– The real bottom line is people –

Social Capital Reading List

By Elaine Pofeldt

image
May 16, 2024

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Vision will only get you so far in business. If you want to build a high-impact Social Capital company, you need to be able to execute on that vision. In The 4 Disciplines of Execution, Chris McChesney, global practice leader of execution for Franklin Covey, and coach Jim Huling share best practices for putting your best ideas into action. The 4 Disciplines are: 1. Focus on the Wildly Important, 2. Act on the Lead Measures (based on the 80-20 rule), 3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard and 4. Create a Cadence of Accountability. The 4 Disciplines platform, used by organizations such as Whirlpool, Dekalb Medical Center and Marriott, is known for helping clients rally their teams around a breakthrough they hope to achieve, activating frontline teams and creating organizational transparency. Any leader who has been looking to drive results will find valuable takeaways in every chapter.  
image
May 9, 2024

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

Social Capital companies are focused on people — their employees, their customers and their communities. And the heart of any people-centric business is communication. In Supercommunicators, author Charles Duhigg, a reporter for The New Yorker magazine, shows how to improve the quality of communication with all the people you work with by understanding which of three conversation types you are having: practical, emotional or social. It is only when you find common ground that you can truly connect with your team and unlock their potential, as this important book underlines.
image
May 2, 2024

The Power of Vulnerability: How to Create a Team of Winners by Shifting INward

You already know that you should be creating a sense of safety for your team, breaking out of organizational hierarchy to unlock every individual’s potential, and embracing authenticity. But sometimes it’s hard to close the knowing-doing gap. In The Power of Vulnerability, coaches Barry Kaplan and Jeffrey Manchester offer immediately actionable insights on the “how.” Social Capital leaders who want to raise their game will find that The Power of Vulnerability is an invaluable guide to building a stronger team by leaning into the one gift we all share: our humanness.
image
April 25, 2024

Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

Burnout is an epidemic, and many Social Capital companies are looking to prevent it — as we explored in our story “Well-Being and Companies Slaying the Burnout Dragon.” Leaders can play a role in helping team members to take a more conscious approach to work by encouraging them to do fewer but more meaningful things, work at a natural pace, and “obsess” over quality. In Slow Productivity, Newport, one of today’s leading voices on productivity, shows how to free everyone on your team from busywork and allow them to focus on work that really matters.
image
April 18, 2024

The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder

Stanford professors Robert Sutton, author of The No-Asshole Rule, and co-author Huggy Rao tackle the forces that make it hard to get anything done in a large organization in this insightful book. Offering ideas on how to identify, diagnose and eliminate “destructive friction,” they embrace the powers of civility, caring and even love in the workplace — and allowing for certain types of friction that will help everyone on the team get better at what they do. Running a Social Capital company, at its essence, means busting through inertia, and you’ll learn plenty about how to do that in these pages.
image
April 11, 2024

Cultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations

Wish you could reduce internal rivalries on your team and get everyone to work together more smoothly as you build your Social Capital company? Culture of Growth will show you how. Author Mary Murphy, a social psychologist, builds on her mentor Carol Dweck’s pioneering work in showing how to nurture the talent and intelligence of everyone on your team and avoid the cults of genius that can demotivate those who aren’t among the anointed few. If you’re looking to scale your impact, this book is the playbook you need.
image
April 4, 2024

Radical Humility: Be A Badass Leader and A Good Human

Urs Koening, a seasoned executive coach, professor and ultra-endurance champion, got a crash course in people-centered, collaborative leadership when he became a NATO Peacekeeping Commander. The result is the Radical Humility framework he shares in this book — designed to help leaders shift from a “Heroic,” top-down style of leadership to “Humble.” If you’re looking to add to your leadership toolkit and take your Social Capital company to the next level, this practical and actionable book will be a powerful asset.
image
March 28, 2024

