Book Club

Charity Case: How the Nonprofit Community Can Stand Up For Itself and Really Change the World By Dan Pallotta

Charity Case: How the Nonprofit Community Can Stand Up For Itself and Really Change the World By Dan Pallotta

Virtually everything our society has been taught about charity is backward. We deny the social sector the ability to grow because of our short-sighted demand that it send every short-term dollar into direct services. Yet if the sector cannot grow, it can never match the scale of our great social problems…

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance By Angela Duckworth

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance By Angela Duckworth

Drawing on her own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently noted her lack of “genius,” Duckworth, now a celebrated researcher and professor, describes her early eye-opening stints in teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what really drives success is not “genius” but a unique combination of passion and long-term perseverance…

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World By Adam Grant

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World By Adam Grant

With Give and Take, Adam Grant not only introduced a landmark new paradigm for success but also established himself as one of his generation’s most compelling and provocative thought leaders. In Originals he again addresses the challenge of improving the world, but now from the perspective of…

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't By Simon Sinek

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't By Simon Sinek

Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled. This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things….

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us By Seth Godin

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us By Seth Godin

The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller that redefined what it means to be a leader.

Since it was first published almost a decade ago, Seth Godin's visionary book has helped tens of thousands of leaders turn a scattering of followers into a loyal tribe. If you need to rally fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers around an idea, this book will demystify the process…

Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds By Carmine Gallo

Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds By Carmine Gallo

Talk Like TED gives its readers the tools to create presentations around the ideas that matter most to you, the skill to win over hearts and minds, and the confidence to deliver the talk of your life. Among Gallo’s 9 secrets is the art of building a messaging map and maximizing your PowerPoint presentation…

Uncontainable: How Passion, Commitment, and Conscious Capitalism Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives By Kip Tindell

Uncontainable: How Passion, Commitment, and Conscious Capitalism Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives By Kip Tindell

"You're going to sell what? Empty Boxes?"

Back in 1978, Kip Tindell (Chairman & CEO of The Container Store) and his partners had the vision that people were eager to find solutions to save both space and time - and they were definitely onto something. A new category of the retailing industry was born - storage and organization. Today, with stores nationwide and with more than 5,000 loyal employees, the company couldn't be stronger...

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul By Howard Schultz

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul By Howard Schultz

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, the CEO of Starbucks recounts the story and leadership lessons behind the global coffee company's comeback and continued success.

In 2008, Howard Schultz decided to return as the CEO of Starbucks to help restore its financial health and bring the company back to its core values. In Onward, he shares this remarkable story, revealing how, during one of the most tumultuous economic periods in American history, Starbucks again achieved profitability and sustainability without sacrificing humanity.

Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders By Joel Manby

Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders By Joel Manby

Before Joel Manby won the respect of America with his appearance on the CBS reality TV series Undercover Boss, he was a highly successful corporate executive. After the show aired, many of the 18 million viewers wrote to him about the profound impact of his servant leadership. In Love Works, Joel Manby introduces us to the power of agape love in the workplace…

Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking is Not the Answer By Jim Collins

Good to Great and the Social Sectors: Why Business Thinking is Not the Answer By Jim Collins

Jim Collins Answers the Social Sector with a Monograph to Accompany Good to Great. 30-50% of those who bought Good to Great work in the Social Sector.

  • This monograph is a response to questions raised by readers in the social sector. It is not a new book.

  • Jim Collins wants to avoid any confusion about the monograph being a book by limiting its distribution to online retailers…

Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen By Donald Miller

Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen By Donald Miller

New York Times bestselling author Donald Miller uses the seven universal elements of powerful stories to teach readers how to dramatically improve how they connect with customers and grow their businesses.

Donald Miller’s StoryBrand process is a proven solution to the struggle business leaders face when talking about their businesses. This revolutionary method for connecting with customers provides readers with the ultimate competitive advantage, revealing the secret for helping their customers understand the compelling benefits of using their products, ideas, or services…

Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity By Kim Scott

Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity By Kim Scott

"I raced through Radical Candor--It’s thrilling to learn a framework that shows how to be both a better boss and a better colleague. Radical Candor is packed with illuminating truths, insightful advice, and practical suggestions, all illustrated with engaging (and often funny) stories from Kim Scott’s own experiences at places like Apple, Google, and various start-ups. Indispensable." ―Gretchen Rubin author of New York Times bestseller The Happiness Project

"Reading Radical Candor will help you build, lead, and inspire teams to do the best work of their lives…

Making the Case for Leadership: Profiles of Chief Advancement Officers in Higher Education By Jon Derek Croteau, and Zachary A. Smith

