The World's Best Book Summaries
Do you know what your employees’ career goals are? Are you helping them reach those goals? If you’re a manager, career development should be an ongoing process with each of your team members. Employee experience expert Russ Laraway recommends having three career conversations with employees, each conversation with a specific focus. Continue reading to learn how to conduct these conversations and measure their effectiveness.
Do you want to make the best deal in a negotiation? What are the best negotiation books for making deals? Making negotiations is a part of everyday life. People make negotiations on houses, salaries, or even where to eat for a date night. Settling on a deal that’s satisfying to both parties is the best possible outcome, but not always easy to achieve. We’ve rounded up the top negotiation books that you can use to make attractive deals.
Are you an effective manager? What would the people on your team say? What score would they give you? Employee engagement in the workforce is at an all-time low. Russ Laraway says the solution is better management. He argues that managers must focus on goals, coaching, and career development, and he says that employees should rate the manager’s effectiveness in each of these areas. Read more to get Laraway’s ideas for a manager performance survey that will help you know how you’re doing where it really counts.
What’s a best alternative to a negotiated agreement? Why should you calculate your and your counterpart’s BATNA and reservation value? Negotiation Genius by Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman suggests you prepare two main things before entering a negotiation. These are your and your counterpart’s best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) and reservation value (RV). Check out how to easily calculate both below.
How can you keep cognitive biases from ruining a negotiation? How should you handle it when your counterpart lies to you? Is it possible to negotiate from a weak position and come out on top? In Negotiation Genius, Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman look into some common obstacles during negotiations that can impede your ability to understand and communicate with your counterpart. These obstacles include cognitive bias, deception, and a weak position. Take a look at these negotiation challenges, and learn how to overcome them.
Are you a specialist in just one area? If so, are you aware of how that could be holding you back? Retired astrophysicist Jacob Lund Fisker argues in Early Retirement Extreme that it’s possible to break out of the unsatisfying cycle of consumerism. Part of the equation is increasing your financial security by diversifying your skills. Read more to discover how diverse skills can help you get the lifestyle you want.
What careers entail communicating to an audience, either in a conference room or an auditorium? In your personal life, when could you be called upon to speak in front of others? Legendary author and lecturer Dale Carnegie believes that the most important skill in life is public speaking. It provides fulfillment, and it opens countless doors of opportunity. In Public Speaking for Success, he discusses the benefits of public speaking, including influence and confidence-building. Read more to discover why Carnegie says that public speaking is such a valuable skill.
What is Blood, Sweat, and Pixels about? Why is making a video game so hard? Blood, Sweat, and Pixels describes the many challenges video game developers face in the industry. A couple of these includes constantly evolving technology and adhering to a schedule during development. Read below for a brief overview of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier.
Why isn’t comedian and actor Patton Oswalt afraid to take risks? What gives filmmaker David Lynch creative freedom? All of the world’s most successful people have this in common: They’ve failed. Regardless of who you are, failure happens. But, those who find success have first found a way to leverage failure. Tim Ferriss shares the advice he got from several people about how to use failure as a springboard to success. Read more to learn three benefits of failure that successful people recognize.
Do you find it hard to say no to requests and opportunities? What if you were more free to pick and choose how you commit yourself? You’re not limitless. Neither is your time. So, knowing how and when to say no is a highly valuable skill to have. When Tim Ferriss solicited life and career advice from experts in various fields, several of them stressed the importance of establishing and sticking to boundaries in order to protect your priorities. Read more for insights that will help you know where to draw the line and when to say no.