The Boldly Inclusive Leader: Transform Your Workplace (and the World) by Valuing the Differences Within

As the concept of diversity, equity and inclusion evolves, many Social Capital leaders want to stay current on the latest thinking. Minette Norman, a former Silicon Valley executive, makes that easy in The Boldly Inclusive Leader, showing how to support a feeling of belonging among everyone on your team, the best ways to create psychological safety, the best ways to spark group innovation, how to cultivate empathy and compassion, and how leaders set the tone for everyone else’s behavior. Any Social Capital leader who aims to build an equitable workplace will want to read, and re-read, this valuable book.
image
March 21, 2024

Bold Kindness: A Caring, More Compassionate Way to Lead

Cathy Thorpe has expanded Nurse Next Door, a home-care franchise, to more than 300 locations in Canada, England and Australia. In Bold Kindness, she reveals the secrets to building a culture where even the smallest kindnesses matter. It is all about creating what she describes as an engaged, empowered and self-led team. For Social Capital leaders who are looking to attract caring and compassionate employees, this bold new book offers a blueprint for creating exactly the kind of culture where they’d like to work.
image
March 14, 2024

The Coming Wave: Technology, Power and The Twenty-First Century’s Greatest Dilemma

Many of us are already experiencing the impact of AI — a force with the power to create tremendous wealth but also shake up the existing world order. In The Coming Wave, Suleyman — who was a co-founder of the AI company DeepMind — offers insight into how leaders can use a “containment” strategy to make the most of this technology while minimizing its capacity for harm. If you’ve been looking to get more done in less time in a Social Capital organization, The Coming Wave is an excellent primer on getting the most out of AI and avoiding its pitfalls.
image
March 7, 2024

You Don’t Have To Be Ruthless to Win: The Art of Badass Selfless Service 

The world of commercial real estate is known for sharp-elbowed competition. Author Jonathan Keyser, founder of the firm KEYSER, found he was soaking up values he didn’t like when he rose through the ranks of the industry. Then he realized he had another option — to reinvent himself as a selfless leader. Along the way to servant leadership, he grew revenue at his commercial real estate brokerage to eight figures. If you’re not happy with the culture of your industry and don’t know how to break out of unhealthy norms, Keyser is just the guide you’ve been looking for, offering principles that apply to every industry.  
image
February 29, 2024

All In: How Great Leaders Build Unstoppable Teams

Even the best leaders are finding team building hard in the post-pandemic environment, thanks to challenges like labor shortages and the ongoing transition to more remote work. In All In, Mike Michalowicz — founder of Profit First accounting as well as two multi-million-dollar companies he sold — offers fresh ideas on how to find and retain great employees. The result is a book that shows leaders how to uncover the potential of every team member, nurture their talents and turn them into top performers. If you’re looking to build a team where everyone cares about the company and its mission as much as you do, this valuable book will show you how.

Reviews

image

image
February 22, 2024

Feel-Good Productivity: How To Do More of What Matters to You

Ali Abdaal is a physician, entrepreneur and productivity expert. In Feel-Good Productivity, he reveals what he learned by immersing himself in the science of productivity and studying the approaches of the world’s most productive leaders, Olympic athletes and Nobel-Prize-winning scientists. The upshot is that if your work makes you feel good, you’ll be more productive — an idea that syncs up nicely with the Social Capital philosophy of creating workplaces where human beings can thrive. If you’re looking to find new ways to achieve more of your goals as a leader and inspire your team to reach new heights, look no further than Feel-Good Productivity.
image
February 15, 2024

It’s the Manager: Moving from Boss to Coach

Many Social Capital companies are abandoning the hierarchical approach to leadership and embracing more collaborative environments where managers act as coaches and mentors. In It’s the Manager, Jim Clifton, chairman of Gallup, and Jim Harter, chief scientist for Gallup’s workplace management and well-being practices, pull together 52 discoveries from Gallup’s largest study on the future of work to provide guidelines on how managers can create the best possible working relationship with their direct reports. The idea is to help each team member achieve their full potential. If you’re looking to expand your repertoire as a leader, this book is a valuable and immediately actionable guide.
image
February 8, 2024

