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Built to Last

Author(s): Jim Collins, Jerry Porras
ISBN: 0060516402

Jim Collins and Jerry Porras begin their groundbreaking analysis of "visionary companies" with the following bold statement: "We believe every CEO, manager, and entrepreneur should read this book." Although their language may sound slightly hubristic, the authors actually deliver the promised goods: Written in eloquent and accessible language, Built to Last, the result of an extensive six-year research study conducted at Stanford University, is a classic business book that surely deserves the accolades critics, readers, and its creators have heaped upon it.

Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances

Author(s): J. Richard Hackman
ISBN: 1578513332

Teams have more talent and experience, more diverse resources, and greater operating flexibility than individual performers. So why do so many teams either struggle unpleasantly toward an unsatisfactory conclusion-or, worse, crash and burn shortly after launch? J. Richard Hackman, one of the world's leading experts on group and organizational behavior, argues that the answer to this puzzle is rooted in flawed thinking about team leadership. It is not a leader's management style that determines how well a team performs, but how well a leader designs and supports a team so that members can manage themselves . According to Hackman, cookie-cutter formulas and prescribed leadership styles often backfire because they place far too much emphasis on the leader as the primary cause of team behavior. In Leading Teams , he identifies the key conditions that any leader can put in place to increase the likelihood of team success-regardless of his or her personality or preferred style of operating. Through extensive research and compelling examples ranging from orchestras to economic analysts to airline cockpit crews, Hackman identifies five conditions that set the stage for great performances: a real team, a compelling direction, an enabling team structure, a supportive organizational context, and the availability of competent coaching. Leading Teams outlines what leaders can do to structure, support, and guide teams in a way that enhances the social processes essential to collective work; builds shared commitment, skills, and task-appropriate coordination strategies; helps members troubleshoot problems and spot emerging opportunities; and captures experiences and translates them into shared knowledge. Out of these conditions, Hackman argues, the very best teams emerge-teams that exceed client expectations, grow in capability over time, and contribute to the learning and personal fulfillment of individual members. Authoritative, practical, and astutely realistic, Leading Teams offers a new and provocative way of thinking about and leading work teams in any organizational setting. AUTHORBIO: J. Richard Hackman is the Cahners-Rabb Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University. He resides in Bethany, Connecticut, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Creating Teams with an Edge

Author(s): Harvard Business School Press
ISBN: 159139290X

Creating Teams with an Edge: The Complete Skill Set to Build Powerful and Influential Teams can be a driving force for organizational performance-and managers can play a key role in teams' ultimate success or failure. Highlighting the latest research on team development and dynamics-and including hands-on tools for improving communication, resolving conflicts, promoting interdependence, and more-this guide will help managers at all levels to motivate teams to achieve higher performance. The Harvard Business Essentials series is for managers at all levels but is especially relevant for new managers. It offers on-the-spot guidance, coaching, and tools on the most relevant topics in business. Each book includes the critical information that managers need on a given topic-from budgeting to hiring to communication to strategy-and offers interactive tools and worksheets that translate advice into action. Providing ready answers to day-to-day issues, these guides make sound, trusted mentoring advice available whenever managers need it. Other Books in the HBE Series: Managing Change and Transition Hiring and Keeping the Best People Finance for Managers Business Communications Innovation Negotiation.

The Discipline of Teams

Author(s): Jon Katzenbach, Douglas K. Smith, Doug Smith
ISBN: 047138254X

With the demand for project-oriented work and faster, more nimble responses, successful small-group performance is more crucial than ever. Katzenbach and Smith, authors of the international bestseller The Wisdom of Teams, have again joined forces, revealing how to implement the disciplines, frameworks, tools, and techniques required for team- and small-group performance. Combining their insights and practical strategies, they offer concepts and pragmatic, doable exercises for team leaders and team members to deliver results. Hot topics covered include: why small-group performance demands expertise at two disciplines, team level and leader level, instead of one; virtual teams; and global teams. This book combines practical exercises with cutting-edge insights, and both authors are authorities on the subject.

The Wisdom of Teams

Author(s): Jon Katzenbach, Douglas K. Smith
ISBN: 0060522003

The authors, who are both consultants, conducted extensive interviews with companies to discover how successful teams are created and sustained. The result is not a research report but a collection of minicase histories and commentary. Some of the findings: Teams respond to performance challenges and not to managers' exhortations for more "teamwork." Organizations committed to high-performance standards and willing to modify individual accountability requirements experience the greatest success with teams. Successful team leaders are not necessarily those with remarkable leadership qualities. Instead, they "simply need to believe in their purpose and their people." Team leaders do real work, remove obstacles, and build trust and confidence. Recommended for larger public libraries and special business collections.

Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong

Author(s): Carl Larson
ISBN: 0803932901

The Learning Edge : "Team Work is one of the best and most concise handbooks on team management around. No one interested in teamwork should miss reading this guide."

Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Author(s): Patrick Lencioni
ISBN: 0787976377

In the years following the publication of Patrick Lencioni’s best-seller The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, fans have been clamoring for more information on how to implement the ideas outlined in the book. In Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni offers more specific, practical guidance for overcoming the Five Dysfunctions—using tools, exercises, assessments, and real-world examples. He examines questions that all teams must ask themselves: Are we really a team? How are we currently performing? Are we prepared to invest the time and energy required to be a great team? Written concisely and to the point, this guide gives leaders, line managers, and consultants alike the tools they need to get their teams up and running quickly and effectively.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Author(s): Patrick Lencioni
ISBN: 0787960756

In keeping with the parable style, Lencioni (The Five Temptations of a CEO) begins by telling the fable of a woman who, as CEO of a struggling Silicon Valley firm, took control of a dysfunctional executive committee and helped its members succeed as a team. Story time over, Lencioni offers explicit instructions for overcoming the human behavioral tendencies that he says corrupt teams (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results). Succinct yet sympathetic, this guide will be a boon for those struggling with the inherent difficulties of leading a group.

The Life We Are Given

Author(s): George Leonard, Michael Murphy
ISBN: 0874777925

In this inspiring and practical book, the authors offer comprehensive, step-by-step instructions for joining body, mind, heart and soul in an evolutionary adventure that has powerful personal and social implications. The book celebrates the day-by-day joys of the path while opening fresh vistas to human futures.

The Performance Factor

Author(s): Pat MacMillan
ISBN: 0805423753

As the tides of all the trendy business initiatives from the last twenty years have all disappeared, one concept has remained in their wake and continues to thrive today: team strategies. When implemented correctly, the results are impressive. Organizations—whether they are corporations or ministries—have successfully developed team strategies and are now experiencing significant increases in productivity and services. Team resource expert Pat MacMillan discusses the characteristics of a high performance team and how to implement a new paradigm of leadership to bring any organization to greater efficiency.