Leadership – Page 6 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t

By Scott J. Pearson | March 18, 2020September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

This work is the result of a cohort business study. The control group consisted of publicly owned companies that had good performance for 15 years and then great performance (defined as outperforming the market by over three times) for 15 years. There were only 11 good-to-great companies. Eleven other companies in similar lines of work were chosen into the comparison group. Then the research group dissected those companies to figure out what the great companies…

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

By Scott J. Pearson | December 25, 2019September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

I often use slow times of the year to read psychologically oriented books that apply to my life. This Christmas, I picked up this book that deals with leadership and being up-front with emotions in the workplace. This book’s author served in the military before getting a PhD in sociology. Her topic of interest is vulnerability as a leadership trait. The influx of women into the American workplace has changed workplace dynamics. This book –…

Biography-Memoir Leadership

A Woman’s Education: The Road from Coorain Leads to Smith College

By Scott J. Pearson | December 19, 2019September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Jill Ker Conway has left us with quite a trilogy of autobiographies. In so doing, she has divided her life into thirds – growing up on the Australian outback, coming of age in North-American academe, and gaining a feminist voice as president of the elite Smith College. This work examines her experiences at Smith College. She poured her soul into learning to articulate an authentically feminine institutional voice in a world of coeducation. Instead of…

Leadership Management-Business Psychology Writing-Communication

The Skilled Facilitator

By Scott J. Pearson | October 6, 2019September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Successfully resolving conflict is one of the most important tasks in management and leadership. Schwarz, a Harvard-educated organizational psychologist, teaches us how to do just this in this well-received book. Its success can be demonstrated by the fact that it now resides in its third edition. (This review only applies to the second edition.) Schwarz tells us how to be not just a facilitator but a skilled facilitator of discussion within organization. He consults with…

Fiction-Stories Leadership Management-Business

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

By Scott J. Pearson | September 9, 2019September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

This work straddles the fence between a short novel and a book on business. It covers a helpful topic of five common dysfunctions of a team. Through reading it, I helped identify pits that teams I have participated in have fallen prey to. The story itself is relatively easygoing, if a bit short and superficial. A new CEO faces the scenario where her new form has more cash and more talented leaders, but is underperforming.…

Biography-Memoir History Leadership

Review: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

By Scott J. Pearson | March 23, 2019September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin My rating: 5 of 5 stars This in-depth look into the lives of Lincoln and his closest advisors meets the hype. It tells the life histories of President Lincoln, his attorney general Bates, his treasury secretary Chase, and his secretary of state Seward. All four had a chance of being nominated as the Republican candidate in Chicago, but Lincoln secured the nod.…

Leadership Management-Business

Doing the Right Things Right

By Scott J. Pearson | June 19, 2018September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

by Laura Slack AudiobookThis book’s title borrows from Peter Drucker’s famous distinction that management is doing things right and leadership is doing the right things. In the introduction, Slack says that she aspires to update Drucker’s work on the executive worker for the Internet age. She does just that, incorporating advice for new situations throughout her work while remaining true to Drucker’s principles. That being said, she is no Drucker. Drucker’s strength is focusing on…

Leadership Management-Business

Out of the Crisis

By Scott J. Pearson | June 11, 2018September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

by W. Edwards DemingCopyright 1982. Deming’s Fourteen Points Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis…