Amazon.com updates its list of the bestselling books every hour. Here is a snapshot of what is hot right now, this Monday morning, May 4, in the “Organizational Behavior” section of the “Business and Investing”category.
1. Don’t Bring It to Work: Breaking the Family Patterns That Limit Success
by Sylvia Lafair. Lafair explores what happens when patterns originally created to cope with family conflicts are unleashed in the workplace. Throughout the book she shows how to break the cycle of pattern repetition and offers the tools that can turn unhealthy family baggage into creative energy that will foster better workplace associations and career success.
2. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Stephen R. Covey. Mainly about resolving conflicts and influencing people, this guide covers every conceivable aspect of talking with others. People hear facts and stories and turn them into shared knowledge when they’re not attacked or overpowered- – in other words, when they feel safe. No mushy mental health lesson, the program explains many types of communication errors and describes the best ways to achieve mutual purpose.
3. Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard . This story is about adjusting attitudes toward change in life, especially at work. 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.
4. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
by Patrick Lencioni. The author targets group behavior in the final entry of his trilogy of corporate fables. When the instructional tale is over, Lencioni discusses the “five dysfunctions” (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results) and provides a questionnaire for readers to use in evaluating their own teams and specifics to help them understand and overcome these common shortcomings.
5. The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox. Alex Rogo manages a failing manufacturing plant. When his district manager tells him that profits must increase or the plant will be closed, Alex turns to Jonah, a former professor. With the help of the enigmatic Jonah and the plant staff, Alex turns the plant around while at the same time abandoning many management principles he previously thought were ironclad.
6. Robert’s Rules Of Order Newly Revised In Brief (Roberts Rules of Order (in Brief))
by Henry M. III Robert, William J. Evans, Daniel H. Honemann, and Thomas J. Balch. Thisguide briefs readers on the rules most often needed at meetings — from debates and amendments to votes and nominations and includes sample dialogues, helpful references to the “big” book throughout, and handy tips for elected or appointed officials, Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised in Brief is the essential abbreviated meeting rulebook.
7. Leading Change
by John P. Kotter. The methods managers have used in the attempt to transform their companies into stronger competitors — total quality management, reengineering, right sizing, restructuring, cultural change, and turnarounds — routinely fall short, says Kotter, because they fail to alter behavior. This book identifies an eight-step process that every company must go through to acheive its goal, and shows where and how people — good people — often derail.
8. The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life (J-B Warren Bennis Series)
by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan. If you are looking to rally a company’s employees around a new vision, consultant Zaffron and business professor Logan tell how to “create a future.”
9.Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box
created by The Arbinger Institute. Through the story of Tom—a “shluck” in his manager’s words—readers discover that identifying and treating individual leadership problems as if they were separate and distinct is not enough to transform people into successful leaders. The authors suggest that the key to leadership lies not in what we do, but in how we “are.” They explore this compelling secret: Self-deception is the central player and trap underlying all leadership failures, relationship issues, and performance problems in organizations.
10. The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
by by Michael Watkins. Whether challenged with taking on a startup, turning a business around, or inheriting a high-performing unit, a new leader’s success or failure is determined within the first 90 days on the job. This hands-on guide offers proven strategies for moving successfully into a new role at any point in one’s career.
