It’s summertime—students take off for break and we look forward to a slower pace, if just for a few months. This reprieve from the hectic school year means it’s also a great time to focus on professional development in the form of summer reading.
Whether that means picking up the book you’ve been meaning to read or scrolling through an education-focused online publication, the summer offers the chance to consider new ideas or outline new tactics. See below for a list of resources that are perfect for business managers.
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton. This classic on the art of the compromise is essential for the Business Officer who deals with contracts, vendors, and agreements. Written by Harvard Business professors, this book provides deep insight into coming to mutually beneficial agreements in many types of conflicts.
The Happiness Track: How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success by Emma Seppälä, Ph.D. This is an excellent read for high performers who struggle to maintain life balance in the context of today’s highly competitive, always-on world. Seppälä illustrates that finding happiness, balance, and fulfillment might offer the true path to professional happiness.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni. This book is written in the style of a fable—yes, a real fable—to illustrate the powerful, complex world of working within a team atmosphere. Very well done and highly influential—the basic concepts of teamwork and small group communication are not better put than in this book.
Insight: Why We're Not as Self-Aware as We Think, and How Seeing Ourselves Clearly Helps Us Succeed at Work and in Life by Tasha Eurich. Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses as well as how you come across to others is essential to mastering business skills such as influence, persuasion, communication, and collaboration. Eurich’s book gives readers the skills to see themselves more clearly to succeed both at work and in life.
Have you picked up any of these reads, or have another that you’d suggest? Let us know in a comment below.
Additional ISM Resources:
The Source for Business and Operations Vol. 14 No. 10 2016 Summer Reading Recommendations for Business Managers
The Source for Private School News Vol. 15 No. 6 2016 Summer Reading List for Private-Independent School Administrators
The Source for Private School News Vol. 16 No. 3 Print Books Are Not Dinosaurs … Yet
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 31 No. 14 Replace, Repair, Renew: Why a Facilities Audit Helps
I&P Vol. 41 No. 7 Facility Design and Strategic Planning
