Book Reviews

The Suite Spot: Reaching, Leading and Delivering the C-Suite

Author – John Jeffcock Book discussed – 29th November 2022 Book Review by – CSNet BDG Member John Jeffcock’s book gives an excellent account of developing trends in the structure and responsibilities of senior management teams.  It is of great interest to anyone aspiring to fill such roles or to understand the current and future…

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Know Thyself: The New Science of Self-Awareness

Author: Stephen M Fleming Review by Andrew Parrock In his book, Stephen Fleming, Head of the Metacognition Lab, University College London, aims to explain, clearly and concisely, the current state of scientific understanding of human self-awareness; he has succeeded. Self-awareness, metacognition, is the ability to think about our own thinking. Most of us, if we…

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Elites: Can you rise to the top without losing your soul?

Author – Douglas Board Book discussed – 5 April 2022 Review by – Nanette Young The author of this book, Douglas Board, takes us on a journey to the top of organisations, employing the experiences of others and his own, to provide perceptive and enlightening views of the route to power and influence. With a…

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Leadership in Complexity and Change: for a world in constant motion. [De Gruyter Transformative Thinking and Practice of Leadership and its Development, edited by Bernd Vogel, Vol 1]

Author – Sharon Varney Book discussed – 8 February 2022 Review by – Mae Keary A well-researched book on complexity theory, which has practical applications for leaders at all levels in organisations.  The main aims of the book have been achieved, which are to address problems of leadership and change, and to use insights from complexity…

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Ego: Get Over Yourself and Lead

Author – Mary Gregory Review by – Lisa Preuveneers Gregory’s background as an executive coach came through very strongly in the book; this was particularly interesting as many of our group operate as executive coaches. A whole chapter is devoted to how coaching helps interpersonal relationships, as participants become aware of the role their own…

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Future Shaper: How Leaders Can Take Charge in an Uncertain World

Author – Niamh O’Keeffe Book discussed – 13 October 2020 Review by – Lisa Preuveneers The book ‘Future Shaper’ leaves no doubt in one’s mind that leaders are most definitely made.  On reading the book it shows you how; not that you would know from the title and chapter one, which considers the macro challenges of leadership in…

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Uncharted: How to Map the Future Together

Author – Margaret Heffernan Book discussed – 19 January 2021 Review by – Valentina Lorenzon “When we expect history to guide us, we overweight continuity and narrative, while underweighting change and contingency”.                                     Margaret Heffernan, Uncharted Margaret Heffernan’s latest book, ‘Uncharted’ explores our relationship with the future and our tendency to over-rely on predictions and technology to forecast…

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Culture shift: a practical guide to managing organizational culture

Author – Kirsty Bashforth Book discussed – 14 July 2020 Review by – Mae Keary In this practical guide, Kirsty Bashforth defines culture as being the amassed behaviour of people around a similar core set of values and beliefs.  From this base she applies it to organizations in the form of a culture shift or doing…

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Capitalism Without Capital: The Rise of the Intangible Economy

Authors – Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake Book discussed – 9 October 2018 Review by – John Keary This book written by two economists has the potential to be a dry tome, but instead, it represents a fundamental challenge to the way that we think about the firm. On that basis alone, it should be…

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What Philosophy Can Teach You about Being a Better Leader

Authors – Alison Reynolds, Dominic Houlder, Jules Goddard and David Lewis Book discussed – 21 January 2020 Review by – Andrew Parrock Modern workplaces are dehumanised with people only being treated as ‘resources.’ The authors turn to moral philosophy, which seeks to understand what is ‘good’ for human beings; meaning that which allows people to…

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