Picking a place to begin something when there's no single starting point can feel kind of daunting. So, I've decided to approach my blog like planting a new garden in a barren patch of earth - any place is as good as any other to start!
So, I'll begin by focusing on the books that have had the most influence/impact on my professional thinking. These are the books that I keep within easy reach and reference often.
I think there will be around 15 book when all is said and done, but here are the first 3. May you find them useful...
Beyond Reason: Using Emotions As You Negotiate (Roger Fisher & Daniel Shapiro)
This book builds on Roger Fisher's classic book on interest-based negotiation ("Getting to Yes"). Roger teams up with psychologist Daniel Shapiro to show how emotions can be actively and positively engaged to help manage conflict and build win-win outcomes in any personal or professional activity that involves any sort of negotiation.
I find the insights, lessons, and techniques applicable to almost all aspects of human relations, not just in negotiation and conflict mediation. This is such an amazingly helpful book, that I'd love to see become required reading in every high school in America!
Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen)
This is a fantastic, easy to read and apply book about how to have more effective conversations about tough topics. While I picked it up with my conflict resolution work in mind, it quickly became apparent that the concepts and strategies apply to any field of work or professional position and to life in general.
This is an immensely useful book and I highly recommend it! Another book I'd love to see become required reading for every high school student!
Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used - 3rd Edition (Peter Block)
I had never thought of myself as a consultant until I read this book. Then I realized that almost everything I've done professionally is consulting in some way, shape or form, even though I've always worked in organizations.
This is an extremely practical and user friendly book and demystifies the process of doing consulting well. I love how it lays out consulting as a genuine, two-way collaborative process and also realistically addresses the respective roles both organizations and consultants need to play in order to create meaningful change following a consultation.
Wish I'd had this book when I was going through my graduate training - I would have had far fewer headaches in my professional career!
Hmmm...reflecting on the 3 books I've included here, an insight just occurred to me - If one decided to read and work with just 3 books from those I'll share over the coming posts, this trio would be the most powerful and generally applicable. They build on and reinforce one another in very powerful ways and create a tremendous set of highly transferable skills.
Solving Tough Problems (Adam Kahane)
The Truth About Leadership (Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner)
Daring Greatly (Brene Brown)
