The Effective Executive
Peter F. Drucker
HarperBusiness Essentials, revised 2002

In this book, Peter F. Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can, and must, be learned: time management; choosing what to contribute to a particular organization; knowing where and how to mobilize strength for the best effect; setting up the right priorities; and knitting all of these together with effective decision making. To learn more, visit: harpercollins.com

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
David Allen
Penguin Group, 2001

Allen's premise: Our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve effective productivity and unleash our creative potential. The book covers:

• Apply the “do it, delegate it, drop it” rule to get your in-box empty.
• Reassess goals and stay focused on changing situations.
• Plan projects as well as get them unstuck.
• Overcome feelings of confusion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed.
• Feel fine about what you are not doing.

To learn more, visit: www.davidco.com

Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances
J. Richard Hackman
Harvard Business School Press, 2002

This latest book by Harvard professor J. Richard Hackman should be of interest to anyone involved with symphony organizations. Professor Hackman has studied orchestra organizations for many years and knows them well. In Harmony #15 we asked an orchestra manager, a musician, and a board member to review the book, each from his or her own perspective. You can read the reviews in .pdf form here.

Leadership for Turbulent Times
Leonard R. Sayles
CCL Press

The author comments on issues raised at a Center for Creative Leadership conference on "New Demands for Leadership: Responding to Turbulence." Executives at the conference generated ideas and shared experiences to explore the changing context for leadership. Excerpts from interviews with conference attendees present an insider's perspective on the critical changes that managers need to make in order to adapt. To learn more, visit the bookstore at CCL.org

The Leader to Leader Guides

Published in March 2002 by Jossey-Bass, this four-volume set is drawn from articles that have appeared in the Drucker Foundation's journal, Leader to Leader. Frances Hesselbein and Rob Johnston are the editors of the guides.
The four volumes are:

On Leading Change
On High Performance Organizations
On Mission and Leadership
On Creativity, Innovation and Renewal

To learn more, visit: www.josseybass.com.

In Good Company: How Social Capital Makes Organizations Work
Donald J. Cohen and Laurence Prusak
2000. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Publishing

Explains the role that social capital plays in the successful running of organizations. Identifies the social elements that contribute to knowledge sharing, innovation, and high productivity, and shows how managerial actions can enhance or diminish an organization’s social capital. To learn more, visit: www.hbsp.harvard.edu.

Best Practices in Organization Development and Change Handbook
Louis Carter, David Giber, Marshall Goldsmith
2001. San Francisco: Jossey Bass

Presents important ideas and effective strategies that address five important organization development topics:

• organization development and change;
• human resource development;
• recruitment and retention;
• performance management; and
• coaching and mentoring.

To learn more, visit: www.josseybass.com.

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
Ben and Roz Zander
2000. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Publishing

Ben is a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and an increasingly well-regarded international guest conductor. For many years, Ben has been teaching, engaging, and listening to students, orchestra players, audiences, and the public at large. Over this period, Ben and his wife, Roz, a family therapist, have applied an intense and passionate intelligence to thinking deeply about personal and organizational behavior. Out of this dedicated study, the Zanders have developed and recommend to all of us a coherent set of behavioral practices now codified in their new book.

To learn more, visit: www.hbsp.harvard.edu.