If you are concerned about America’s future, as I am, I highly recommend reading Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America, published in late May. It is the best book I’ve read on what ails the U.S. Beyond insights into how we arrived at our current state, it offers a hopeful vision for the future and positive steps that can be taken by individuals and by the government.
Have you ever experienced a moment of clarity in your own life as you were swept up in reading a good book? Maybe it was the way a person behaved that gave you insight into an issue you were wrestling with or something a character said that resonated with you.
If anyone has a pulse on the business book landscape, it’s Wally Bock. The author of the Three Star Leadership blog and a professional writing coach, Wally reads and reviews many books each year. His wisdom and practical advice have made his articles some of our readers’ favorites on the Connection Culture Group blog.
I was honored that Wally chose to include the second edition of my book Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work on his list of the top 5 business books he read in 2021.
Check out Wally’s full review and see his other recommendations.
I am thrilled to share that two of the leading book summary organizations in the world – getAbstract and Soundview – have just published summaries of the second edition of my book Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy, and Understanding at Work. Even better, getAbstract rated the second edition as 9 out of 10 and it was selected as an “Editors’ Picks” representing one of the “best of the best”! In addition, Connection Culture is included in the Best Practice Institute’s Holiday Book Recommendations.
You can check out both of the summaries, as well as a Q&A interview with me published by the getAbstract team, at these links:
If the abstracts pique your interest, why not consider giving the book as a holiday gift this year – to yourself, a colleague, or a loved one who would benefit from the message? You can purchase the paperback or audio book edition through Amazon or find the paperback at other retailers.
Today is National Book Lover’s Day. To celebrate, Michelle Tillis Lederman, author of The Connector’s Advantage, recommended Connection Culture as one of her 10 favorite books.
Here’s the list:
“It isn’t what we don’t know that gives us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so.” – Will Rogers
In his latest book, Under New Management, David Burkus challenges a number of conventional business practices. These practices include, but are not limited to: the “customer first” mentality, non-compete agreements, email, standard vacation policy, office design, annual performance appraisals, and even the need for managers.
Under New Management is well worth reading. Below, I zero in on three practices Burkus addresses.
Thank you getAbstract for recommending Connection Culture as a “Top 3 Reads” for November out of 11,000 business books published each year. Here’s what getAbstract wrote about the book:
“Packed with rock-solid evidence, disturbing statistics and moving stories, this short but passionate plea for connectedness at work and in life delivers a wake-up call. How connected you feel to other people at work turns out to be the primary driver of your sense of engagement as an employee, but Americans in particular have let relationships and community suffer. Experts Michael Lee Stallard, Jason Pankau and Katharine P. Stallard explain why people need to connect. They find that record numbers of U.S. workers are stressed, unhealthy and addicted as a result of ignoring the benefits of close, caring relationships in favor of more work, solo entertainment and a casual approach to marriage. The few organizations that include employees in decisions, respect them and encourage relationship building and bonding ultimately outpace their competitors. getAbstract recommends this quick read to leaders who want to build places where the best people want to work and connect.”
Kate Otto Speaking
Kate Otto has a message for fellow Millennials. Her work experience at an HIV/AIDS clinic in Indonesia inspired her to research the power of personal relationships. She saw that practicing certain attitudes contributed to developing meaningful relationships at work. These relationships made her more productive and increased her feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment.
We connect with some people and not with others. Great leaders master how to connect with just about everyone and that’s one reason why people want to follow them.
There are many facets to connection. Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram have written an excellent book titled 5 Gears: How to Be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time that provides insight into an important aspect of connection.
Doug Hensch, president of DRH Group, recently reviewed my book Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy, and Understanding at Work.
In his review, Hensch writes: “There are still some lonely people out there who think the sole purpose of a business to produce a profit. Unfortunately, profits are just like oxygen. Oxygen makes life possible but not necessarily worth living. And, Stallard writes, ‘Connection is what transforms a dog-eat-dog environment into a sled dog team that pulls together.'”
Read the full review.