Best of
Communication

2022

The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively


Todd Kashdan - 2022
    For ideas to evolve and for societies to progress, we desperately need rebels to challenge conventional wisdom and improve on it. Unfortunately, most of us fear nonconformists, perceiving them as disloyal, reckless, destructive, or just plain weird. Because most would-be rebels lack the strength and skills to overcome hostile audiences, principled insubordination remains an underleveraged asset in the workplace and public square.Based on cutting-edge research, The Art of Insubordination is the essential guidebook for anyone seeking to be heard, make change, and rebel against an unhealthy, stagnant status quo. The book also gives the rest of us the evidence-based strategies we need to become better allies of our leaders in change, ensuring that the best ideas, products, and solutions survive and win the day. Inside this book lie answers to several questions, including: - What are the most effective ways to express unpopular, important ideas? - How can we help principled rebels be heard and influential? - How can we better manage the discomfort when trying to rebel or interacting with a rebel?Filled with fresh and engaging stories about dissenters in the trenches as well as science that will make you see the world in a different way, The Art of Insubordination is for anyone who wants to see more justice, creativity, inclusion, cultural dynamism, and innovation in the world.

Cues: Master the Secret Language of Charismatic Communication


Vanessa Van Edwards - 2022
    Our cues can either enhance our message or undermine it.In this entertaining and accessible guide to the hidden language of cues, Vanessa Van Edwards teaches you how to convey power, trust, leadership, likeability, and charisma in every interaction. You'll learn:- Which body language cues assert, "I'm a leader, and here's why you should join me." - Which vocal cues make you sound more confident - Which verbal cues to use in your r�sum�, branding, and emails to increase trust (and generate excitement about interacting with you.) - Which visual cues you are sending in your profile pictures, clothing, and professional brand.Whether you're pitching an investment, negotiating a job offer, or having a tough conversation with a colleague, cues can help you improve your relationships, express empathy, and create meaningful connections with lasting impact. This is an indispensable guide for entrepreneurs, team leaders, young professionals, and anyone who wants to be more influential.

The Aspiring Leader's Guide to the Future: 9 Surprising Ways Leadership is Changing


Clay Scroggins - 2022
    But if you want to create, change, or impact the world around you—even in a modest way—then you're guided by a leader's impulse and shaped by a leader's principles.You are an aspiring leader. But the fact is that you've come to this role at a time when leadership—like everything else—is rapidly changing...and too many leaders are addressing the problems of today and tomorrow with the style and substance of yesterday's leadership. We need an update.In The Aspiring Leader's Guide to the Future, Clay Scroggins (author of How to Lead When You're Not in Charge) explores nine new principles of leadership that will help leaders adapt to a changing world and work culture, such as:Today's leaders lean into vulnerability.Today's leaders develop relationships primarily around trust.Today's leaders celebrate the successes of others.These may seem like counter-intuitive principles, but they provide a new way forward for leaders and teams and will prove versatile in the event of change and durable in the face of conflict. With humor and a pastor's candor, Clay will show you why the old ways need updating and what developing new leadership skills could look like for your future.To be clear, the author of this book does not know the future. If he did, he would have used his talents on sports betting or stock trading. What he does know is that yesterday's leadership axioms are today's myths and what that means. The way forward requires an understanding of the past, a conviction of what's at stake today, and a vision for how different tomorrow will be.You don't have to be a young entrepreneur with big dreams or someone looking to land a leadership role just to be considered an aspiring leader. You are one now. And by developing your skills for the future, you can become today's version of a leader worth following.

Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers


Chip Heath - 2022
    In Making Numbers Count, Chip Heath argues that it's crucial for us all to be able to interpret and communicate numbers and stats more effectively so that data comes alive. By combining years of research into making ideas stick with a deep understanding of how the brain really works, Heath has discerned six critical principles that will give anyone the tools to communicate numbers with more transparency and meaning. These ideas - including simplicity, concreteness and familiarity - reveal what's compelling about a number and show how to transform it into its most understandable form. And if we can do this when we're using numbers, Heath tells us, then the idea of data won't drive people to panic. We're not hungry for numbers - there's an unfathomable amount of information being generated each year - but we are starved for meaning. The ability to communicate and understand numbers has never mattered more.

Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work


Ruchika Tulshyan - 2022
    Then why are we so terrible at it? If we believe in the morality and the profitability of including people of diverse and underestimated backgrounds in the workplace, why don't we do it? Because, explains Ruchika Tulshyan in this eye-opening book, we don't realize that inclusion takes awareness, intention, and regular practice. Inclusion doesn't just happen; we have to work at it. Tulshyan presents inclusion best practices, showing how leaders and organizations can meaningfully promote inclusion and diversity.Tulshyan centers the workplace experience of women of color, who are subject to both gender and racial bias. It is at the intersection of gender and race, she shows, that we discover the kind of inclusion policies that benefit all. Tulshyan debunks the idea of the "level playing field" and explains how leaders and organizations can use their privilege for good by identifying and exposing bias, knowing that they typically have less to lose in speaking up than a woman of color does. She explains why "leaning in" doesn't work--and dismantling structural bias does; warns against hiring for "culture fit," arguing for "culture add" instead; and emphasizes the importance of psychological safety in the workplace--you need to know that your organization has your back. With this important book, Tulshyan shows us how we can make progress toward inclusion and diversity--and we must start now.

