Accel5®’s Business Book Summaries of the Month: September 2022

Add these summarized business books from Accel5 to your reading list.

This month’s collection covers a variety of topics, including leadership, diversity, entrepreneurship and more, all briefed to be enjoyed in minutes.

Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook
Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez

Summary: As the world experiences disruption after disruption, organizations have recognized that projects are the best way to transform these events into positive outcomes. This was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, as pharmaceutical companies developed effective vaccines at an accelerated pace. Project management expertise has become a critical skill for both private- and public-sector enterprises. In the Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez provides a comprehensive overview of project management in today’s world and shares the skills that professionals need to lead successful projects.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Project Management

Entrepreneur to Millionaire
Kent Billingsley

Summary: In Entrepreneur to Millionaire, Kent Billingsley shares everything he’s learned as a successful corporate executive and renowned corporate consultant during the last 40 years working with leaders worldwide. If you’re an entrepreneur or small businessperson who has followed the rules and worked incredibly hard yet still finds monumental success and wealth out of reach, Billingsley will show how those rules have failed you and teach you new rules that will turbocharge your company’s ascent. Doing more with more is a recipe for standing still. Learn the crucial lessons of doing more with less.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Entrepreneurial Mindset

All Are Welcome
Cynthia Owyoung

Summary: Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are important issues for companies of all sizes and industries. Leaders and employees at all levels must take responsibility for DEIB, but the work is rarely easy. In All Are Welcome, Cynthia Owyoung shares lessons she’s learned over 20 years as a DEIB professional. This book is a practical playbook for approaching DEIB initiatives, avoiding pitfalls, and making real progress.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Diversity

Elevating the Human Experience
Amelia Dunlop

Summary: Nine out of ten people say they care about feeling a sense of worthiness. Meanwhile, five out of ten say that a sense of worthiness is difficult to obtain. This disconnect is causing serious problems in the workplace. Despite the fact that the vast majority of people want to apply their “whole selves” in their jobs, 40 percent say they hide key aspects of themselves at work. In Elevating the Human Experience, Amelia Dunlop draws on her team’s research into love and worthiness in the work world to help you enhance your experience and better support the people around you.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Corporate Culture Development
• Emotional Intelligence
• Diversity

HBR Guide to Managing Flexible Work
Harvard Business Review

Summary: It’s no simple task to lead flexible workforces or be part of one. There are challenges to coaching for productivity and engagement, hurdles to overcome for communication, and boundaries to set to create norms and construct an inclusive culture. In the HBR Guide to Managing Flexible Work, expert contributors from around the world share the approaches they use to navigate the challenges. Their insights on both leading flexible teams and being part of them can help you perform well individually and alongside others to achieve important goals.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Corporate Culture Development
• Management Essentials
• Time Management

Multipliers, Revised and Updated
Liz Wiseman 

Summary: In the revised and updated edition of Multipliers, Liz Wiseman argues that the best leaders aren’t geniuses but “genius makers.” Known as Multipliers, these leaders inspire their employees’ best work while also further developing their intelligence and skills. By integrating the five Multiplier disciplines into your own leadership, you can unleash your employees’ full potential and produce twice the results.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Leadership Essentials
• Managing Performance
• Engaging & Motivating Others

Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Rohini Anand 

Summary: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are good for business. They expand an organization’s talent pool, secure local buy-in, and minimize the costs of high turnover and low engagement. In Leading Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Rohini Anand outlines five principles for designing, implementing, and embedding DEI initiatives within your organization. She draws on her extensive experience as a DEI change agent and examples from a variety of successful organizations to demonstrate how you can negotiate local laws and customs to foster a globally inclusive organization.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Diversity
• Leadership Essentials
• Global View

Positively Energizing Leadership
Kim Cameron

Summary: In Positively Energizing Leadership, Kim Cameron, a researcher and expert on positive relational energy, makes the case that when leaders adopt a positive philosophy focused on modeling and encouraging virtuous behaviors, organizations thrive. This type of positively energizing leadership is more than simply being cheerful or optimistic—it focuses on universal human-centered virtues like compassion, kindness, and generosity, and identifies practical interventions for these virtues to take hold within an organization’s culture. Positive leadership has been a key factor in dramatic organizational turnarounds and empirical evidence from psychosocial research shows why.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Leadership Essentials
• Positive Outlook

Gorillas Can Dance
Shameen Prashantham

Summary: Large corporations often view startups—which push innovative business models and tap into new areas of opportunity—as disruptive elements. However, they can also serve as important partners. In Gorillas Can Dance, Shameen Prashantham draws on 15 years of study on partnerships to provide a guide for the collaboration of corporations and startups. He shares strategies for overcoming difficulties and maximizing the mutual benefits of these partnerships.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Entrepreneurial Mindset
• Collaboration & Teamwork

The Cactus and Snowflake at Work
Devora Zack 

Summary: In The Cactus and Snowflake at Work, Devora Zack explores two defining character traits and how they come into play in the workplace. As you become more familiar with the characteristics of the logical cactus and the sensitive snowflake, you can expand your own self-awareness. Zack shares how you can learn to flex your communication style, demonstrate respect, and improve your language skills so you can better lead your employees.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Emotional Intelligence
• Networking & Relationship Building
• Communicating Effectively