When was the last time you listened to someone, or someone really listened to you?

“If you’re like most people, you don’t listen as often or as well as you’d like. There’s no one better qualified than a talented journalist to introduce you to the right mindset and skillset―and this book does it with science and humor.”
-Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take

“An essential book for our times.”
-Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

At work, we’re taught to lead the conversation.
On social media, we shape our personal narratives.
At parties, we talk over one another. So do our politicians.
We’re not listening.
And no one is listening to us.

Despite living in a world where technology allows constant digital communication and opportunities to connect, it seems no one is really listening or even knows how. And it’s making us lonelier, more isolated, and less tolerant than ever before. A listener by trade, New York Times contributor Kate Murphy wanted to know how we got here.

In this always illuminating and often humorous deep dive, Murphy explains why we’re not listening, what it’s doing to us, and how we can reverse the trend. She makes accessible the psychology, neuroscience, and sociology of listening while also introducing us to some of the best listeners out there (including a CIA agent, focus group moderator, bartender, radio producer, and top furniture salesman). Equal parts cultural observation, scientific exploration, and rousing call to action that’s full of practical advice, You’re Not Listening is to listening what Susan Cain’s Quiet was to introversion. It’s time to stop talking and start listening.

Your words matter more than you think

Most of us use the language we inherited from a time when workers worked with their hands and managers worked with their heads. Today, your people do much more than simply follow orders. They contribute to performance and solve problems, and it’s time we updated our language to reflect that.

In Leadership Is Language, former US Navy captain L. David Marquet offers a radical playbook to empower your people and put your team on a path to continuous improvement. The framework will help you achieve the right balance between deliberation and action, and take bold risks without endangering your mission. Among other things, you’ll learn:

· How to avoid the seven common sins of questioning, from binary questions (should we do A or B?) to self-affirming questions (B is the better option, right?)

· Why you should vote first, then discuss, when deciding on a plan with your team, rather than voting after discussion

· Why it’s better to give your people information instead of instructions

When Competitive Strategy was first published eighteen years ago, I hoped that it would have an impact. There were reasons to hope, because the book rested on a body of research that had stood the test of peer review, and the draft chapters had survived the scrutiny of my MBA and executive students.

Sometimes our choices work out for the better?and sometimes they don?t. But there is one choice, regardless of every other decision, that profoundly affects how we feel about our journey: Do we go alone or do we go together?

It is the courageous few who ask for help. It is the giving few willing to help others. We can all find the courage we need and know the joy of service ? the minute we learn that together is better.

It has never been a more challenging time for managers and leaders to maintain a happy, healthy workforce. The pace of change and increasing uncertainty in most industries has resulted in a rapid increase in stress and anxiety in the workplace, and most organizations are poorly equipped to respond to these challenges in a meaningful and supportive way.