1. Positivity – Completed
Author:Barbara Fredrickson
This book introduced me about positivity ration – the 80/20 of positivity. It says anyone can reach peak positiveness of 80% as 20% negativity is unavoidable to sail the life boat without sinking. TED talks by the author is available to get the core of this book.
One other thing I learnt is – 10 forms of positivity
2. Slicing pie – In Progress / Halted
Author: Mike Moyer
3. 5 Gears : How to Be Present and Productive When There Is Never Enough Time. Authors: Jeremie Kubicek, Steve Cockram
– In Progress / Halted
4. Steal the Show – Completed
Author: Michael Port
Short Review:
Author compares life with a stage play performance and gives tons of tips to impress audience in any meeting/discussion/conversation/interaction/public speaking using the stage performance techniques.
Bottom Line: Use every opportunity & perform to your best. End of the book has list of 50 tips that sums up many ideas sprinkled throughout the book.
Bonus: Here is the Link to the 50 Tips PDF file in Author’s website. Here is the YouTube Video from Author
5. Leadership BS. Author: Jeffrey Pfeffer
– Completed
Short Review:
If you attended a (or lot of) Leadership training program(s) in the organization & found corporate leaders are quite opposite to what you learned in the training, then just pick this book up and start reading it! This book gives you a clear explanation about it & why it works. Author details the gap in prominent traits, like authenticity, truthfulness, modesty, people first, etc, preached by leadership studies & actual leadership in practice backed with scientific evidence. Author expressed his deep concern about the current status of whole leadership industry (with quite a lot of negative emotional words).
Bottom Line: Author says – Leadership industry (training, blogs, websites, academics, etc) is selling you things that is not really practiced. Understand the reality.
6. Book Yourself Solid.
Author: Michel Port
– Provisionally Completed
Short Review:
In every chapter, it calls for actions. You need to have the workbook handy. I also liked the Illustrated version of this book “Book Yourself Solid Illustrated: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling by: Michael Port; Jocelyn Wallace”. I found Illustrated version is more visually engaging!
Bonus: Here is the gist of the whole book in 7 minutes YouTube Video Link from Michael Port’s Workshop
7. Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead
Author: Laszlo Bock
– In Progress/Halted
8. Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts–Becoming the Person You Want to Be.
Authors: Marshall Goldsmith, Mark Reiter
– Completed
Short Review:
This books is another gem in self-help. Now, I added Marshal Goldsmith as one of my favorite authors in self-help section. Two things that I liked in this book are –
- The author divides the triggering point into 3 events (similar to the one explain in The Habit book) & gives great explanation about it.
- As I am a follower of situational leadership theory, Marshal compares the leader – follower situational leadership theory inside our mind.
9. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
Author: Susan Cain
– Halted
10. People Over Profit
Author: Dale Partridge.
– Completed
Short Review:
As the book name suggests it talks about ‘People’ over ‘Profit’. Entrepreneurs are eyeing more on profit which should be changed.
Dale starts the book with perfect example of events that happens in a doctor visit. His narration is top notch & everyone undergoes the same experience every time irrespective of # of visits to the same hospitals. Dale says ‘All industry shows ugly capitalism & it should change’
In Part 1, Dale explains the 4 Eras cycle organizations are stuck in. He showed lot of example from existing companies.
In Part 2, author details about the 7 core beliefs of people over profit organizations.
In Part 3, he concludes with “Break the system for Good”. I liked “even good can go bad” statement at the end.
Bottom Line: Short book with many pages filled with full page quotes. Author himself giving justification about the book length and he scored high with his explanation. This book conveys good message which is need of the hour.
11. The Four agreements
Author: Don Miguel Ruiz
– Completed
Short Review:
This is “The BEST Book” I ever read in personal freedom. I got audio book also & completed the book end to end in one go. I am hearing the audio book everyday esp. the 2nd Agreement – “Don’t Take Anything Personally”.
Author suggest following 4 agreements that everyone should follow to get personal freedom:
1. Be Impeccable with your word – Words from our mouth can be a boon or curse, so use it without sin.
2. Don’t take anything personally – Each one is having their own thought process and what others tell is what they thought and you should not take it personally.
3. Don’t make assumptions – Problems in relationship arises because of making assumptions. Ask for clarifications & don’t assume
4. Always do your best – Whatever is your energy level, always do your best for that energy level.
12. Smarter Faster Better
Author: Charles Duhigg
– Provisionally Completed
13. Give And Take
Author: Adam Grant
– In Progress/Halted
14. Raising Strong
Author: Brené Brown
– In Progress/Halted
15. Presence
Author: Amy Cuddy
– In Progress/Halted
16. The Happiness Advantage
Author: Shawn Achor
– Provisionally Completed
17. The ONE Thing
Author: Gary Keller, Jay Papasan
– Completed
Short Review:
This book has only one truth about productivity – do the ‘The ONE Thing’ that matters.
Quotes from the book: “What’s the ONE Thing you can do this week (or today) such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?”
Extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus.
17. Pre-suasion – Starting 09/06/2016
Author: Robert Cialdini
Project Management & Leadership Champions 