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About the book

The quality of your working relationships determines your success and your happiness. Stop leaving it all to chance.

Build relationships that are safe, vital, and repairable.

One essential conversation. Five powerful questions.

Your chance to build the best possible relationships with all the people who matter

Source: https://www.mbs.works/how-to-work-with-almost-anyone/ 

About Michael

I’ve written books that have sold about a million copies all told, including The Coaching Habit, a self-published book that’s become the best-selling book on coaching this century. I founded a training and development company, Box of Crayons, that has taught coaching skills to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. I love that it’s a human-centered place to work, and that it practices what it preaches.

But wait! There’s more! I’ve been happily married for 30 years or so; I was a Rhodes Scholar; I’ve created a book in partnership with Seth Godin that raised $400,000 for Malaria No More; I’ve been named #1 Thought Leader in Coaching and a Coaching Guru; I’ve launched several podcasts; I’ve spoken live and virtually to crowds of thousands…

Source: https://www.mbs.works/about/ 

Listen to Michael talk to Brené Brown about the Advice Trap

Big ideas

1. We should all have this conversation
2. Safe, vital, repairable
3. Keystone conversations

Let's connect

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It's April, and it's been a funny month of starting books, not finishing books, and desperately trying to squeeze books in so that I did finish them. So here we are; two books read, two books retired, and two books in progress.

This month I'm talking about...

Books I read
📚 Before and Laughter by Jimmy Carr (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📚 How to Work With (Almost) Anyone by Michael Bungay Stanier (pre-release)

Books I didn't finish
📚 Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock (DNF)
📚 The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas (DNF, TBC)

Books I'm still in the middle of reading
📚 Future Normal by Henry Coutinho-Mason and Rohit Bhargava (WIP)
📚 Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (WIP)

Tell me what's on your reading list
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I'm back telling you about what I read last month, and what's worth reading. This month's books include...

• Write Useful Books by Rob Fitzpatrick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• 2 Hour Workshop Blueprint by Leanne Hughes (no rating as this was an early draft copy)
• Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• I Wanna Be Yours by John Cooper Clarke (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

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ICYMI, this year I'm experimenting with a slightly different style of episode, featuring reviews of what I read over the last month. There'll still be occasional 'three big idea' episodes popping up throughout the year, and the four years and 197 other book based episodes will still be in the back catalogue to be enjoyed. 

February might be the shortest month, but I managed to read four books, including a big chunky 500+ pager! This month I'm talking about...

1. Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2. Applied Creativity by Christopher S Sellers ⭐️⭐️💫
3. Wicked Arts Assignments ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I'd love to hear what you think of these new episodes, and what you're reading at the moment. Drop me a message and say hi on...
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Welcome to 2023 and to 'season two' of Steph's Business Bookshelf. ICYMI, this year I'm experimenting with a slightly different style of episode, featuring reviews of what I read over the last month. There'll still be occasional 'three big idea' episodes popping up throughout the year, and the four years and 197 other book based episodes will still be in the back catalogue to be enjoyed. 

January is always a more book-heavy month, and this one was no exception. This month I'm talking about...

1. And Away by Bob Mortimer (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
2. Pocket Full of Do by Chris Do ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3. Taste by Stanley Tucci (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
4. How the Future Works by Helen Kupp, Sheela Subramanian, and Brian Elliott ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
5. $100m Offers by Alex Hormozi ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'd love to hear what you think of these new episodes, and what you're reading at the moment. Drop me a message and say hi on...
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Hi friends, as we roll into 2023 I wanted to share some of the reading I'm planning on doing in 2023, some experiments I'm playing with, my word of the year, and a few changes to the schedule that are coming up.

Here's Madeleine's newsletter that I mention in this episode.

Let's talk books on...
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It's time for the wrap that's not quite as good as the Spotify wrap, but still one of my favourite bits of the year; looking back at the books I've spent my year reading.

This year I read 52 books, 29% were ebooks, 42% were physical books, and 29% were audiobooks. I use the StoryGraph app to track my reading.

Here's some of the books that get a mention...

The Top 3

1. Imaginable by Jane McGonigal (Listen to the three big ideas here)
2. Stolen Focus by Johann Hari (Listen to the three big ideas here)
3. Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan (Listen to the three big ideas here)

Honourable Mentions

1. Big Feelings by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy (Listen to the three big ideas here)
2. Creative Acts for Curious People by Stanford dSchool
3. Good Pop, Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker
4. Will by Will Smith
5. I Didn't do the Thing Today by Madeleine Dore (Listen to the three big ideas here)
6. This Working Life by Lisa Leong & Monique Ross (Listen to the three big ideas here)

What were your reading highlights this year? Let me know by connecting on Instagram or LinkedIn.

