Lists

When I read novels, I read them one at a time, cover to cover. But for management books, my approach is to dip in and out of several texts over a period of time. Right now on my to read list are:

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
This was given to me by a colleague, and focuses on hospitality (of the restaurant industry) as a key component of customer service. And it really has me wanting to go NYC for dinner!

Why Smart Executives Fail by Sydney Finkelstein
In the reorganization we are undergoing, there has been a strong feeling in some areas that there is a perception that we were failures, and yet we know day to day that we gave good service within the parameters we had to work with, so I am reading this to learn about success through the lens of failure.

Best Practices in Access Services edited by Lori L. Driscoll and W. Bede Mitchell
A colleague has a chapter in this, so not only is in my field, and not only do I want to celebrate my colleague, but I also hope to learn more about what I might write successfully. I have a rule where I tend to not read the books of my fiction writing friends (to preserve the friendship!) but I don't think this will apply here.

Reframing Academic Leadership by Lee G. Bolman and Joan V. Gallos
I attended the ACRL LIAL Leadership Institute at Harvard where we read Reframing Organizations and I really look forward to reading this work through the lens of the academy.

Be A Great Boss by Catherine Hakala-Ausperk
When I ordered this one, the staff admin delivered it to me with a post-it note on it that read: OR ELSE!! (And she has now gone on to get a professional job in her field of digital archives, so happy for her but boy do I miss her!). I started this, loved it, then put it down because I was so focused on the day to day (see a theme here??).

There are other books, but these are the main ones. I am trying to structure my day as follows:

First thing in the morning I write here.
Last thing of the work day I read.

Usually it is just for half an hour each, but by creating lists of topics to write about and having reading goals, I hope that I will respect this time for developing myself as a worker, colleague, and leader. If you have any texts you are reading, feel free to post in the comments so I can add them to my list!