Several new books relating to leadership and management arrived for the Vairo Library collection. Here are the highlights:
The War For Talent
by Ed Michaels, et al.
The authors describe how to:
*Create a winning EVP (employee value proposition) that will make your company uniquely attractive to talent
*Move beyond recruiting hype to build a long-term recruiting strategy
*Use job experiences, coaching, and mentoring to cultivate the potential in managers
*Strengthen your talent pool by investing in A players, developing B players, and acting decisively on C players
(taken from book jacket)
call # HD38.2.M53 2001
Leadership on the Line: stay alive through the dangers of leading
by Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky
Recognizing that it can be both lonely and difficult at the top, the authors... set out to lend emotional and practical support. Heifetz and Linsky offer useful strategies leaders can employ, such as building political constituencies, trying to orchestrate the inevitable conflict, and forcing those who cause problems to actually solve the problems. Showing a sympathetic side, Heifetz and Linsky offer tactics to help leaders not to take conflict personally. Remember, they counsel, you are more than your job.
(Publisher's Weekly review)
call # HD57.7.H399 2002
Toxic Emotions at Work: How Compassionate Managers Handle Pain and Conflict
by Peter J. Frost
Toxic Emotions at Work explores how organizations and their leaders cause emotional pain, how it affects performance, and what can be done to alleviate pain before it becomes toxic. Frost reveals the "behind-the-scenes" work performed by "toxin handlers" - self-appointed pain managers who help assuage the suffering of colleagues and enable them to refocus on their work. He illuminates the toll this work is taking on toxin handlers' emotional and physical health, and argues that leaders must recognize and share this critical role if their organizations are to remain productive and vital.
(taken from book jacket)
call #: HD42.F76 2003
The June 12th issue of the New Yorker shares email and journal correspondence from soldiers who fought in Iraq. Find out what it’s like to be in a tank manning a gun when an IED goes off and learn about a soldier’s day to day life, dealing with harsh desert conditions and living in a tent with no privacy, with 70 other men, in a camp that has 700 tents. This writing project is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. A book complete with all correspondence included in this project is due out this fall, and a television special is coming out in 2007. The hard copy of this article can be found in Vairo Library or go to http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/?060612on_onlineonly01 for an audio slide show that includes 5 soldiers reading their work.
A hot topic for student papers is gun control and its relation to violence in society. Many times the statistics needed to make a compelling argument are hard to find. Students go to the open internet and may be caught up in the "advocacy" sites instead of finding unbiased data. Now, Vairo Library has acquired a handbook that pulls a lot of the research and data together into one authoritative volume called "Firearms and Violence: a critical review". What this book does is not only pull all the data together in an unbiased way, but it also helps the student interpret the data.
This book is broken down into chapters that relate to different aspects of the gun issue, thus students can choose a small section to look at without having to read the entire book. Some examples of topics are: firearms and suicide, right to carry laws, use of guns to defend against criminals.
call # HV6789.N37 2005
A new film arrival to Vairo Library called "The Human Zoo: Brief Encounters" will be of interest to those teaching psychology or sociology. This film is a reality based social psychology experiment about first impressions and "sizing someone up":
What do people look for when sizing up others? How do these judgments influence their conduct? And how far will they go to hit it off? In this program, Stanford University’s Philip Zimbardo, a leading expert in psychological experimentation, and Mark McDermott, one of Britain’s top social psychologists, analyze the subtle dynamics of meeting new people as day one in The Human Zoo unfolds. In addition, other researchers explore the impact of first impressions at a job interview, how physical attractiveness affects success, the parameters of personal space, and facial expressions associated with deceit. A Discovery Channel Production. (50 minutes)
http://www.films.com/id/4655/Brief_Encounters.htm
The June issue of Philadelphia Magazine has a very interesting article regarding “chain”pharmacies, the costs of drugs, and 2 entrepreneurs who have had it with the system (title: “Drugstore Cowboys”, p. 96, available in paper in Vairo Library, or soon to be on ProQuest).
Two pharmacists, who met while working together at another pharmacy, were sick and tired of the drug companies and chain pharmacies making deals and profits that left even the insured paying way too much for their medicine. They decided to open their own pharmacy, not make any deals with big companies, and undercut everyone’s prices in hopes of people flocking to them instead of the chain stores. It almost sounds too good to be true. The low prices are true, but of course there is a small twist to this perfect story. Read the article to find out what it is. If nothing else, this article provides details about how the pharmaceutical industry and chain pharmacies operate, details that many consumers don't realize or think about.
Check out the article by Jeffrey Rosen, "Life after Roe," in the June issue of Atlantic available in paper or online thru ProQuest. It is a fascination projection of the social and political upheaval that will occur if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. He speculates that, contrary to public pronouncements, the Republicans secretly don't want it overturned, and the Democrats secretly do because their respective political fortunes will fall and rise. The chaos across individual states will be consuming of any other political agenda. He also expresses doubts that the new justices will vote as anticipated. V-e-r-y inter-restink!