For this issue of Miles LeHane News, we are departing from our normal format to provide our readers with some information about some very thought provoking books that can assist in making key decisions in today’s economy, job market, and life in general.  These are books that we give to select program participants as they are appropriate.

StrengthsFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath

Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day? Chances are, you don’t. All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.

To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrenthsFinder, in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book spent more than five years on the bestseller lists and ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions to discover their Top 5 talents.

In StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more. While you can read this book in one sitting, you’ll use it as a reference for decades.

Loaded with hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths, this new book and accompanying website will change the way you look at yourself—and the world around you—forever.

Make Your Contacts Count – Networking Know-How for Business and Career Success, by Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon

Meeting—and keeping—a network of powerful contacts is the most effective way to further your career or grow your business. So how can you ensure that you are connecting with and impressing the right people? A practical, step-by-step guide for creating, cultivating, and capitalizing on networking opportunities and relationships, this book shows you how to leverage professional memberships, get the most out of networking events, make a memorable entrance, make conversations flow, and how to follow up. In this completely revised second edition, the authors offer new case studies, examples, checklists, and questionnaires, as well as expanded advice on building social capital at work and in job hunting.

Complete with a self-assessment test that lets you chart your progress as you master the strategies that will help you build beneficial business relationships, this new addition of Make your Contacts Count shows you how to set yourself apart from everyone else in the room and:

·  create a networking plan · cultivate current contacts · make the most of memberships · share anecdotes that convey character and competence · avoid the top ten networking turn-offs · and transform your career with a networking makeover.

Executive Intelligence, by Dr, Justin Menkes

What differentiates a “star” executive from his or her peers? This is no idle question because experts like Peter Drucker, Jim Collins, and Jack Welch agree that great talent builds great companies. So, finding and assembling a critical mass of the very best people should be the priority of every business. But how do you recognize a star? What distinguishes them? Over the years, we’ve heard vague answers such as, “they are people with sound judgment business smarts, or business acumen.”  But what do any of these terms really tell us?

Based on eight years of research on intelligence tests and cognitive skills, Executive Intelligence reveals the set of aptitudes that all brilliant leaders share. Dr. Justin Menkes, a renowned leadership expert, verified these findings through hundreds of interviews with senior executives, including thirty of the most celebrated CEOs in the world. Menkes discovered that just as great mathematicians share an exceptional facility for skills such as computation and deductive reasoning, great managers also have a certain set of cognitive skills that are at the heart of business acumen.

James Kilts, Chairman, President, and CEO of the Gillette Company said of Executive Intelligence: “Justin Menkes does a great job of defining and dissecting Executive Intelligence—the ability to analyze and process information and solve problems in a business environment. In a book rich with real-life examples and compelling commentary from leading business executives, he shows readers how to identify, measure, and acquire this key ingredient for corporate and individual success.”

Change It!, by Dr, Bill Quain and Doug Price

Learn the System that will Change your Life!  Finally there is a book that goes beyond just talking about change. Bill Quain and Doug Price show you why you should change, how to change, and most importantly, how to get others to change!  These sustainable action steps are described by the 5-step model in the book.

Why should you Change It!? If you are not on the path to true success, you need to change! Bill and Doug define true success in three words – Money, Sunny and Honey. Money is wealth. Sunny is Mental, Physical and Spiritual Health. Honey is strong relationships, If you don’t have these three things, you are not successful. You need to Change It!

How do you Change It!? Follow the Change It! System. Bill and Doug show you how to implement each of the six steps – and what happens when any of them is missing. After learning the Change It! System, you will see why change hasn’t worked in the past.

Right from the Start: Taking Charge in a New Leadership Role, by Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins

Are you about to start a new job or get a big promotion? With today’s surge in start-ups, spin-offs, reorganizations, and change initiatives, chances are that you’ll have the opportunity to accept a new leadership role sometime soon. Before you do, let Right from the Start show you how to overcome the tensions and challenges inherent in any leadership transition. It will prepare you for the often treacherous task of navigating an organization’s strategy, politics, and culture so that you can smoothly and effectively get to work on your new agenda.

Taking on a new role is fraught with obstacles that can undermine your best efforts to establish authority and build support. There are challenges inherent in succeeding a much-admired predecessor or carrying out radical change initiatives, whether you are rising from within your organization or joining from outside. Yet most executives are unaware of the pitfalls, and consequently fail to prepare themselves adequately, In Right from the Start, Ciampa and Watkins lay out an action-oriented framework to follow during the first six months in a new job. They supplement their tactical advice with absorbing profiles of CEOs, COOs, and EVPs who candidly discuss their experiences—the successes and the failures—with making the transition to a leadership position.

“Right from the Start is a superb handbook for executives in transition—a trenchant, engaging, and continuously rewarding guide through the crucial start-up period for a new leader.” – Kevin Klose, President and CEO, National Public Radio.