Making the Case for Leadership: Profiles of Chief Advancement Officers in Higher Education By Jon Derek Croteau, and Zachary A. Smith

The advancement industry has experienced tremendous growth in breadth and depth over the last few decades. Driving this growth is the chief advancement officer; however, as a relatively new position on most college and university campuses, little is formally known about the role and the people who fill it. In Making the Case for Leadership, Jon Derek Croteau and Zachary A. Smith provide insightful and intimate details of ten of the most high performing and successful CAOs in the industry: their career paths…

From Donor to Philanthropist By Michele Minter

From Donor to Philanthropist By Michele Minter

Nonprofit organizations are expert at making the case for their fundraising priorities. They often fail to recognize, however, that the barrier to giving may be donor confidence rather than donor interest. This new book explores how donor education can turn donors into philanthropists by building their confidence and self-awareness, challenging the barriers that keep them from making gifts with lasting impact and binding them to one another and to your institution in new ways. Chapters by experts in the field cover topics that include working with philanthropic advisers, family philanthropy, donor education in the development…

Boards That Lead: When to Take Charge, When to Partner, and When to Stay Out of the Way By Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, Michael Useem

Boards That Lead: When to Take Charge, When to Partner, and When to Stay Out of the Way By Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, Michael Useem

Change is coming. Leadership at the top is being redefined as boards take a more active role in decisions that once belonged solely to the CEO. But for all the advantages of increased board engagement, it can create debilitating questions of authority and dangerous meddling in day-to-day operations. Directors need a new road map—for when to lead, when to partner, and when to stay out of the way.

Boardroom veterans Ram Charan, Dennis Carey, and Michael Useem advocate this new governance…

Why Philanthropy Matters: How the Wealthy Give, and What It Means for Our Economic Well-Being By Zoltan J. Acs

Why Philanthropy Matters: How the Wealthy Give, and What It Means for Our Economic Well-Being By Zoltan J. Acs

Philanthropy has long been a distinctive feature of American culture, but its crucial role in the economic well-being of the nation--and the world--has remained largely unexplored. Why Philanthropy Matters takes an in-depth look at philanthropy as an underappreciated force in capitalism, measures its critical influence on the free-market system, and demonstrates how American philanthropy could serve as a model for the productive reinvestment of wealth in other countries. Factoring in philanthropic cycles that help balance the economy, Zoltan Acs…

It's Not About the Coffee: Lessons on Putting People First from a Life at Starbucks By Howard Behar, Janet Goldstein, Howard Schultz

It's Not About the Coffee: Lessons on Putting People First from a Life at Starbucks By Howard Behar, Janet Goldstein, Howard Schultz

During his many years as a senior executive at Starbucks, Howard Behar helped establish the Starbucks culture, which stresses people over profits. He coached hundreds of leaders at every level and helped the company grow into a world-renowned brand. Now he reveals the ten principles that guided his leadership-and not one of them is about coffee. Behar shows that if you think of your staff as people (not labor costs) they will achieve amazing results. He discusses the importance of building trust, telling hard truths, thinking independently, and more. And he shares inside stories...

Grow Your Value: Living and Working to Your Full Potential By Mika Brzezinski

Grow Your Value: Living and Working to Your Full Potential By Mika Brzezinski

A woman who wants to be successful must make sacrifices, but how can she determine which ones she'll be happy with five, ten, twenty years from now?

Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe co-host and New York Times best-selling author of Knowing Your Value,has built a career on inspiring women to assess and then obtain their true value in the workplace. In her books and in her conferences, Mika gives women the tools necessary to advocate for themselves and their financial futures. But that is only the first step; once you know your value, you need to grow it—both professionally and personally…

Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead--My Life Story Hardcover By Cecile Richards and Lauren Peterson

Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead--My Life Story Hardcover By Cecile Richards and Lauren Peterson

From Cecile Richards—president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund for more than a decade, daughter of the late Governor Ann Richards, featured speaker at the Women’s March on Washington, and a “heroine of the resistance” (Vogue)—comes a story about learning to lead and make change, based on a lifetime of fighting for women’s rights and social justice.

Cecile Richards has been an activist since she was taken to the principal’s office in seventh grade for wearing an…

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World By Anand Giridharadas

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World By Anand Giridharadas

An insider's groundbreaking investigation of how the global elite's efforts to "change the world" preserve the status quo and obscure their role in causing the problems they later seek to solve.

Former New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can--except ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it. We see how they rebrand themselves as saviors of the poor; how they lavishly reward "thought leaders" who redefine "change" in winner-friendly ways; and how they…