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Hardcover
175 pages
ISBN 9781595620156 Published Feb. 2007
Gallup Press
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Posted May 12, 2011 10:16 a.m. by 800-ceo-read
We’ve come to expect good things from Gallup Press, and their latest release, Decade of Change, doesn’t disappoint. Unlike their past releases, books like Strengths Finder 2.0 and 12: The Elements of Great Managing that have very specific focus and takeaways, this book is an anthology of material from “Gallup’s most visionary people, as well as the great minds with whom Gallup regularly associates.” So, there is no one great takeaway from the book that I can give you here. Instead, you’ll find many different ideas, lessons, scenarios to consider, and actions to take in many different arenas. The one common focus throughout the book is on management.
The material ranges from interviews of “the father of the Internet” Vinton Cerf and Hurricane Katrina hero Lieutenant General Russel Honoré to an essay about “Global Migration and Job Creation” by Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup. And each piece has a focus on a particular way the changes of the last decade have brought change into our own lives and businesses—from the housing bubble to the shifting demographics of labor unions and how managers can engage them in today’s economy.
But why pay attention to all of these disparate issues? What does it mean for your business or career?
[W]hile 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, turmoil in the Middle East and Asia, the warmest decade on record, and the collapse of global financial markets tend to be discussed as political and economic issues, they’re also management and leadership issues. For as any forward-thinking senior executive and organizational leader knows, the world’s problems very quickly become business problems.
And while Decade of Change delves into very large issues, such as if money does indeed make us happier and how that affects developing countries, the book also discusses very specific management issues you may be facing right now—how you engage and compensate employees, manage a retail store, lead change in your organization, and even how to improve your wellbeing at work.
This is a fascinating, entertaining and informative read, grounded in the research and statistics you’d expect from an organization like Gallup. Most importantly, Decade of Change is more than a rehashing of past events; it is a discussion about how we can move forward.
Jack Covert Selects - Wellbeing
Posted May 14, 2010 8:28 a.m. by 800-ceo-read
Gallup Press is the gold standard in research-based books for business people; Strengths Finder 2.0, released in 2007, still holds a constant spot on many bestseller lists. In this new book, Tom Rath and Jim Harter take on the subject of wellbeing and the implications it has for your organization. While much has been said about work/life balance, about finding happiness through work, the authors differentiate their point of view by stating:
Contrary to what many people believe, wellbeing isn’t just about being happy. Nor is it only about being wealthy or successful. And it’s certainly not limited to physical health and wellness. In fact, focusing on any of these elements in isolation could drive us to feelings of frustration and even failure.
Gallup conducted a global study of 150 countries, asking questions about quality of life, and found five essential elements of wellbeing: Career, Social, Financial, Physical, and Community. The authors then break down each of those five elements using Gallup’s copious research and the data collected. Career Wellbeing, in particular, is often overlooked and considered beyond our control.
So many lives—and in some cases, entire cultures—are built around the premise that work is something we are not supposed to enjoy. This fundamentally flawed perception is woven into societies and economic models around the world.
So, it is refreshing to get real-world advice on how to improve it. Rath and Harter recommend using your strengths, identifying allies, and spending more social time with preferred coworkers as ways to boost Career Wellbeing.
Nearly a third of the book is a technical report that offers a transparent look at Gallup’s metrics, definitions, research and references, and the data-supported information Rath and Harter base their advice on really does a great job of making you look at wellbeing as a multi-faceted endeavor. And, like StrengthsFinder 2.0, Wellbeing is itself a multi-faceted endeavor, including a web-based component—Wellbeing Finder—that will assist you in determining your current state of wellbeing and let you track it over time.
Jack Covert Selects - Strengths Based Leadership
Posted Jan. 12, 2009 4:05 a.m. by 800-ceo-read
Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie, Gallup Press, 266 pages, $24.95, Hardcover, January 2009, ISBN 9781595620255
Gallup has been producing great strength-centric books for the past decade. It all started with Now, Discover Your Strengths, released by Simon & Schuster in 2001, and the series continued with last year's bestselling Strengths Finder 2.0.
Up until this point, these books have been focused on the individual, whether it was learning about and focusing on your own strengths, or managers leveraging the strengths of their reports. Strengths Based Leadership shifts that focus and takes the step into the larger realm of teams, showing that they perform at their best when the group possesses a variety of strengths. Or, as the authors sum it up neatly, "Although individuals need not be well-rounded, teams should be."
Part One of the book refocuses on concentrating on your individual strengths as a leader, Part Two breaks those leadership strengths into four domains (Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building and Strategic Thinking), and Part Three takes on the crucial task of understanding why people follow.
The brilliance of Gallup is their ability to look at issues from simple, yet revolutionary angles. The strengths-based approach itself is a radical departure from the more traditional approach of self-improvement that focused on improving one's weaknesses to be more effective. Similarly, Gallup ignored traditional approaches to leadership books. Rather than doing a round of interviews with successful leaders to gather their insights and impart that wisdom to the rest of us, they went directly to those who are followers and asked them what makes a good leader. By going to those who follow, they discovered four key traits great leaders inspire: Trust, Compassion, Stability and Hope.
This is a book every leader should own, and like Gallup's other strengths books, it's not done with you even when you're done with it. You're invited to take the web-based "StrengthsFinder" test again to reinvest in your strengths, and to take a new leadership version that will help you form teams and lead others based on their strengths.
Jack Covert Selects: StrengthsFinder 2.0
Posted April 17, 2007 3:25 a.m. by jack
StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath, Gallup Press, 192 Pages, $19.95, Hardcover, February 2007, ISBN 9781595620156
I have been writing about the Gallup Press a lot in the last six months. I reviewed Vital Friends in August and their book 12 in December. I am back to tell you there is another outstanding book from Gallup to start looking for on bookstore shelves.
StrengthsFinder 2.0 is an expansion of the franchise started by the book Now, Discover Your Strengths. Originally published in 2001, Now, Discover Your Strengths has become a mainstay on bestseller lists, spending 50 weeks on the Wall Street Journal list in 2006. If you have not read Now, Discover Your Strengths or used the first version of their online assessment too, the premise is that most people spend their professional lives trying to improve on their weakness instead of working within their strengths. The StrengthsFinder assessment is meant to help guide you toward optimizing your talents. Gallup has written other strengths-based books for salespeople, teachers, and faith-based groups.
StrengthsFinder 2.0 is meant to be the most accessible of all the books, to be used with employees at all levels of an organization. Gallup has identified 34 strengths for individuals ranging from "Achiever" to "Woo" (Winning Others Over). Each book comes with unique code which allows the reader to take the web-based self-assessment. The results from the assessment highlight your five talents in ranked order. Each strength is accompanied by an explanation, anecdotes from others with that strength, and a to-do list with actions you can implement to help you develop your talents.
I am a big believer in putting people where they can excel. StrengthFinder 2.0 is a great way to help find the right fit for the people in your organization or for yourself.
