Sadly, I was forced to put down “Fifty Shades Darker” this week humbly replaced by two professional books required as part of recent training in the 9-5 work place. Dare I ask you to do the same? Dare I ask you to stop swooning over Christian Grey? Please, I only did it because I HAD TO.
After one week of grueling non-stop meetings and training followed by three evenings of work related team building dinners, this working mom is both exhausted and energized at the same time. Not to mention I had to cram in these two books! Yes, my household chores went completely ON HOLD for one solid week (hello wash-n-fold!).
My brain is overflowing with information and new ideas. I have oodles and oodles of notes buried in my binder when I suddenly realized it’s up to me to take action that will benefit myself as well as my team. Or, I could do nothing but will surely get nothing in return. If you know me even a little bit, you no the latter is not an option.
Perhaps my revelation was sparked by the deep conversations we had in the conference room or perhaps it’s more simply that I learned a thing or two. Either case, I highly recommend both books especially if you work in an environment where teams are a fact of life. Though one can certainly comprehend how we work in teams in our personal lives equally as much. Do you consider your family a team? Do your kids participate in team sports?
Working in teams can be challenging and the level of trust you have or don’t have can have steep consequences or work to your benefit. One thing I learned is speed and cost are a direct impact of trust. If you have trust, things speed up and your costs decrease. If you lack trust, things will slow down and your costs will surely increase. I never quite thought of trust in economic terms. I found this fascinating.
The Speed of Trust by Steven Covey
written by Stephen R. Covey’s eldest son comes a book that challenges our assumption that trust is merely a social virtue, and instead demonstrates that it is an economic driver–a learnable skill that makes organizations more profitable, people more promotable, and relationships more energizing. Covey informs readers how to inspire lasting trust in their personal and professional relationships, and in so doing to create unparalleled success and sustainable prosperity in every dimension of life.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Pat Lencioni
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team describes the many pitfalls that teams face as they seek to “row together”. This book explores the fundamental causes of organizational politics and team failure. We recommend you get the book that comes in animated form which makes it more fun and enjoyable to read.
Other professional business books worth reading :
