RECOMMENDED READINGS
The Right Leader by Nat Stoddard
"For executives, companies, and executive recruiters alike, following the principles in The Right Leader
will bring about a true metamorphosis in the hiring process, creating a wayto reduce the costs of leadership failures-by selecting the right leaders in the first place."
- Mary E. Kier, Vice Chairman, Cook Associates, Inc.
Today's excessively high rate of executive failure - reliable surveys estimate that up to forty percent of all new leaders fail within eighteen months - costs the business community dearly and proves that the old executive hiring model is flawed. In The Right Leader, Nat Stoddard and Claire Wyckoff present a revolutionary process for stemming the tide of executive turnover and making sure companies find the right fit in a leader.
- From the publisher, John Wiley & Sons
Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
"A truly superb book on how to network effectively."
- Seth Harris, Executive Vice President,
Cook Associates Executive Search
In this useful volume the youngest partner in Deloitte Consulting history and founder of the consulting company Ferrazzi Greenlight, quickly aims to distinguish his networking techniques from generic handshakes and business cards tossed like confetti. Each of the 31 short chapters highlights a specific technique or concept, from "Warming the Cold Call" and "Managing the Gatekeeper" to following up, making small talk, "pinging" and defining oneself to the point where one's missives become "the e-mail you always read because of who it's from." - From the publisher, Broadway Business
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
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"Highly entertaining read on success and the benefits of 'accumulated advantage'."
- Seth Harris, Executive Vice President, Cook Associates Executive Search |
Outliers is a non-fiction book which examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success. To support his thesis, he (Malcolm) examines the causes of why the majority of Canadian ice hockey players are born in the first few months of the calendar year, how Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates achieved his extreme wealth, and how two people with exceptional intelligence, Christopher Langan and J. Robert Oppenheimer, end up with such vastly different fortunes. Throughout the publication, Gladwell repeatedly mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to success in any field is simply a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of 10,000 hours.
- From the publisher, Little, Brown and Company
Topgrading by Geoffrey Smart &Bradford Smart
Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching and Keeping the Best People
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"An excellent read on the importance of hiring A+ talent."
- Seth Harris, Executive Vice President, Cook Associates Executive Search |
Since 1999, TopgradingTM has been #1 of bestsellers of over 1400 books on hiring. This 2005 revision was completely re-written, with dozens of new case studies, improved tools, and a new section on Topgrading internationally. Fortune 1000 companies typically find that only 25% of people hired or promoted turn out to be high achievers. Dozens of leading companies have achieved 90% success using Topgrading.
- From the publisher, Portfolio Hardcover
The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins
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"In The First 90 Days, Michael Watkins succinctly builds the business case and subsequently shares
the playbook on executive on-boarding. With so much time, effort, and cost expended on executive hiring, I think the book is required reading for any human capital executive that thinks of themselves as strategic...and for any CEO who already knows-or wants to know-how superior human capital management can contribute to achieving a competitive advantage."
- Jeff Leopold, Managing Director, Cook Associates Executive Search |
Whether challenged with taking on a startup, turning a business around, or inheriting a high-performing unit, a new leader's success or failure is determined within the first 90 days on the job.
In this hands-on guide, Michael Watkins, a noted expert on leadership transitions, offers proven strategies for moving successfully into a new role at any point in one's career.
The First 90 Days provides a framework for transition acceleration that will help leaders diagnose their situations, craft winning transition strategies, and take charge quickly.
Practical examples illustrate how to learn about new organizations, build teams, create coalitions, secure early wins, and lay the foundation for longer-term success. In addition, Watkins provides strategies for avoiding the most common pitfalls new leaders encounter, and shows how individuals can protect themselves-emotionally as well as professionally-during what is often an intense and vulnerable period.
- From the publisher, Perseus Distribution Services
The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister, Charles H. Green and Robert M. Galford
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"The Trusted Advisor is an indispensible guide to building and maintaining trust with clients as well as your co-workers. David Maister illustrates that you can't fake being a "trusted advisor"; it's based on being empathetic, authentic and selfless"
- John Barrett, Managing Director, Cook Associates Executive Search |
Maister, Green, and Galford enrich our understanding of trust -- yet they have also written a deeply practical book. Authors of The Trusted Advisors discuss the ability to earn the trust and confidence of clients. The authors argue that the creation of trust is what earns the right to influence clients; trust is also at the root of client satisfaction and loyalty. The workings of trust are even more critical in the new economy than in the old.
