I usually commit the last hour of my day to reading a good biography or some book of fiction. It’s part of my bedtime ritual to help me wind down, forget the day’s business focus, and enhance my ability to get a restful sleep.
Presently, I’m reading Ken Follett’s World Without End which is a sequel to his best-seller The Pillars of the Earth. The ultra-thick tome features descendants of the Pillars characters two hundred years later, so you don’t necessarily have to read the first book to take pleasure in World. I remember reading Pillars about 15 years ago and thoroughly enjoying it, so I was psyched to see the release of Follett’s newest work. FYI, the only common ground between the two books is literally the setting in the English town of Kingsbridge during the Middle Ages.
But when I have free time – like on airplanes and on Sunday afternoons - my reading traditionally focuses on nonfictional works. I don’t know what I don’t know so I continually attempt to expand my knowledge and skill set with good recommendations. And I just started a great one!
This book recommendation came from someone I had just met.
As an investor and board member of the internet fitness company Smooth Fitness, I was conducting an interview with a CEO candidate recommended by the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. During the narrative portion of the interview the candidate mentioned his five dominant talent traits and their effectiveness in his past performance. Candidly, I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about - referencing talent traits as if he was talking about his IQ - so I asked him to expand on his terminology.
The candidate asked if I was familiar with the book Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham. I replied, “No, I never heard of it.” He proceeded to provide me with a brief tutorial on the contents of the book and its effect on his management success. He mentioned that it was a must read for everyone at Hewlett Packer (his most recent employer) and all management employees were required to take the online profile test to identify their prevalent strengths. He also boasted that most of the staff post their top five talent traits in the cubicles like a badge of honor.
I was hooked on the book – and the candidate.
On the return to my office, I asked my assistant Sue to order copies of Now, Discover Your Strengths for me and several leaders of my business interests.
I just started the book yesterday as my Sunday afternoon read and I admit: it’s good. I’m looking forward to taking the Gallup’s Strengthfinder.com profile in the near future, and you can bet that I’ll reveal my five most powerful talent traits in a upcoming blog.
Here’s a blurb from my friend Dr. Martin Seligman, the author of Learned Optimism, from the book’s back jacket: “The keystone of high achievement and happiness is exercising your strengths, not correcting your weaknesses. The first step is know which strengths you own, and this superb book gives you a powerful and accurate way to find out.”
This entry was posted
on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 9:46 am by Pat Croce
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