Sharing a selection of books by Dianne Jacobs on themes that help explore leadership challenges and thinking differently.
These book choices as part of my mentor-coach work will challenge our certainties and gently nudge us into rethinking what we thought we knew. They will take us on a journey to the recent past and a different future, to mental maps and viewpoints different from our own. It is one of curiosity and discovery – of artificial intelligence and human thinking; of insight and foresight; of merit and fixed mindsets; of rebels and dissenters; of ancient wisdom and regeneration; of energy and power; of conviction and courage; of an eye on the horizon and seeing what others don’t; of boardrooms and c-suites; of transformation and sustainability.
Happy reading and stay curious!
Mentee Reading | Conversation is communal. The goal of any conversation is to connect. There is a very real human need to be included, to belong, to be heard, to share and to relate to experiences that resonate. There is strength in any conversation that enhances community and meaningful connections.
Read MoreMentee Reading | How women excel and confidently take the initiative to draw on the best around them. The takeaways are: join circles of influence, seek out others with different ways of doing things, notice and pick out people with approaches, styles and sector knowledge that both resonates and stretches your own perspectives.
Read MoreMentee Reading | There is value in working at the intersection of clarity and uncertainty. Embracing the discomfort of not knowing can give freedom to clear our mind, to investigate, to gather viewpoints, to use both/and thinking, be integrative and to search for better solutions.
Read MoreMentee Reading | Conflict is inevitable and at times even desirable if those differences result in the design and delivery of coherent, effective strategies. The issue becomes how to turn tensions arising from diversity of thought, personality and experience into an advantage.
Read MoreMentee Reading | The best-aligned enterprises are the best performing. Strategic alignment - of internal and external factors - is critical for all aspects of a company to be synchronised towards a common purpose and moving in the same direction. Alignment is systemic and iterative requiring continuous evaluation, adjustment and communication.
Read MoreMentee Reading | As an executive, the legacy you craft depends on how you empower others, lead or build something that is smarter or better, nurture the right culture, work with impact on what matters, prefer influence to authority and create a multiplier mindset.
Read MoreMentee Reading | Does it take grit, determination and persistence to succeed, irrespective of good or bad times? Can you turn adversity or turbulence into advantage? What does it mean to lead wisely? What goes through your head when confronted with challenging and uncertain situations? Do you know how to navigate extreme change? How do you protect your psychological well-being and those of others?
Read MoreMentee Reading | Having problems is *not* the problem. Can you find the opportunity and build a better or novel solution? What do you do when you're faced with a big decision? How can you Work Creatively! to be more effective as a strategist, innovator or problem-solver? What do you do when a wild problem requires a leap in the dark? How can you seek viewpoints, be open minded, question your own judgement or conclusions, look for novelty, adopt integrative thinking and look for what you can learn?
Read MoreMentee Reading | There are two critical things an executive can influence when it comes to making possibilities happen: your strategy and your ability to execute that strategy. After all, any dream, idea or goal without the ability to bring it to reality is merely wishful thinking. Moving from visualisation to actualisation takes a specific skill set, hyper focus and discipline.
Read MoreMentee Reading | The path to satisfaction is not linear. Hopefully, along the way you’ll discover the crucial intersection between what you love to do and how you contribute it to others. Fulfilment doesn’t come from one-off peaks, but from many consistent good days. So how do we sustain performance, foster deeper connections, know ourselves, find more in life and do what we love?
Read MoreMentee Reading | When life and work don’t go as planned, sometimes under challenging and confronting circumstances, there can be a painful sense of being unable to find the way. Rather than staying lost or being stuck in ‘not knowing’ or making mental mistakes about the future, look for that breakthrough.
Read MoreMentee Reading | As the business environment is transforming a new kind of business leadership is emerging. Contemporary organisations are seeking solutionists, activists, relationists, imperfectionists all with the curiosity and a mindset necessary for a fragmented, uncertain and non-linear future.
Read MoreMentee Reading | Powerful stories. Storytellers. Right story. What can storytelling do for you? Which stories do you need to tell, and how do you tell them? Do you worry about holding people's attention? Are you unsure where to start when faced with writing a report? Are you preparing for a discussion and wondering how to get all your points across? What are the four stories that form your narrative and how will you utilise them?
Read MoreMentee Reading | What is strategy and why is it so difficult? This reading series will help answer these questions. Strategies are fundamentally about choice, difference and advantage. It is as much about deciding what not to do and being alert to signals or noise, as it is about what will be done. It incorporates a systems perspective, it is intent-focused, level shifting, opportunistic and timely.
Read MoreMentee Reading | Adventures In Thinking looks at collective thinking and the creative mindset, design paradigm and ideas-informed society needed to face the future including the coming wave of powerful technologies.
Read MoreMentee Reading | Achieving What Matters Most is the focus of this reading list selection, exploring if we can achieve and master something we choose, if the work we did had significance, if we could tap hidden potential, if we could smooth the friction, if we could make the right things easier and the wrong or pointless things harder. Happy reading and stay curious!
Read MoreMentee Reading | Future proofing the organisation is the focus of this reading list selection, exploring how you can go beyond disruption for a thriving and enduring organisation. Purpose, people, customers and creativity are key. Happy reading and stay curious!
Read MoreMentee Reading | Certain questions need to be explored and resolved about AI and digital. How do you (out)compete? Will we use AI to improve the way we work and live, or will we allow it to alienate us? Where is the strategic and transformation value? Does human progress depends on choices we make about technology? What is a digital mindset and what does it take to thrive? Happy reading and stay curious!
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