Books to read this weekend

Management in Ten Words: Practical Advice from the Man Who Created One of the World’s Largest Retailers by Terry Leahy 

The meteoric rise of UK supermarket chain Tesco from humble beginnings to its current status as one of the largest retailers in the world can be largely credited to one man—its recently departed CEO, Terry Leahy. Leahy’s unflagging drive and commitment to progress, his no-nonsense approach to leadership, and his visionary perspective on the manager’s role made him a transformative figure not only within his company but within the culture at large—he was voted Business Person of the Year by the Sunday Times in 2010. But what’s Leahy’s secret? How did a working class kid whose first job with Tesco was stocking shelves rise to become his company’s most dynamic leader—quadrupling the firm’s profits and creating a new job every twenty minutes for more than ten years? How did he steer a midlevel supermarket chain to such success that it now accounts for one-seventh of all British spending on consumer goods, with truly global reach and thriving departments in everything from mobile-phone operation to financial services?

Renegades Write the Rules: How the Digital Royalty Use Social Media to Innovate by Amy Jo Martin

Author Amy Jo Martin is the founder of Digital Royalty and the woman who pioneered how professional sports integrate social media. In this book she shows how to build a faithful following and beat the competition clamouring for people’s attention by continually delivering value – when, where, and how people want it. People want to be heard, to be involved, to be entertained, to be adventurous, to be informed. The book reveals the winning strategies for using social media to achieve dramatic results. It shows how to gain influence with social media that requires an unprecedented (and potentially uncomfortable) level of accessibility and ongoing affinity.

Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours by Robert C. Pozen

Robert C. Pozen, one of the business world’s most successful—and productive—executives, reveals the surprising secrets to workplace productivity and high performance. Extreme Productivity is an essential handbook for every business professional, empowering them with proven methods for prioritizing efficiently and maximizing time at work, while leading a full and productive personal life as well.

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be VulnerableTransforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown

Researcher and thought leader Dr. Brené Brown offers a powerful new vision that encourages us to dare greatly: to embrace vulnerability and imperfection, to live wholeheartedly, and to courageously engage in our lives. Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Whether the arena is a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation, we must find the courage to walk into vulnerability and engage with our whole hearts.