It’s Personal: The Business Case for Caring

Lorna Bornstein dreamed up Grokker, an online well-being solution, while on vacation with her husband and finding herself frustrated with the quality and availability of instructional yoga and fitness videos. She taps her experience turning her idea into a venture-backed company known for its supportive, Social Capital culture in It’s Personal: The Business Case for Caring. This recent book is a treasure trove of her ideas for CEOs who want to help team members feel more connected, create a better workplace experience for employees, improve the employer-employee relationship, lift the burden off mothers in the workforce and more. And if you want to hear more of her ideas, check out our panel, “CEOs Get Real.”
image
February 1, 2024

The Elephant’s Dilemma: Break Free and Reimagine Your Future at Work

GE veteran Jon Bostock led the company Big A** Fans to economic sustainability as CEO, then went on to launch Truman’s, a direct-to-consumer consumer-cleaning-products company focused on reducing waste and clutter in its industry — ultimately achieving a successful exit. Along the way, he developed an approach to leadership that helps everyone on the team achieve their highest potential. In The Elephant’s Dilemma, Bostock offers his take on how to innovate and take risks in a people-centric work environment, a welcome departure for the take-no-prisoners ethic of many venture-backed startups.
image
January 25, 2024

Remote: Not Distant: Design A Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace

Many Social Capital companies have embraced the hybrid workplace model since the pandemic. Now that it’s here to stay in some form or other, they’re continually looking for ways to improve on a good thing. In Remote, Not Distant, Gustavo Razzetti, CEO of cultural transformation firm Fearless Culture, offers insights on how to benefit from offering a flexible workplace without losing your company culture. Razzetti offers practical and pragmatic tips that will be useful for Social Capital leaders in every industry. If your version of a Social Capital company includes employees spread out in offices around the country or the world, this book will help you build a more cohesive culture and then take it up a notch.
image
January 18, 2024

Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys

Trader Joe is not only one of the most successful grocery chains in the U.S., but it is also a leader in creating a great workplace, the essence of what a Social Capital company can be. In Becoming Trader Joe, founder Joe Coulombe shares his strategies for building a business around his values and identity, putting people first, and weaving fun and innovation into the workday and shopper experience. Coulombe, whose company donates 100% of unused food to neighborhood recovery organizations, also offers insights on how to put a personal spin on philanthropy. If you’re looking for ideas on how to create a great, values-driven culture, this playbook should be your first stop.
image
January 11, 2024

The Rebellious CEO: 12 Leaders Who Did It Right

What do The Body Shop’s Anita Roddick, Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard and Vanguard’s John Bogle have in common? Ralph Nader, who spent much of his life bringing reform to corporate America, has found them to be shining examples of leaders who embraced the idea of caring about more than just profit and wove a people-first approach into how they ran their companies. If you’re looking for inspiration to take your company to new heights as 2024 kicks off, this book is chock full of specific ideas on how to do well by doing good that you can customize to your own company culture.
image
January 4, 2024

Dare to Un-Lead: The Art of Relational Leadership in a Fragmented World

Many of todays’ leadership models evolved from management theories that Henry Ford and Frederick Taylor espoused during the Industrial Age. In Dare to Un-Lead, Celine Schillinger, founder and CEO of the consultancy We Need Social and a former operations executive, argues that they are doing harm to both individuals and society and explains why that machine-like perception of the world has become obsolete. She offers an alternative way of leading companies, based on a view of organizations as living organisms, showing how to provide reliability and order amidst the complexity. It’s an approach based on liberty, equality and fraternity — principles that are very compatible with Social Capital organizations. If you are trying to transition from the dated organizational structures of the past in a Social Capital company, make sure to add this thought-provoking book to your nightstand.
image
December 21, 2023

Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things

Many leaders believe that people either have natural talents for their jobs or not. In Hidden Potential, groundbreaking Wharton Business School professor Adam Grant challenges that assumption, showing that achieving success in one’s role is more about character and knowing how to learn than natural genius. It’s an empowering message for any Social Capital company that wants to make sure everyone on its team has opportunities to learn and grow, or that has to ask its people to step into new roles they’ve haven’t tried before. Even better, Grant offers systems and strategies for putting this empowering idea into action in any workplace. If you’re looking to unlock the full range of contributions from everyone on your team, this book is a must-read.  
image
December 14, 2023

Move Fast and Fix Things

“Move fast and break things” is a popular rallying cry in big tech firms — but often, that mindset led to toxic workplace cultures that put profit before people. In Move Fast and Fix Things, veteran leaders Frances Frei, a former Uber executive who is now a Harvard Business School professor, and Anne Morriss , executive founder of The Leadership Consortium, show how you can move toward big goals rapidly while still putting people front and center. The foundation is trust, built by a leadership team that shows authenticity, logic and empathy at the same time. In doing so, the authors show how to build on an approach that many Social Capital companies have embraced in brand new ways.
image
December 11, 2023

The Advice Trap: Be Humble, Stay Curious & Change the Way You Lead Forever

Michael Bungay Stanier ignited a powerful conversation about the importance of coaching teams from a basis of curiosity — rather than top-down, hierarchical leadership — with his book The Coaching Habit. With The Advice Trap, Stanier, the CEO of learning and development company Box of Crayons, returns to his roots in servant leadership, guiding executives and managers on taming the “Advice Monster” — the tendency to offer un-asked-for prescriptions and opinions — so you can bring out the best ideas from your team by using curious inquiry. If you’re a Social Capital leader looking to tap the full potential of everyone on your team, this book is the ideal manual.
image
November 30, 2023

The Solution Revolution: How Business, Government, and Social Enterprises Are Teaming Up to Solve Society’s Toughest Problems

Some world problems seem so intractable it’s easy to lose hope. But there’s always hope, and, in The Solution Revolution, William Eggers, executive director of Deloitte’s Center for Government Insights, and collaborator Paul MacMillan offer a path forward, looking at how to create a more collaborative and productive economic system that is equipped to tackle massive challenges such as world hunger and crumbling infrastructure. They’re believers in erasing public-private-sector boundaries and building what they call “the solution economy.” If you’re looking for ways your Social Capital company can make even more of a difference, you won’t want to miss this compelling book.
image
November 16, 2023

Becoming Coachable: Unleashing the Power of Executive Coaching to Transform Your Leadership and Life

One secret weapon that many of the nation’s most successful leaders share is their willingness to keep raising their game. Many turn to executive coaches to guide them. But to get the most out of executive coaching, you have to be coachable. That’s the subject of this powerful work by Social Capital leader and executive coach Marshall Goldsmith and coaching firm CEOs Jacquelyne Lane and Scott Osman. You’ll learn what coaching can and can’t do, how to find your ideal coach and the best ways to accept feedback so you can grow as a leader. This is a must-read for any leader who hopes to lead people from a position of humility and lifelong learning.
image
November 9, 2023

Relentless Implementation: Creating Clarity, Alignment and a Working Together Operating System to Maximize Your Business Performance

Alan Mulally is legendary for turning around Ford Motor Co. In Relentless Implementation, he offers his ideas on getting your team truly aligned so you can put your strategy to work. The essence is about working together, and he offers 11 strategies for doing that more effectively. One key: Putting your business plan front and center by setting up a weekly business plan review meeting. He also offers valuable trips for leaders on creating accountability — a key pillar for any Social Capital company that wants to get results.
image
November 2, 2023

