Recommended Resources – Little Black Book of Connections

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Little Black Book of Connections: 6.5 Assets for Networking Your Way to Rich Relationships
by Jeffrey Gitomer

About the Book

Little Black Book of Connections by Jeffrey Gitomer provides practical, step-by-step methods for connecting with others in a wide variety of different roles including:

  • Superiors
  • Mentors
  • Co-workers
  • Customers
  • Vendors
  • Family and friends

As with his other books and numerous articles, Jeffrey addresses each communication challenge with a concise list of immediately implementable actions augmented by insightful tips for further improving individual performance.

Benefits of Using this Book

Connecting with others is the foundation of individual success. Without personal connections, we are unable to positively engage and influence those around us in a way that propels us to the achievement of our personal and professional goals.

StrategyDriven Contributors like the Little Black Book of Connections for its immediately actionable advice for creating meaningful relationships with others in a way that positively engages them to support the communicator. We’ve implemented many of the recommendations Jeffrey presents in his book to great success.

Jeffrey’s principles for connecting with others promote respectful engagement. Recommendations contained within the Little Black Book of Connections focus on positive relationship building through the offering of open, honest communications and meaningful value provision by the communicator.

Little Black Book of Connections provides immediately actionable methods for effectively engaging others in a positive, respectful manner making it a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Recommended Resources – The Pause Principle

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The Pause Principle: Step Back to Lead Forward

by Kevin Cashman

About this Book

The Pause Principle: Step Back to Lead Forward by Kevin Cashman reveals to readers the secret to dealing with their insatiable compulsion to do more and more within any given day. Kevin shows that instead of simply doing more, professionals must learn to stop, reflect, and move forward in a deliberately different manner in order to achieve more. He goes on to provide the insights and tools for pausing to accomplish more in several key areas including:

  • Personal leadership
  • Employee development
  • Innovative culture

Each section is concluded with a summary of the ‘Pause Practices’ needed to excel in that area as well as a ‘Pause Point’ containing provocative questions for visioning the future you are seeking to achieve.

Benefits of Reading and Using this Book

StrategyDriven Contributors agree that today’s fast paced world compels professionals to act with a speed that limits deliberate consideration. Such restrictions heighten the risk of error, poor decisions, and deteriorating health. With the never ending push to do more with less, this condition is not likely to change soon.

The Pause Principle fills a gap within today’s leadership training. Seldom are leaders taught the value of and methods to slow down. Kevin provides actionable methods for professionals to constructively pause; using this time for valuable contemplation, innovation, and planning so to truly achieve more with less rather than at the expense of ones personal life and health.

To some extent, all professionals are decision-makers and quality decisions require deliberate contemplation. The Pause Principle reminds us of the importance of pausing so to apply the knowledge and experiences necessary for good decision-making – decision-making that leads to innovation and growth.

For its sound, immediately implementable actions promoting excellence by slowing down, The Pause Principle is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Recommended Resources – Impatient Optimist

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Impatient Optimist: Bill Gates in His Own Words

edited by Lisa Rogak

About the Reference

Impatient Optimist edited by Lisa Rogak reveals Bill Gates’ core beliefs about business in a way no other author has been able to achieve… because these insights come directly from Bill Gates himself. Lisa’s book systematically covers a wide range of topics from ‘Addiction to Technology’ to ‘Relinquishing Control’, from ‘Streamlining Business Processes’ to ‘His Work Habits’, and ‘Hiring Employees’ to ‘Managing Employees’.

Throughout Impatient Optimist, three predominate themes are revealed:

  • the need to identify and understand any proposition’s return on investment
  • the value of maintaining the ‘big picture,’ and
  • the importance of family and of achieving an appropriate work-life balance.

Benefits of Using this Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors like Impatient Optimist because it reveals the intimate thoughts and beliefs of the man who is arguably the most successful business leader of all time but who is also one of the world’s greatest philanthropists. Many of Bill Gates’ approaches align well with the principles and philosophies we recommend business leaders adopt to further their organization’s success. While we recognize some may disagree with Bill Gates’ approach to certain circumstances – and on occasion we do too – all agree he is one of the great business leaders who continues to shape our modern world.

StrategyDriven Contributors appreciated the layout of Impatient Optimist, the organization of quotes around meaningful topic areas, the dating of each quote, and Bill Gates’ life story timeline provided at the end of the book. We found that knowing the setting and circumstances of the Bill Gates’ quotes provided insightful context from which to interpret them. As such, we recommend first-time readers review the ‘Milestones’ timeline presented at the end of the book first and refer to it often when reading individual quotes.

For it’s intimate portrayal of an American entrepreneurial icon, Impatient Optimist is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Organizational Accountability Warning Flag 3 – Artificial Retainer Driven Complacency

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StrategyDriven Organizational Accountability Warning Flag Article“The wheel that does the squeaking is the one that gets the grease.”

Josh Billings (1818 – 1885)
American humorist

It’s a natural human tendency to seek the path of least resistance. For executives, managers, and supervisors, this practice translates into assigning the difficult and emergent work activities to top performers, diverting work away from under-performers, and avoiding employee confrontations. The latter action erodes accountability. Leaders who do not address the shortcomings of under-performers including the provision of overly positive (even if neutral) feedback and unearned rewards (relative to top performers) loudly proclaim the merits of non-performance. Continued high performance and retention of top talent reinforces these errant practices until one day the lack of accountability drives the company’s best employees to a competitor’s business.

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Additional Information

Additional information regarding artificial employment restraints and how individuals can overcome them is contained within the StrategyDriven Professional Development article, Artificial Employment Restraints.

Return to the Organizational Accountability Forum

Recommended Resources – The Complete Executive

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The Complete Executive: The 10-Step System for Great Leadership Performance

by Karen Wright

About the Book

The Complete Executive: The 10-Step System for Great Leadership Performance by Karen Wright provides actionable insights to developing the habits and practices necessary to succeed in high-level leadership positions. Karen organized her insights into ten topical collections covering:

  • Health and fitness
  • Life plan
  • Relationships
  • Being a leader
  • Business basics
  • Career plan
  • Network
  • Learning and growth
  • Fun and interests
  • Reflection

Taken together, these collections focus on helping senior leaders create for themselves a life that fully supports health, stamina, reputation, skills, and relationships.

The Complete Executive closes with a 100-point self-assessment that enables readers to discover the areas of development requiring the most attention.

Benefits of Reading and Using this Book

StrategyDriven Contributors like The Complete Executive because of its immediately actionable recommendations to building ‘the whole executive.’ Whereas most books focus on just one aspect of leadership or restrict themselves to ‘the office,’ Karen goes beyond the confines of corporate life to address the wellbeing of the whole person. She recognizes that success does not begin or end within the office but is rather a result of the whole of a person’s life.

We found The Complete Executive to be an easy read; each insight accompanied by real world observations that highlighted the importance of the practice without being overly prescriptive or drawn out. As such, we believe Karen’s book would make a great compliment to any leadership development program, particularly one in which a key leadership principle is focused on each week.

The Complete Executive echoes many of the principles espoused by StrategyDriven and the StrategyDriven Professional websites; making it a StrategyDriven recommended read.