09 Sep Recommended Books for September
Some new books recommended to enlighten, motivate and develop you this September!
Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking By Richard Nisbett
This is an enlightening and practical guide to the most powerful tools of reasoning developed by one of the world’s most renowned psychologists. Many scientific and philosophical ideas are so powerful that they can be applied to our lives to help us think smarter and more effectively about our behaviour and the world around us. Surprisingly, many of these ideas remain unknown to most of us.
Drawing on his own groundbreaking research, Richard Nisbett presents these ideas in clear and accessible detail to offer a tool kit for better thinking and wiser decisions. Mindware shows how to reframe common problems – whether professional, business, or personal – in such a way that these powerful scientific and statistical concepts can be applied to them.
Creative, Successful, Dyslexic: 23 High Achievers Share Their Stories by Margaret Rooke
23 very well-known people from the arts, sport, and business worlds talk about how dyslexia affected their childhood, how they were able to overcome the challenges and use the special strengths of dyslexia to achieve great success in adulthood. Darcey Bussell CBE, Eddie Izzard, Sir Richard Branson, Meg Mathews, Zoe Wanamaker CBE, Richard Rogers, Benjamin Zephaniah, Steven Naismith, Lynda La Plante CBE, Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, Sophie Conran and others share their stories, and their advice.
All reveal the enormous difficulties they faced, the strength required to overcome them, the crucial importance of adult support, and how `the different way the brain is wired’ in dyslexia has enabled them to see something different in the world and to use their creativity in an exceptional way. They talk about `thinking sideways’, and the ability to look at a bigger picture; the often strong visual strength, and the ability to listen and to grasp simplicity where other people see only complexity. An introduction and final section that includes practical information about dyslexia, are written with the support of Dyslexia Action, and a percentage of profit from the book is donated to Dyslexia Action
Leading by Alex Ferguson with Michael Moritz
What does it take to lead a team to world-class success over a sustained period of time? Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the few leaders who truly knows. In his 38 years in management, Sir Alex won an astonishing 49 trophies and helped grow Manchester United into one of the biggest commercial brands in the world. In this inspirational and straight-talking new book, Sir Alex reveals the secrets behind his record-breaking career. Leading is structured around the key skills that Sir Alex values most highly. It includes subjects we immediately associate with his managerial style: Discipline, Control, Teamwork and Motivation, but it also addresses subjects that are less obvious but no less important when seeking success: Delegation, Data Analysis and Dealing with Failure. Whether you run a business, teach in a classroom, or work in a small team, Leading will help you become a better leader.
Stress is destructive and can seriously affect our physical health and mental well being. In this book, stress-management expert davidji draws on decades of experience working with individuals in extreme, high-pressure situations – including business leaders, world-class athletes, members of the military and those in crisis – to share the solutions to stress we’ve desperately been waiting for. You will learn the five types of stress and how to deal with them; simple tools for dealing with modern life’s daily stressors, common woes and unpredictable situations; practical methods for prioritising needs, managing emotions and communicating efficiently, and how to keep stress levels at a constant low. This book will teach you how to handle any type of stress that life throws your way guiding you to deeper fulfilment, greater empowerment and true peace of mind.
Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist by Niall Ferguson
No American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Hailed by some as the ‘indispensable man’, whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama, Kissinger has also attracted immense hostility from critics who have cast him as an amoral Machiavellian – the ultimate cold-blooded “realist”.
In this remarkable new book, Niall Ferguson has created an extraordinary panorama of Kissinger’s world, and a paradigm-shifting reappraisal of the man. Only through knowledge of Kissinger’s early life (as a Jew in Hitler’s Germany, a poor immigrant in New York, a GI at the Battle of the Bulge, an interrogator of Nazis and a student of history at Harvard) can we understand his debt to the philosophy of idealism. Only by tracing his rise, fall and revival as an adviser to John F. Kennedy, Nelson Rockefeller and finally, Richard Nixon can we appreciate the magnitude of his contribution to the theory of diplomacy, grand strategy and nuclear deterrence.
Drawing not only on Kissinger’s closed private papers but also on documents from more than a hundred archives around the world, this book is an account of an extraordinary life. It recasts the Cold War world and explains why the single most important strategic thinker America has ever produced ended up as National Security Advisor to a man he had always abhorred.