Good Reads

Philanthropy Revolution

Lisa Greer

In the first book on philanthropy written from a donor’s perspective, businesswoman and philanthropist Lisa Greer lifts the lid on our charitable sector, with an authentic account that describes exactly how outdated the sector has become and why it’s at risk of collapse. 

Reinventing Organizations

Frederik Laloux

We need more enlightened leaders, but we need something more: enlightened organizational structures and practices. Laloux examines organizations that are doing this and summarizes the practices 

Humanocracy

Gary Hamel & Michele Zanini

Unfortunately, most organizations, overburdened by bureaucracy, are sluggish and timid. In the age of upheaval, top-down power structures and rule-choked management systems are a liability. They crush creativity and stifle initiative. As leaders, employees, investors, and citizens, we deserve better.  

Understanding Michael Porter

Joan Magretta

5 forces of profitability, ways to avoid competition and creating values chains that create competitive advantage

The Fearless Organization

Amy Edmondson

Psychological Safety in the workplace and its connection to  high performance

Trust Your Canary

Sharone Bar-David

Taming workplace incivility

New Power

Jeremy Heimans & Henry Timms

"New power" is made by many. It is open, participatory, and peer-driven. 

Start with Why

Simon Sinek

Leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way—and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does.  

The Innovators Dilemma

Clayton Christensen

Great companies can fail precisely because they do everything right. 

Think Again

Adam Grant

Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn  

The Experience Mindset

Tiffani Bova

A guide to enhancing customer and employee experience simultaneously for unprecedented revenue growth

The Tipping Point

Malcolm Gladwell

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate

The War for Fundraising Talent

Jason Lewis

The War for Fundraising Talent is an honest yet hopeful critique of professional fundraising, intended especially for small shops that find it difficult to consistently achieve their fundraising goals. These organizations are notorious for rapid turnover and high donor attrition which are merely side effects of a much larger problem. This inter-sector conflict will not be won by those organizations who continue to mistakenly consider their scarcest resource to be donors with dollars. After years, if not decades, of obsessively accumulating new donors, most organizations have more than enough donors to keep them busy for quite some time. Those willing to part ways with this time-worn paradigm will discover how to retain more of the talent they already have and empower their new recruits with an environment where fundraising professionals can achieve mastery and find meaning in their work.

Quiet

Susan Cain

Are you overlooking the power of introverts?

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favour working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society.

The Future of Management

Gary Hamel

What fuels long-term business success? Not operational excellence, technology breakthroughs, or new business models, but management innovation—new ways of mobilizing talent, allocating resources, and formulating strategies. 

Leaders Eat Last

Simon Sinek

"Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in our charge." Sinek

Dare to Lead

Brene Brown

So what is a leader? “Anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.” 

Radical Candor

Kim Scott

ou don't have to choose between being a pushover and a jerk. Using Radical Candor―avoiding the perils of Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity, and Ruinous Empathy―you can be kind and clear at the same time. 

Give and Take

Adam Grant

Success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. The the surprising forces that shape why some people rise to the top of the success ladder while others sink to the bottom is examined.

The Infinite Game

Simon Sinek

Playing the long game and creating big visions

The Lean Startup

Eric Ries

Debunks the fallacy that a business plan is possible to figure out in advance and proposes an alternative based on lean and quick iteration

Originals

Adam Grant

Grant explores how to recognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt 

Subtract

Leidy Klotz

We pile on “to-dos” but don’t consider “stop-doings.” We create incentives for good behavior, but don’t get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don’t prune the outdated ones.

Revenge of the Tipping Point

Malcolm Gladwell

Twenty-five years after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand-new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing light. He offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of modern world. It’s time we took tipping points seriously.