Here are my book selections for quarter 2, I think this will be a productive journey.
Public Health Emergency Preparedness (Apr)
By: Suzet McKinney & Mary Elise Papke
Practical Applications for the Real World is a comprehensive examination of the critical competencies necessary to prepare for and respond to Public Health emergencies. Starting with a historical context of the early preparedness need, the book defines emergency preparedness and the legal framework for the field. The book goes on to cover the full range of the field from hazards and threats to considerations for leadership development in the field. It includes information on roles and responsibilities of local, state, and national organizations, the cycle of practice for preparedness officials, as well as principles of incident management and response; and finally, considerations for leadership development in the field. With real-world stories and anecdotes throughout, the authors synthesize a wealth of material in an easy-to-read format that stimulates learning and provokes reflection about emergency preparedness.
Why Motivating People Doesn't Work and What Does (May)
By: Susan Fowler
Leaders face a motivational dilemma. Traditional command-and-control management styles and carrot-and-stick motivation techniques have been proven ineffective.
Motivation researcher and leadership consultant Susan Fowler expands on her groundbreaking Spectrum of Motivation model in this updated post-pandemic edition. New chapters tackle motivation science’s role in managing remote and hybrid work; expose overused tactics, such as gamification and tokens; and tell the fascinating backstory behind the great resignation and quiet quitting.
Fowler’s approach to leadership is fresh, pragmatic, and inspiring. But it’s also empirically sound. Her framework builds on Self-Determination Theory, equipping leaders with skills to encourage choice, deepen connection, and build competence. Leaders who mastered this method have experienced breakthroughs with higher retention, lower turnover, greater acceptance of DEIJ initiatives, and a more vital, creative, and resilient workforce.
Through her experiences working with organizations and leaders around the world, Fowler reminds us that motivation is at the heart of everything people do and everything they don’t do but wish they did. When managers integrate motivation science into their everyday leadership practice, an evolutionary truth emerges, people can be highly productive and flourish simultaneously.
Do Hard Things (Mar)
By: Steve Magness
Toughness has long been held as the key to overcoming a challenge and achieving greatness, whether it is on the sports field, in a boardroom, or at the dining room table. Yet, the prevailing model has promoted a mentality based on fear, false bravado, and hiding any sign of weakness. In other words, the old model of toughness has failed us.
Steve Magness, a performance scientist who coaches Olympic athletes, rebuilds our broken model of resilience with one grounded in the latest science and psychology. In Do Hard Things, Magness teaches us how we can work with our body – how experiencing discomfort, leaning in, paying attention, and creating space to take thoughtful action can be the true indications of cultivating inner strength.
Smart and wise all at once, Magness flips the script on what it means to be resilient. Drawing from mindfulness, military case studies, sports psychology, neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, he provides a roadmap for navigating life’s challenges and achieving high performance that makes us happier, more successful, and, ultimately, better people.