Articles 2 min read

The BTN’s World Book Day Recommendations

It’s World Book Day and what better way to celebrate than sharing some of our recommendations with you. A number of our incredible contributors, podcast guests and conference speakers have books on their specialist topics, with a collection spanning from Employee Engagement and Innovation, to Organisational Excellence and Burnout here are our top 5 recommendations:

The Joy of Work – Bruce Daisley

Do you want to get more done, feel less stressed and love your job again?

Sometimes having a job can feel like hard work. But between Monk Mode mornings, silent meetings and crisp Thursdays, the solutions are at your fingertips.

Beyond Engagement – Yetunde Hoffman

Beyond Engagement is bringing a new perspective to the leadership challenge by looking beyond the transactional processes in the relationship with stakeholders and goes to the heart of the problem – quite literally – and asks the key question of intention.

Yetunde draws out in her passionate and conversational style the tension between selfishness evidenced in current life today and the satisfaction in life we all gain in doing selfless acts of kindness, generosity and care. The book manages to touch on an abstract quality of leadership and brings it to life through the eyes of the many senior business leaders she has interviewed and are quoted throughout the book.

Be Less Zombie – Elvin Turner

Make innovation more remarkable, inevitable and profitable

‘Zombie’ companies cling to what kills them: Obsolete and frustrating ways of working that crush innovation and drain people’s motivation.

Be Less Zombie distils 10 years of field research amongst some of the world’s leading innovators into a pragmatic, actionable toolkit. Designed for managers who need more remarkable innovation with repeatable, scalable approaches, it shows readers how to:

  • De-risk bolder, more profitable innovation
  • Make innovation a predictable and measurable capability
  • Equip managers with essential tools and skills for leading innovation and transformation
  • Help teams find new capacity and energy to deliver today’s business whilst discovering tomorrow’s

Human Resources Changes The World – Glenn Jones (100% of proceeds are donated to Parkinson’s)

Ever questioned why HR Directors don’t make the move to CEO? Which mindset do you think existing Boards and CEOs are in when it comes to HRDs being able to make the move to CEO? Have you ever asked the question why HR Directors don’t make the move to CEO? Why Boards and CEOs ignore “HRness”? Is HR really dead? Where is HR’s guiding North Star? Could you imagine an HR Director being your CEO? In Human Resources Changes the World, Glenn G Jones examines the available research and sets out the reasons why HR is not progressing to its full potential; it will surprise you.

The Essence of Excellence – Peter Hines and Chris Butterworth 

What is the ‘Essence of Excellence’? Over the last 25 years, we have researched, coached and supported many companies on their continuous improvement journeys. So what separates the really great from the merely good? The answer lies not in what you see or the tools people use, but in the feel, the pure essence of these organisations. It is the mind-set, the language, the confidence and the sheer passion for excellence. In this book, Peter and Chris explore what we have learned, develop a framework for our thinking and illustrate this with examples, cases and anecdotes from those that have captured the Essence of Excellence.

Go ahead. Treat your shelves… and report back and let us know what you think

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