Using their model of "The Trust Equation," they dissect the rational and emotional components of trustworthiness. With precision and clarity, they detail five distinct steps you must take to create a trust-based relationship. Each step -- engage, listen, frame, envision, and commit -- is richly described in distinct chapters. The book is peppered with pragmatic "top ten" lists aimed at improving advisors' effectiveness that can be put to use instantly. It also includes a trust self-diagnostic in the appendix.
- From the publisher, Free Press
Making A Leadership Change by Thomas North Gilmore of the Center for Applied Research
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"Whenever a company has a change in a CEO, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, the impact on many stakeholders can be enormous. Thomas North Gilmore makes the critical point that a leadership change is not just a point in time, but a process that starts with understanding a company's strategy and then translating that into a desired role description for a new CEO, recruitment and planting the seeds for longer-term success."
- John Barrett, Managing Director, Cook Associates Executive Search |
In the book, Making a Leadership Change, the author, Thomas North Gilmore draws on his extensive consulting experience and provides advice on how new leaders can quickly take charge. The book is based on three premises: leadership makes a difference; transitions are important; and leadership changes need to be managed strategically. To address these premises, the author provides insights on the importance of leadership in general, on dealing with the shadows of former leaders, how to mold a loyal and productive team, and the specific steps needed in making a leadership transition.
- From the publisher, iUniverse
Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street
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"Many of us know how hiring people can seem like a mysterious art rather than a science. The frequency and cost of failed hiring is alarmingly high. Geoff Smart and Randy Street offer a roadmap that allows business leaders to identify and attract the top performers who will make a difference."
- John Barrett, Managing Director, Cook Associates Executive Search |
In Who, Geoff Smart and Randy Street follow the slogan "In business, you are who you hire". The book offers simple, easy-to-follow steps that will put the right people in place for optimal success.
Based on more than 1,300 hours of interviews with more than 20 billionaires and 300 CEOs, Who presents Smart and Street's A Method for Hiring. Refined through the largest research study of its kind ever undertaken, the A Method stresses fundamental elements that anyone can implement-and it has a 90 percent success rate.
- From the publisher, Ballantine Books
Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
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"A very unique and highly informative exploration of a phenomenon with
tremendous business implications and opportunities."
- Walter Rach, Managing Director, Cook Associates Executive Search |
Defining that precise moment when a trend becomes a trend, Malcolm Gladwell probes the surface of everyday occurrences to reveal some surprising dynamics behind explosive social changes. He examines the power of word-of-mouth and explores how very small changes can directly affect popularity. Perceptive and imaginative, The Tipping Point is a groundbreaking book destined to overturn conventional thinking in business, sociological, and policy-making arenas.
- From the publisher, Little, Brown & Company
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
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"Interesting anecdotes presented about the choices we make"in the blink of an eye" will help executives better understand and improve their decision making process."
- Walter Rach, Managing Director, Cook Associates Executive Search |
In this best-seller, a staff writer for The New Yorker weighs the factors that determine good decision-making. Drawing on recent cognitive research, Gladwell concludes that those who quickly filter out extraneous information generally make better decisions than those who discount their first impressions. The author of The Tipping Point (2000) cites the implications for such areas as emergency situations and marketing, plus some notable exceptions.
- From the publisher, Little, Brown & Company
One Step Beyond by Alan Hobson
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"Inspiring recollections about true life adventures - such as the ascent to the summit of Mt. Everest - are effectively used to illustrate ideas for achieving success."
- Walter Rach, Managing Director, Cook Associates Executive Search |
John Amatt, adventurer and internationally-acclaimed professional speaker, has teamed up with author Alan Hobson to produce a unique book on personal achievement.
Using exciting, ‘real life' adventure experience and insightful profiles of five peak performers, One Step Beyond: Rediscovering the Adventure Attitude provides you with nine keys to personal and professional success in the challenging world of the 1990's and beyond.
- From the publisher, One Step Beyond Publishing