REMOTE LEADERSHIP AND WORK
In addition to my book The Quick Guide to Interaction Styles and Working Remotely here are several other very good resources on the topic of remote work.
COMMUNICATING ACROSS CULTURES
by Don W. Prince and Michael H. Hoppe
Center for Creative Leadership, 2000
This book focuses on the challenges of working with people of different cultures.
Key topics include:
- When Being Yourself Isn't Enough
- Anticipate and Adapt to Cultural Differences
- Listen and Watch for Cultural Differences
- Speaking and Writing Across Cultures
- What's in a Name
- Using Humor Appropriately
- Communicate Respect for Other Cultures
- Expanding Horizons
DEVELOPING CULTURAL ADAPTABILITY
by Jennifer J. Deal and Don W. Prince
Center for Creative Leadership, 2003
This book focuses on the challenges of working with people of different cultures.
Key topics include:
- What is Cultural Adaptability?
- Why is Cultural Adaptability Important?
- Developing Your Cultural Adaptability
- Cultural Adaptability at Work
LEADING DISPERSED TEAMS
by Michael E. Kossler and Sonya Prestridge
Center for Creative Leadership, 2004
This book focuses on the challenges of leading teams who aren't co-located.
Key topics include:
- What is a Dispersed Team?
- Act Global, Think Local
- Launching a Dispersed Team
- Leading a Dispersed Team
- Dispersed Teams: Leadership Challenges for an Interconnected World
THE WORK AT HOME BALANCING ACT
by Sandy Anderson
Quill, 1998
This book focuses on the challenges of working at home.
Key topics include:
- Is home-based work right for me? (Sizing up yourself and your situation)
- Managing children and the household load
- Establishing rules, boundaries and schedules
- Dealing with isolation, motivation and stress
- Organizing your time and work space
- Making the transition to a work-at-home lifestyle
MASTERING VIRTUAL TEAMS
by Deborah L. Duarte and Nancy Tennant Snyder
Jossey-Bass, 2001
The focus of this book is virtual teams.
Key topics include:
- Understanding virtual teams
- Creating virtual teams
- Mastering virtual teams
A CD with useful checklists is included.
THE DISTANCE MANAGER
by Kimball Fisher and Mareen Duncan Fisher
McGraw Hill, 2001
This book focuses on the challenges of managing people who work in another location. Key topics include:
- Inspiring and motivating individuals and teams from afar
- Coaching for peak performance via e-mail, the telephone, and teleconferencing
- Building a cohesive team comprised of workers in different locations
- Managing projects from a distance
- Using the Web to set up effective shared workplaces and files
- Leading people who don't report to you
- Keeping work on track and on time
WORK NAKED
by Cynthia Froggatt
Jossey-Bass, 2001
This book is particularly useful if you are thinking about having remote workers and/or want to know how to implement a remote worker plan.
The author discusses eight key principles:
- Initiative
- Trust
- Joy
- Individuality
- Equality
- Dialogue
- Connectivity
- Workplace Options
Multiple references to other resources and web sites are included.
WORKING VIRTUALLY
by Trina Hoefling
Stylus Publishing, 2001
This book explains what is needed in a virtual work environment. It answers questions such as:
- What makes working virtually work?
- How do we start?
- How do you develop new leaders in a virtual environment?
- What skills do virtual managers and team members need?
- How do you determine how ready they are?
- Which technologies are most appropriate for your purposes?
- What's the impact on existing systems and structures?
VIRTUAL LEADERSHIP
by Jaclyn Kostner, Ph.D.
Warner Books, 1994
Written as a fable, this book will help you learn how to:
- identify and overcome your three worst enemies -- geography, isolation, and history
- build your leadership power base by accessing the power each person already has
- establish trust and unite people who don't share a common work space
- leverage resources across distance
- use technology as the bridge across your team's physical distances
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SYSTEMS THEORY
David Hutchen's is a talented writer who uses metaphors to teach us the key elements of systems theory. His four books are delightful, quick reading and bring a simple elegance to complex topics.
Listening to the Volcano (Communication)
(Review in Collaborations -- Winter 2006
Outlearning the Wolves (Learning Organizations)
Shadows of the Neanderthal (Mental Models)
The Lemming Dilemma (Personal Mastery)
(Review in Collaborations -- Spring 2000)
The Tip of the Iceberg (Systems Thinking)
(Review in Collaborations -- Winter 2002)
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MANAGEMENT/LEADERSHIP/COACHING
Influencer, by Kerry Patterson,
Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler.
