mindset, and The Anatomy of Peace
The Arbinger Suite is starting the year off on
This month? We're digging in with Mitch Warner of The Arbinger Institute to help answer the question of how to incorporate these massively important frameworks into our own lives and work. Stay tuned for a guest post from Mitch on this very blog!
Leadership and Self-Deception | Amazon | Barnes
The Anatomy of Peace | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
The Outward Mindset | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
2. The Critical Few
The latest from organizational development expert Jon Katzenbach and Gretchen Anderson, The Critical Few, captures the number 2 spot on our bestseller list.
Evolution is critical to any organization's success. But change efforts often fail. Why? The fate of any change effort depends on whether and how leaders engage their culture: the self-sustaining patterns of behaving, feeling, thinking, and believing that determine how things are done in an organization. For the first time, this book lays out the Katzenbach Center's proven methodology for identifying your culture's four most critical elements:
- traits: characteristics that are at the heart of people's emotional connection to what they do
- keystone behaviors: actions that would lead your company to succeed if they were replicated at a greater scale
- authentic informal leaders: people who have a high degree of "emotional intuition" or social connectedness
- metrics: integrated, thoughtful measures to track progress, encourage the self-reinforcing cycle of lasting change and link to business performance
The book shows that by leveraging these critical few elements, you can tap into a source of catalytic change within your organization, inviting people to make emotional, not just rational, commitment to new initiatives and change.
The Critical Few | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
3. Win the Heart and the High Performance Leadership Series
Bestselling author and leadership expert Mark Miller's
Grounded in research, Miller's books offer real-life solutions to global business dilemmas, leaving no stone unturned. From Chess Not Checkers, Leaders Made Here, Talent Magnet, and the latest in the series, Win the Heart, each installment explores a critical component of building a company where people come excited to work. Chess Not Checkers addresses the question leadership development for individuals, whereas Leaders Made Here shows how to expand the effort to create a leadership culture. Talent Magnet shows how to attract and hire the best people, where the latest book in the series, Win the Heart (officially out in March of this year), discusses how to keep them by cultivating a high-engagement organization.
Leaders Made Here | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
Talent Magnet | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
Chess Not Checkers | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
Win the Heart | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
4. Eat That Frog!
We'll eat our own cooking (frogs, anyone?) and cut to the chase: Eat That Frog! is a tried and true method for getting more done in less time. And who doesn't want that? Since the book's release over a decade ago, Tracy's advice remains as relevant as ever for all of us who just can't seem to get it together. Don't believe us? Just recently, Forbes cited Eat That Frog! as necessary reading in an article titled "How to Create and Reach Your Goals," and Paste Magazine celebrated it on their list of 12 Books to Help You Get Sh*t Done—if that isn't a ringing endorsement, we're not sure what is.
Eat That Frog! is available in multiple interactive formats, including a card deck, workbook, training video, and audiobook.
Eat That Frog! | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
5. Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go
Study after study confirms that career development is the single most powerful tool managers have for driving retention, engagement, productivity, and results. Heck, we even named it as one of the most important change-making ideas we covered in 2018. But most managers feel they just don't have time for it.
For all those managers who feel they don't have time, here is the definitive guide on employee engagement and retention from the experts Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle-Giulioni. This book offers a better way to develop employees: frequent, short conversations with employees about themselves, their goals, and the business that can be integrated seamlessly into the normal course of business. The new edition of this bestselling classic offers updated advice on talent retention in the gig economy and a new chapter on creating a career development culture in your organization.
To help generate career conversations, we've also put together the Help Them Grow Card Deck with thought-provoking questions that range from “What do you predict will be the ‘next big thing’ in your field?” to “What one skill would help you be twice as effective?” and even “When do you feel most alive?” Use them to assess your career development style, engage others, plan a career conversation with your own manager, and more!
Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go Card Deck | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore
6. Why People Don't Believe You...
For some, projecting confidence and credibility is second nature. For others, it seems like a foreign language they'll never learn—until now. Rob Jolles delivers down-to-earth solutions for anyone looking to enhance the most basic need of all; to be believed. He leverages his over 30 years of experience to equip readers with empowering and practical tools for achieving business and social success. Jolles argues that credibility is as much about attitude as it is about aptitude. So-called “soft skills” like pitch, pace, and tone of voice are actually some of the most crucial factors in determining how people perceive us. As he puts it, “it's not the words, it's the tune” that really makes us memorable and credible.
Check out this excerpt from the book from Rob Jolles on the genesis of his most important writing yet.
Why People Don't Believe You... | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
7. Zip Tips!
In the age of an endless sea of time-saving apps, Mike Song offers an action-packed and effective guide on how to manage tech and time. By looking at both existing and new time-saving technology, this book provides the necessary groundwork to not only make you more productive with your time, but also how to leverage technology to boost you to the next level. It's not about how many apps or tech you have at your fingertips, it's about how well you're managing them. And don't take it from us, teams over at Microsoft are Zip Tips! fans too!
“It takes guts to teach Microsoft leaders new ways to use our own technology. This book exceeded our expectations and had us all zipping along!”
—Chuck Metzger, Senior Project Manager, Microsoft
Zip Tips! | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore
8. The Law of Small Things
The Law of Small Things exposes how our culture encourages breaches of integrity through an array of “permitted promise-breaking,” a language of clichés that equate self-interest with duty, and the “illusion of inconsequence” that excuses small breaches with the breezy confidence that we can fulfill integrity when it counts. Author Stuart Brody challenges the prevailing notion that integrity is a possession you hold permanently. No one “has integrity” and no one is perfect in practicing it. What we have is the opportunity to uphold promises and fulfill duties in each situation that faces us, large and small. Integrity is a practice and a habit of keeping promises, the ones we make explicitly and the ones that are implied in all our relationships. In rethinking how we uphold our integrity, we can intervene on the small promises we break and the lies we tell that can undermine our capacity to recognize dishonesty in others, especially those in power.
The Law of Small Things | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
9. On the Brink of Everything
On the Brink of Everything is more than just a book: it’s a look at the past, present, and future of everything that can only be achieved with experience. Looking back on his eight decades of life, love, and work, author Parker Palmer reveals the secret to maintaining curiosity for the world: cultivating a robust inner and outer life, sustaining a sense of purpose amid inevitable pain and wondrous joy, and opening up the possibility for intergenerational relationships that value youth and experience, no matter your age.
This book is a love letter to wisdom and can find itself on the bookshelves of many, especially those interested in sustaining curiosity in the face of a world that can make you feel depleted. Interested in reading more? Head over to YES! Magazine and check out an excerpt from this profound book.
On the Brink of Everything | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
10. Goals!
With bestsellers on time management and achieving your goals, is it any surprise that Brian Tracy is rounding out our list with not one but two books this month?
Why do some people achieve all their goals while others simply dream of having a better life? Bestselling author Brian Tracy shows that the path from frustration to fulfillment has already been discovered. Hundreds of thousands—even millions—of men and women have started with nothing and achieved great success. Here Tracy presents the essential principles you need to know to make your dreams come true.
Using the twenty-one strategies Tracy outlines, you’ll be able to accomplish any goals you set for yourself—no matter how big. You’ll discover how to determine your own strengths, what you truly value in life, and what you really want to accomplish in the years ahead. Tracy shows how to build your self-esteem and self-confidence, approach every problem or obstacle effectively, overcome difficulties, respond to challenges, and continue forward toward your goals, no matter what happens. Most importantly, you’ll learn a system for achievement that you will use for the rest of your life.
Goals! | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore
