leadership - Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Power of the Other: The Startling Effect Other People Have on You, from the Boardroom to the Bedroom & Beyond – and What to Do About It

By Scott J. Pearson | January 16, 2024January 16, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Modern leadership is often contrasted with healthy relationships. Leaders, we are told, have to be a lonely and isolated genius, like Steve Jobs. However, in truth, no one can lead without relying on other people. Getting things done requires healthy relationships, and most key advances just cannot be made without others’ influence. In this book, leadership psychologist Henry Cloud examines how to best take advantage of others’ help by identifying mutually beneficial relationships. Cloud’s main…

Management-Business

Let It Go!: How to (Finally) Master Delegation & Scale Freedom Across Your Organization

By Scott J. Pearson | January 12, 2024January 12, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Entrepreneurship draws people who aren’t afraid of taking risks and who are willing to put in the work. However, this field also has its share of pitfalls… like not being able to transform work requests into work for others. Leaders often get to their positions by getting things done. The practice of leadership, however, often means letting others get things done. The handoff process is called delegation. In this book, Emily Morgan dissects this topic…

Management-Business

Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works

By Scott J. Pearson | November 30, 2023November 30, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

This book is known as a classics on strategic planning and the role of strategy in business. It speaks from the point of view of leadership over Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) numerous businesses. The company identified its organization to be weak in understanding strategy, and it sought to inculcate strategic thinking into its leadership. Although this book references a few other corporations, it consists largely of case studies around how P&G succeeded using strategy. The…

Management-Business Mentoring

The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

By Scott J. Pearson | October 24, 2023October 24, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

When approached with an issue, most of us instinctively respond with doling out advice. We assume that people want to use our expertise. However, many of the best leaders have a different response: curiosity about the other person. They ask questions to empower the people around them to make better decisions. After all, the question-askers are the ones closest to the issues, not the one being questioned. In this book, Michael Bungay Stanier seeks to…

Management-Business Writing-Communication

Simply Said: Communicating Better at Work & Beyond

By Scott J. Pearson | August 18, 2023August 18, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Communications form an essential skill of leadership. To be a leader, people have to follow you. For people to follow you, they first must appreciate your vision, articulated in words, and then see them followed up with actions. This is true both in the workplace and in social life. In this book, Jay Sullivan aims to provide practical and simple insights to help us achieve these goals. In the first half of the book, Sullivan’s…

Management-Business

Best Team Ever: The Surprising Science of High-Performing Teams

By Scott J. Pearson | July 31, 2023August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Recent decades have witnessed the fields of neuroscience and psychology advance the insight that feeling a part of a vibrant community enhances a group’s success, however that is defined. This simple insight can be applied to many endeavors, ranging from civic organizations to businesses. When structured correctly, belonging can attract skilled employees while producing first-rate results. In this book, David Burkus seeks to instill readers with virtues that enhance a team’s well-being and success. Burkus’…

Biography-Memoir Politics Society

Radical Inclusion: Seven Steps to Help You Create a More Just Workplace, Home & World

By Scott J. Pearson | June 4, 2023August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

David Moinina Sengeh was seemingly at the peak of a great career triumph. Educated in America at Harvard and MIT, he was now a governmental cabinet member of education in his home country Sierra Leone. However, at the very beginning of his president’s term, the president – his boss – said that he would maintain the previous regime’s policy of banning pregnant girls from school. To most, this move seemed to make sense. However, to…

Management-Business Software-Technology

Precisely: Working with Precision Systems in a World of Data

By Scott J. Pearson | April 7, 2023March 22, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

In recent years, the world, empowered by computer technologies and advanced data collection, has experienced an explosion of information. Instead of focusing on a few fixed principles, decision-making increasingly takes place in light of ever-changing data points. How are business folk supposed to develop, deploy, and use these systems? In this book, Tumin and Want provide a series of case studies that illustrate how leaders across many domains have accomplished this. They then extract guidelines…

Management-Business Software-Technology

The CIO Paradox: Battling the Contradictions of IT Leadership

By Scott J. Pearson | February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

I write this review a full decade after this book was published. Further, I am a software developer in a large organization and, though quite happy, will likely never become a CIO at that company. Therefore, I don’t reside in the intended audience in this book. However, I notice many of these paradoxes in my work. I have to master the technical aspects of my job yet be adept enough to communicate to end-users. I…

Indie Mentoring

Equip Your Inner Coach: Personal, Career & Leadership Development in an Uncertain Age

By Scott J. Pearson | February 11, 2023February 11, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

How can someone advance their career and leadership skills without having access to good, personalized mentoring? Many – particularly women and minorities – in the workforce lack such access, yet their ambition to contribute to the world does not lack. What are they to do? One thing they can do is check out Janet Bickel’s book. In it, she teaches readers to rely on their “inner coach” and like-minded peers in figuring out how to…