Tribe Culture: How It Shaped WD-40 Company

How can a company keep employee engagement above 90%, through good times and bad? Ask Social Capital CEO Garry Ridge, former chief executive of WD-40. In this candid look under the hood at one of America’s most successful corporate cultures, Ridge offers powerful insights on how to create a culture of belonging. One strategy that has served WD-40 well: Choosing values that connect team members to a higher purpose. Ultimately, Ridge turned what could have been merely a team into a tribe of passionate brand advocates. If you’re looking to do the same, you won’t want to put his playbook down.
image
October 26, 2023

Born to Shine: Do Good, Find Your Joy and Build a Life You Love

Kendra Scott turned her hobby into a billion-dollar company and, along the way, turned it into a powerful emblem of what an employee-centric company can look like. In Born to Shine: Do Good, Find Your Joy and Build a Life You Love, she shares how she used a $500 investment to turn her idea for a business into a great place to work that has been particularly supportive of women. As Scott freely admits, this is not a story of perfection but it’s one about trying, experimenting and overcoming challenges, and is full of inspiration for leaders looking to reinvent the workplace one day at a time.
image
October 19, 2023

Let Them See You: The Guide For Leveraging Your Diversity At Work

No one can argue with the business case for diversity. There is now a broad body of work showing that having a more diverse team contributes to greater profitability and outperformance relative to your industry. Despite that, progress has been slow. In Let Them See You: The Guide For Leveraging Your Diversity At Work, Social Capital CEO Porter Braswell, co-founder of the career advancement platform Jopwell, offers practical advice to diverse professionals on how to overcome obstacles, get recognition, create perceived value, build a personal brand and more.
image
October 14, 2023

Elevate: Push beyond your limits and unlock success in yourself and others

Being a Social Capital leader is all about elevating the people around you, and Robert Glazer embodies this principle. In Elevate: Push beyond your limits and unlock success in yourself and others, Glazer offers a panoply of ideas on how to tap the hidden potential of everyone around you. Success is a team sport when you’re running a Social Capital company, and the best leaders know how to bring out the best in every player, as Glazer so aptly shows.
image
October 14, 2023

Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business

John Mackey defined conscious capitalism for a generation of socially minded entrepreneurs as CEO and founder of Whole Foods. In Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business, Mackey teams up with Conscious Capitalism Inc. co-founder Raj Sisodia to explore how four key principles — higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership and conscious culture and management — can help build strong businesses that benefit every stakeholder they touch. It’s required reading for anyone interested in Social Capital.

 
image
October 14, 2023

Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family

Many companies aim to be family-friendly, but the practical reality may be far different for employees. In Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, Bob Chapman, CEO of manufacturing company Barry-Wehmiller, reveals how to let every single person on your team know that they matter just as much as members of your own family. That means rejecting the corporate belief in rolling layoffs, sharp-elbowed cultures and rules that treat people like robots in favor of a management style that emphasizes caring, empathy and inspiration, in the true spirit of Social Capital.
image
October 14, 2023

The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment

In The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment, executive coach Marshall Goldsmith looks at what it takes to build a regret-free life. As he sees it, it’s all about breaking through failures of the imagination and closing the gap between what you want to achieve and what you actually accomplish. It’s a message that’s very much in sync with the Social Capital movement, which isn’t just about embracing people-centric ideals but rather living them.
image
October 14, 2023

WTF?! (Willing to Fail): How Failure Can Be Your Key To Success

Brian Scudamore is CEO and founder of O2E, whose brands include 1-800-GOT-JUNK? In WTF?! (Willing to Fail): How Failure Can Be Your Key To Success, he shares insights from more than 30 years of “failing upward” that will be helpful to any leader trying to build a people-centric culture. Scudamore’s book is a powerful reminder that to build a Social Capital company, you have to be willing to experiment and innovate, and that means accepting the possibility of making mistakes and learning from them. The alternative is standing still, and that’s not acceptable to Social Capital leaders.