Israel's Bookshelf: New Year's Edition

By Israel Lang, Executive Consultant, HTG Peer Groups

If I am completely honest with all of you, I buy way more books than I read. On average, I probably buy three or four books a month. In addition to those books, I normally get three or four a quarter sent to me from publisher and marketing friends in hopes that I will be part of the social media team that will help promote the book. I say all of that to make the point that the books that I suggest in this column are the ones that I don’t simply read, but that I engage with … books that significantly impact my thinking.

Often times, that means it takes weeks or months for me to completely read, think through, process, and consume the words the author has put on paper. I am currently working through two that meet those criteria. Take the following paragraphs as hearty endorsements for these books.

The first is Essentialism, by Greg McKeown. I started this book about three months ago and intentionally put it to the side because in the season in which I found myself, I knew that the book was speaking directly to me, but would ask me to do things I wasn’t in the position to do. So rather than spin, allow damaging self-talk to creep in and generally feel frustrated, I pressed the pause button.

Over the last few weeks, I have picked it back up and allowed its message to go deep.

In essence, this book talks about two paradoxes. One, in order to do more we have to do less. Second, in order to go faster, you need to slow down. These are two principles we talk about with our coaching, mentoring, and consulting clients at HTG. These principles apply to me and to you in both our personal and professional lives. They apply equally to how we run our business.

I’m still processing and working through it, but I know the message it delivers rings true to me. I now need to take that message and make the required changes to deliver the results my soul, my family, and my clients need.

The second is a book I looked forward to for almost a year. In A Year with Peter Drucker, Joseph Maciariello, takes key points from some of Drucker’s key works along with material from personal writings, conversations, and group interactions with people that Drucker was mentoring and provides 52 chapters or weeks of key ideas to think through and digest.

Each time I read something by Drucker or about Drucker, I leave with some new idea which I know if I execute well  and apply in my life will make me a better leader or manager and/or make the organizations I am apart of much richer. This book delivers those things.

I am a few weeks in. I am learning. I am being challenged. In some cases I am startled from a slumber that has been holding me back in my self-leadership.

So as we start the New Year if you want a book that will help you challenge your personal status quo, I recommend either of these books. For those of you who interact with me through my consulting and mentoring practices, I am confident you will see some of these principles and questions come up in our conversations.

Israel Lang is part of a team of coaches and consultants serving the IT industry. Prior to joining the HTG Peer Groups staff, he spent almost 20 years in various roles in service and operations at a solutions and managed services provider.  Israel’s company was a member of HTG for many years, and he is a strong proponent of the peer group experience.  He loves helping companies go further faster through developing executives, managers, and teams into effective leaders who reach their fullest potentials. You can reach him at ilang@htgpeergroups.com or on Twitter @israellang.