Cinderella, You Bitch: Rescue Your Relationships from the Fairy-Tale Fantasy


Shannon Heth - 2022
    If you’re sick of kissing frogs in search of Prince Charming, get ready to rescue your own love life from Cinderella Syndrome! Part self-help, part history lesson, Cinderella, You Bitch is the sassy, smart, and soulful guide that shows you how toIdentify and release your own fairy-tale expectationsBreak the spell of old beliefs and patterns that hold you back from being your true self in—and out of—a relationshipRewrite your story and find the hero withinCultivate true love that starts with you and lasts a lifetimeAre you ready to smash your glass slipper and take control of your romantic life? Your very own version of happily ever after is waiting to be written and—spoiler alert—the hero at the end of this tale is you.

Partnering: Forge the Deep Connections That Make Great Things Happen


Jean Oelwang - 2022
     Jean Oelwang, president and founding CEO of Virgin Unite, has been on a decade-long exploration to find out how to nurture relationships with depth and purpose. Deep connections shape who we are and have a profound ripple effect on everything we do, supporting us to achieve more, withstand anything, and amplify impact. Those enduring partnerships are the foundation of a meaningful life as well as the backbone of any successful organization and collaboration.From hundreds of interviews with sixty great partnerships, ranging from business partners, to friends, to life partners, who have made a profound difference, Oelwang offers new insight into how to build relationships that matter. She identifies six core principles including the all-important virtues that connect great partners, the daily rituals that they use to stay in sync, and the skills that allow them to disagree respectfully and productively.Packed with wisdom to nourish the relationships that give us strength and meaning, Partnering is a profound call-to-action to forge partnerships in service of a greater purpose.

Decide and Conquer: 44 Decisions that will Make or Break All Leaders


David Siegel - 2022
    Learn the right framework now that can make all the difference later when faced with terrible options, deep anxiety and fear of failure.Access the decision framework David Siegel used when he took over as CEO of Meetup, the world’s leading platform for making connections and finding your community. Let David’s success during one of the most tumultuous times in his company’s history help guide you on your own path.      Decide and Conquer helps all leaders navigate the big decisions that will impact their future and make their organizations a success. David outlines the 44 challenges leaders face when starting a new position, then shows you the decision framework he applied to overcome challenges in his own role. David takes you on an epic journey of corporate and personal survival that includes industry titans like Adam Neumann, Barry Diller, Jack Welch, Bill Ackman, and other leaders.In Decide and Conquer, you will learn to:Apply principles like open communication, transparency, and kindness to inform great decision making.Set yourself up to succeed, even before you start, by removing potential roadblocks before they become a problem.Be a bold and decisive leader and not succumb to fear. By applying the principles he had learned in previous leadership positions, David was able to make the many critical decisions that would mean life or death for Meetup when WeWork decided to sell the company.From deciding to accept the position and negotiating terms to managing a seemingly endless series of crises during the sale and global pandemic, Decide and Conquer walks readers through the key decisions they will face with invaluable advice for each one.

Speaking in Thumbs: A Psychiatrist Decodes Your Relationship Texts So You Don't Have to


Mimi Winsberg - 2022
    We swipe right into a stranger's life, flirt inside text bubbles, spill our hearts onto the screen, use emojis to convey desire, frustration, rage. Where once we pored over love letters, now we obsess over response times, or wonder why the three-dot ellipsis came . . . and went.Nobody knows this better than Dr. Mimi Winsberg. A Harvard- and Stanford-trained psychiatrist, she cofounded a behavioral health startup while serving as resident psychiatrist at Facebook. Her work frequently finds her at the intersection of Big Data and Big Dating. Like all of us, Winsberg has been handed a smartphone accompanied by the urgent plea: What does this mean? Unlike all of us, she knows the answer. She is a text whisperer.Speaking in Thumbs is a lively and indispensable guide to interpreting our most important medium of communication. Drawing from of-the-moment research and a treasure trove of real-life online dating chats, including her own, Winsberg helps you see past the surface and into the heart of the matter. What are the telltale signs of deception? How do we recognize pathology before it winds up at our front door? How can we draw out that important-but-sensitive piece of information--Do you want kids? Do you use drugs? Are you seeing someone else?--without sending a potential partner heading for the hills?Insightful, timely, and impossible to put down, Speaking in Thumbs is an irresistible guide to the language of love. With wit and compassion, Winsberg empowers you to find and maintain real connection by reading between the lines.