WB Reading List: Multi-tasking, conflict and courage, and unreasonable leaders

 Stop Multitasking. No, really – Just Stop It. by Oliver Burkeman

Multitasking doesn’t work. We will do and be better doing one thing at a time. It’s science.

Takeaways: “You may discover, as I did, that you were unwittingly addicted to not doing one thing at a time. You might even come to agree with me that restoring our capacity to live sequentially — that is, focusing on one thing after another, in turn, and enduring the confrontation with our human limitations that this inherently entails — may be among the most crucial skills for thriving in the uncertain, crisis-prone future we all face.

It’s not that the urge to multitask is anything new. ‘One thinks with a watch in one’s hand,” Nietzsche complained as early as 1887, “even as one eats one’s midday meal while reading the latest news of the stock market.’”

From Conflict to Courage by Marlene Chism

If you know you struggle with conflict as a leader this book will provide you with strategies to see conflict as the good and necessary thing that it is. There are lots of hard truths and an equal amount of practical strategies in this one.

Takeaways: “Most leaders avoid conflict because they see conflict as a problem, but conflict isn’t really the problem; mismanagement is.”

The Unreasonable Leader by The Table Group

This 15-minute podcast is an insightful take on how good leaders challenge their teams to perform while maintaining healthy team connections.

Takeaways: A good leader embraces discomfort to drive the team to places they did not think they could go without being a jerk.