Book Summaries via The Keen Thinker…

There are 11,000 business books published each year, which represents an overwhelming amount of information for busy business people to sort through. 800-CEO-READ have been selling business books for 25 years and are happy to share our expertise with you.

The Keen Thinker is your monthly source for information on the newest business books you should be reading (both publisher recommendations and our own), current trends in business thought, advice to make your work life more successful and satisfying, music recommendations to make your work day more enjoyable, and the chance to win free books!

Books featured this month are:
The Drucker Lectures
Multipliers
Taming Change
Marketing in the Moment
What Women Want

For background information and a general run down on all these and more, click here…

The End of Men? doubt it…

As reported in the July/August 2010 ATLANTIC MAGAZINE…

Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same. For years, women’s progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But what if equality isn’t the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women? A report on the unprecedented role reversal now under way— and its vast cultural consequences… read on

What if modern, postindustrial society needs to be remoulded to suit the Lifestyle that women aspire to, and that men will also definitely benefit from?

What if all considerations of Life were treated equally as importantly, without there being the lop-sided tilt towards work as it is now?

What if all the entrepreneurial mothers, who have left work as we know it to pursue their own version of what that Life needs to look like, were encouraged to return to the corporate jungle to re-vegetate and re-establish the equilibrium?

Replacing women with men will not be the entire answer, we know that. But to keep doing things as we have always done them will not rectify the straining issues right now either. At least the conversation has started…

The Six Invaluable Factors - It is no longer enough to simply have a job…

By Dave Crenshaw for ChangeThis.com

Every day the market you work in—regardless of the industry—asks ‘Are you invaluable?’ Did you answer the question satisfactorily today? Well done. Get ready to answer it again tomorrow.

As the speed of innovation and information ever quickens, so does the need for you to have clear answers for this ‘invaluable question.’ It is no longer enough to simply have a job. It is no longer enough to simply advertise and attract customers to work with you. Loyalty to employees, to brands, to personalities and to media disappears the instant one’s attention is switched to new, shinier options… read on…

The Female Vision: Defining Women’s Strategic Strengths

By Sally Helgesen & Julie Johnson for ChangeThis.com

We believe that what women see—what they notice and value and how they perceive the world in operation—is a greatly under-exploited resource in organizations. In this manifesto, we explore what the female vision is, what it has to offer, and why it matters—to women, to organizations and to the world. In this manifesto, we explore what the female vision is, what it has to offer, and why it matters—to women, to organizations and to the world… read on…

LEADERSHIP : Caring CEOs of the future

The new business world is becoming so fast and complex, the job description of a leader has had to change. We asked the experts what you need to succeed. By Brenda Ward for NZ Management…

Tomorrow’s leaders will schedule daily meditation sessions, ask only ‘powerful’ questions, tell lots of stories, and make decisions in split seconds.They won’t be rock star leaders, like Richard Branson, because we’ve fallen out of love with the charismatic leader. Instead say hello to a manager who is reflective, ethical, transparent, authentic and a trusted adviser to his team.

Martyn Newman, an Australian business consultant and author of the international bestseller (and aCE talentNET consultant!), Emotional Capitalists – The New Leaders, says two things have precipitated the dramatic changes we’re seeing in the skills senior leaders need… read on