The book "Change the Culture, Change the Game" notes, “In an era when change is the new gravity, it’s time to apply sound ideas.”
We live in an increasingly interconnected world of shifting environments, agility, and innovation.
As customers, workers, and partners continue to relate to organizations in new ways, it becomes especially vital for leaders around the world to react to this age of elevated connection by understanding how people interact.
A 2012 Global IBM study of 1,709 CEOs, general managers, and senior public sector leaders in 64 countries suggested this change. In reference to CEOs’ reactions to the intricacy of interrelated organizations, markets, societies, and governments, the study identified the things that leaders must do to be successful in an ever-changing business landscape:
• Empower employees through values,
• Engage customers as individuals,
• Drive innovation through partnerships,
• Understand technology’s impact through disruptive innovation,
• Embrace connectedness, and
• Sustain organizations’ economic value.
The study also pointed out three capabilities that enable organizations to work beyond borders:
1. Cultivating creative leaders: Organizations can develop the next generation to lead a more global, flexible, and diverse workforce.
2. Mobilizing for speed and flexibility: Leaders who focus on rapidly developing, and deploying, workforce capabilities to meet emerging opportunities are most successful.
3. Capitalizing on collective intelligence: CEOs who promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing drive efficiency and foster innovation.
Clearly, the changing face of business requires your company to adopt a specific focus in order to keep up with those changes. However, it can be difficult to intuitively know how to realign your business practices in a modern, interconnected world.
In my opinion, these are the best books to help you orient your leadership in the best possible direction:
1. Rapid Transformation, Behnam N. Tabrizi
I recommend this visionary book to anyone who wants to learn how best to lay the foundation for a major organizational change.
2. Designing the Smart Organization, Roland Deiser
Deiser’s insights are a great resource for CEOs, trainers, HR personnel, and other executives who want to foster learning.
3. Beyond the Obvious, Phil McKinney
I recommend McKinney’s methods to those competing in today’s “creative economy,” where great ideas are the hottest currency.
4. The New Social Learning, Marcia Conner and Tony Bingham
HR professionals and corporate learning specialists who want to provide social media on-ramps for their organizations should definitely read this book.
5. Change the Culture, Change the Game, Roger Connors and Tom Smith
Anyone who simply wants better results – from CEOs and executives to HR professionals, parents, and team leaders – can benefit from the authors’ wisdom.
6. From Values to Action, Harry M. Kraemer
This treatise is a great read for any leader, as it demonstrates how to transform your values into actions.
7. Reverse Innovation, Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble
Whether you are an executive of a global company or you are simply interested in innovation among cultural differences, creativity, and diversity, this is a lovely and persuasive read.
8. Closing the Execution Gap, Richard Lepsinger
I recommend Lepsinger’s presentation to leaders and managers who are responsible for implementing strategy and turning vision into reality.
9. Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
This breakthrough book is essential for any strategist or entrepreneur who wants to move out of intensively competitive, shark-infested waters and into an opportunity- filled, open ocean.
10. Leaders Make the Future, Bob Johansen
I believe that all of today’s aspiring leaders, who will be tomorrow’s CEOs, should read this book to find remedies for turning a daunting, ambiguous business environment into a place of “vision, understanding, clarity, and agility.”
To remain successful, modern leaders must empower employees, focus on the individual, and drive innovation through partnerships. These books will help you stay strategic, relevant, productive, and profitable in this ever-so-dynamic and interconnected world. Change may be the new gravity, but using your resources to provide as much value as possible will keep you grounded.