Accel5’s Business Book Summaries of the Month: April 2023

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

Chase Greatness

Rajeev Kapur

Summary: In Chase Greatness, Rajeev Kapur establishes a sobering premise by detailing how the prospects for millennial and Gen Z adults are substantially reduced compared to their baby boomer parents. Challenges range from wage stagnation and the demise of collective bargaining to persistent social inequities and their inheritance of a willfully damaged planet. To engage these disaffected workers – who will constitute 75 percent of labor by 2025 – create an effective workforce, and ensure future profitability, you, as a current or aspiring leader, must embrace the activist mindset and establish the socially and environmentally responsible economic engines of the future.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Leadership Essentials
• Engaging & Motivating Others
• Communicating Effectively
• Diversity

Managing Multiple Projects

Elizabeth Harrin

Summary: Projects have become one of the primary structures by which organizations deliver long-term or large-scale work, but managing multiple projects can quickly become a stressful and difficult affair. In Managing Multiple Projects, Elizabeth Harrin draws on research and experience with project management to outline a practical guide to coordinating the expectations of multiple projects, building the skills necessary for effective task scheduling, and clarifying the details of your total workload.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Project Management

You, the Leader

Harvard Business Review Press

Summary: Women are as capable of being leaders as men are, but their leadership journey is more challenging. Social constructs, unfair policies, and self-doubt put women at a disadvantage. However, all the issues that hold women back can be overcome. You, the Leader is a collection of essays from Harvard Business Review Press that offers insight and support for women to help them visualize themselves as the leaders they want to be and take the right steps to achieve that vision.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Leadership Essentials
• Diversity

Everybody Paddles

Dr. Charles A. Montorio-Archer

Summary: A team can be successful when everyone paddles together in the same direction, at the same time, toward the same goal. In Everybody Paddles, Dr. Charles A. Montorio-Archer outlines proven strategies to advance a company’s mission and deliverables. Leaders who demonstrate kindness, integrity, and value each employee serve others by helping them achieve personal success as they work together for a common goal. Dr. Montorio-Archer provides six principles that help a company realize its vision, and weaves in personal essays and anecdotes from business and thought leaders that detail how they’ve applied these principles to achieve success.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Leadership Essentials
• Managing Teams

Secrets of Power Negotiating, 25th Anniversary Edition

Roger Dawson

Summary: Secrets of Power Negotiating by Roger Dawson is an in-depth guide to mastering the negotiation process. A collection of tips, techniques, and gambits, the book provides readers with everything they need to overcome common negotiating obstacles and achieve better deals for themselves. The 25th Anniversary Edition includes updated chapters on the topics of mediation and negotiating with non-Americans, plus new chapters on interpreting the meaning behind people’s body language and word choices.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Negotiating

Ordinary to Extraordinary

Gary Josephson, MD, MBA

Summary: There are no quick, easy strategies for achieving sudden success, but there are a handful of mentalities and behaviors that, once cultivated, can create a solid foundation for a successful life. In Ordinary to Extraordinary, Gary Josephson draws on life experiences to identify seven key principles for increasing your well-being, enhancing your ability to recognize and capitalize on opportunities, and enriching your life.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Networking & Relationship Building
• Positive Outlook
• Continuous Learning

Radically Human

Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson

Summary: Over the past several years, technology adoption in companies skyrocketed. Now, every company is a technology business, regardless of its industry sector. Simultaneously, organizations are taking more human approaches to technology innovation, which is changing the way companies work. In Radically Human from Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation, Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson discuss these shifts and share how the IDEAS (intelligence, data, expertise, architecture, and strategy) innovation framework can help leaders create new paths forward for their organizations.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Strategic Thinking
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Trust & Transparency
• Innovation
• Leadership Essentials

Thrive

Arianna Huffington

Summary: When you ask a career-minded person what success looks like, many sum it up as having money, power, and status. People with this view are often willing to work hard and push hard to climb ladders and earn seats among the decision makers.  They don’t recognize that the over-busyness, overwork, and over-connection with others that will be required to get there come at a steep cost. In Thrive, Arianna Huffington, the cofounder of The Huffington Post and founder and CEO of Thrive Global, offers another metric to include in our definition of success: how well we thrive. After experiencing some harrowing bouts of exhaustion, she believes we must prioritize something beyond “how far we can go.” Instead, she advocates for keeping our stress in check with well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving, noting that these factors can make the difference between a life in which we succeed and one where we crumble.

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Emotional Intelligence
• Stress Management
• Time Management

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

Daniel Pink

Summary: Timing matters, and it’s time we stop seeing it as an art and begin recognizing it as a science. In When, Daniel Pink explains that the “when” decisions we build our lives around — when to change careers, ask for a raise, start a family, end a marriage, go for a run, or deliver bad news — more often lean on intuition and guesswork than proven frameworks on rhythm we can use to divide, configure, and optimize our days. Pink calls When a “when-to” book rather than a “how-to” book, acknowledging that timing may be what matters most. He and two researchers have poured through more than 700 studies across a wide range of fields to make new connections that explain the hidden science of timing. Through this work, he’s found answers to some of our most pressing questions. For instance, why do fast starts and false starts matter? Why does the midpoint either invigorate us or kill our momentum? Why do endings motivate us to work harder and also incite us to slow down? Through all these matters, Pink aims to help us build lives, workdays, and patterns that can improve our performance, health, and overall life satisfaction. 

For those looking to improve upon these competencies:

• Time Management