(Review in Collaborations -- Winter 2008)
What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
(Review in Collaborations -- Winter 2007)
The One Thing You Need to Know by Marcus Buckingham
(Review in Collaborations -- Summer 2006)
5-D LEADERSHIP
by Scott Campbell and Ellen Samiec
Davies-Black Publishing, 2005
This excellent book on leadership demonstrates the value of each of five key leadership styles:
- Commanding
- Enrolling
- Coaching
- Relating
- Visioning
We are reminded by Scott and Ellen of the importance of flexing styles based on the situation or context. This book reinforced my beliefs about leadership and put leadership in a model that makes sense and is useful. The book contains excellent tools for assessment and practical techniques for the use of the 5 Dimensions.
Courage, The Backbone of Leadership by Gus Lee
(Review in Collaborations -- Fall 2006)
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and
Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
(Review in Collaborations -- Fall 2005)
Exercising Influence by B. Kim Barnes
(Review in Collaborations -- Fall 2004)
To Do or Not To Do... How Successful Leaders Make Great Decisions by Eric Klein and Gary Winters
(Review in Collaborations -- Summer 2004)
Leading in Tough Times: The Manager's Guide to Responsibility, Trust, and Motivation by Richard S. Deems, Ph.D. and Terri A. Deems, Ph.D.
(Review in Collaborations -- Winter 2004)
Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler.
(Review in Collaborations -- Fall 2003)
Whale Done by Ken Blanchard, Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins and Jim Ballard
(Review in Collaborations -- Summer 2003)
The Heart of Change by John Kotter
(Review in Collaborations -- Spring 2003)
First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
(Review in Collaborations -- Fall 2000)
The Inner Game of Work by Timothy Gallwey
(Review in Collaborations -- Summer 2002)
Love 'em or Lose 'em by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordon-Evans
(Review in Collaborations -- Winter 2001)
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The tipping point is that moment when an ideas, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. In this book Malcolm Gladwell effectively illustrates the tipping point phenomenon with great examples. He helps us see how little causes can have great big effects and how change can happen at one dramatic moment. Malcolm shares the critical components of the tipping point, helping us see how we can be effective in influencing others.
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
When I read a business book, I usually am looking for something practical -- a model or process -- that I can use in my life or in my work. I take notes as I read and then use those notes to summarize the book and to apply my learning.
In the case of Blink, I finished the book and had no written notes or immediate ideas of how to apply the material. Yet, in the first week after reading the book, I've already used examples from it and have shared the concepts in workshops and in conversations.
The power of the book is in the examples and in the awareness one gains about oneself and about the US culture. We make judgments every day in the blink of an eye -- and we can learn to do a better job of judging by learning to better read what we see.
This is a quick read and a fascinating book -- no wonder it s another best seller for Gladwell.
Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Cashman
Kevin Cashman challenges us to consider that leadership isn't only something we do, but rather an expression of who we are. This book provides an opportunity for self-reflection as well as practical tools to get to the essence of leadership: authentic self-expression that creates value.
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FACILITATOR'S TOOLS
How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
(Review in Collaborations -- Fall 2002)
The Consultant's Calling by Geoffrey Bellman
If you have, or want to have a consulting career, this book is a must read. Bellman has been a successful consultant for over thirty-five years and does an excellent job of sharing the keys to that success.
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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald Clifton
(Review in Collaborations -- Spring 2007)
How to Grow a Backbone: 10 Strategies for Gaining Power and Influence at Work by Susan Marshall
(Review in Collaborations -- Spring 2006)
The On-Time, On-Target Manager by Ken Blanchard and Steve Gottry
(Review in Collaborations -- Summer 2004)
Love It, Don't Leave It by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans
(Review in Collaborations -- Summer 2004)
Quick Guide to the Four Temperaments for Peak Performance - How to Unlock Your Talents to Excel at Work by Scott Campbell
(Review in Collaborations -- Spring 2004)
Don't Waste Your Talent by Bob MacDonald, Ph.D and Don Hutcheson
(Review in Collaborations -- Summer 2001)
Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
(Review in Collaborations -- Spring 2001)
The Magic in the Right Questions by Bill Mayer
In his motivational book, Bill Mayer shows us how by asking "empowering" questions of ourselves instead of disempowering questions, we can improve our lives. Bill tells us that we become what we think about so shows us how to use the right questions to focus in a positive way. For example, rather than ask "Why did this happen to me?" Bill suggests we ask "What's great about this?"
Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Cashman
Kevin Cashman challenges us to consider that leadership isn't only something we do, but rather an expression of who we are. This book provides an opportunity for self-reflection as well as practical tools to get to the essence of leadership: authentic self-expression that creates value.