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About the authors

Liz Fosslien is the co-author and illustrator of the WSJ bestseller No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotion at Work and Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay. She leads the content and communications teams at Humu, where she helps leaders and their teams take small steps towards profound improvement. Prior to joining Humu, Liz designed and led workshops for executives at Google, Facebook, and Nike on how to create inclusive cultures. Her writing and data visualization projects have appeared in CNN, The Economist, The Financial Times, and NPR. Liz starts every day by eating plain Greek yogurt and reading academic abstracts. 

Mollie West Duffy is the co-author of the WSJ bestseller No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotion at Work and Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay. She was previously an Organizational Design Lead at global innovation firm IDEO, and a research associate for the Dean of Harvard Business School. She has worked with companies of all sizes on organizational development, leadership development, and workplace culture. Her writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur, and she’s taught design courses at Stanford and USC. Mollie loves personality tests.

Source: https://www.lizandmollie.com/bios 

About the book

Uncertainty. Anger. Despair. Envy. When you’re overwhelmed by big feelings, it can seem like you’re the only one who is struggling. But having difficult emotions doesn’t mean you’re malfunctioning. It means you’re human.

Weaving surprising science with personal stories and original illustrations, each chapter examines one uncomfortable feeling—like envy, burnout, and anxiety—and lays out strategies for making it manageable. You’ll learn:

• How to use regret as a compass for making decisions

• How to identify what’s behind your anger and communicate it productively

• Why you might be suffering perfectionism, and how to detach your self-worth from what you do

Big Feelings helps us understand that difficult emotions are not abnormal, and that we can emerge from them with a deeper sense of meaning.

Source: https://www.lizandmollie.com/big-feelings 

Three big ideas

1. Dispel the myths
2. Nothing is permanent
3. We are human

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About the book

Great Ideas. Methods, not Magic.

Innovation is not an event; it’s a practice. Don’t leave the big ideas to the creatives. Revolutionize your creative process by mastering Ideaflow: the proven strategy that anyone can use to routinely generate and commercialize innovative ideas. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, student, C-suite leader, or anything in between, this book will teach you how to unleash creativity and innovation to magnify and accelerate all your other efforts, by simply building it into your daily routine

About the authors

Jeremy is the Director of Executive Education at Stanford d.school and an Adjunct Professor at Stanford's School of Engineering. He is the co-host of the d.school’s widely popular program “Stanford’s Masters of Creativity.”

Perry is a seasoned teacher, entrepreneur, product designer, chief executive and co-founding member of the Stanford d.school's faculty with over 20 years of experience.

Find out more about the book and authors here.

Big ideas

1) All problems are idea problems

2) You're not testing enough

3) Elevate

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About the author

Pat is one of the founders of The Table Group and is the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 6 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.

As President of the Table Group, Pat spends his time speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health and consulting with executives and their teams.

Prior to founding the firm in 1997, Pat worked at Bain & Company, Oracle Corporation and Sybase. Pat lives in the Bay Area with his wife and four boys.

Source: https://www.tablegroup.com/pat/#pat 

About the book

Pat's new book, The Six Types of Working Genius, is on track to be his biggest and most impactful book yet. In classic Lencioni fashion, Pat brings his model to life in a page-turning fable that is as relatable as it is compelling. He tells the story of Bull Brooks, an entreprhttps://www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team-by-patrick-lencioni-why-you-need-to-embrace-conflict/eneur, husband, and father who sets out to solve his own frustration at work and stumbles into a new way of thinking that revolutionizes the way he sees his work, his team, and even his marriage. Bull's story is indicative of every man and woman who is striving to avoid burnout and find fulfillment, dignity and success in their work.

Beyond the personal discovery and instant relief that Working Genius provides, the model also gives teams a remarkably simple and practical framework for tapping into one another's natural gifts, which increases productivity and reduces unnecessary judgment.

Whether you're a team leader or entrepreneur, a front-line employee or executive, or a school teacher or stay-at-home parent, this book will help you find more joy, fulfillment and success in your work and your life.

Source: https://www.workinggenius.com/book 

Three big ideas

1. The 6 types
2. Know your category
3. In it together

Other books of Pat's I've talked about

Five Dysfunctions of a Team (my favourite)

The Ideal Team Player

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This week's episode is a little different as I wanted to tell you about some of the books I'm looking forward to reading, rather than about a book I've read. Here's the books on my TBR at the moment...

1. The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas
2. Ideaflow by Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn
3. The Prepared Leader by Erika James and Lynn Perry Wooten
4. Humanocracy by Gary Hemel and Michele Zanini
5. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
6. Big Feelings by Liz Fosslien and Molly West Duffy
7. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
8. Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan

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