WHAT GREAT TRAINERS
DO: THE ULTIMATE
GUIDE TO DELIVERING
ENGAGING AND
EFFECTIVE LEARNING
Robert Bolton and Dorothy Grover
Bolton
AMACOM, 2016
Trainers improve the effectiveness
of the organization by
helping individuals succeed. Yet,
according to the authors, training
often fails on a massive scale. Too
many trainers are given responsibilities
without adequate training
themselves. What Great Trainers
Do offers a comprehensive and
engaging roadmap for trainers
looking to improve their skills
based on their years of successfully
training trainers. Included
are numerous examples and solutions
for trainers to use when
confronted by problems during
training such as understanding
resistance, eliminating disruptive
behaviour and avoiding trainer
defensiveness.
reviews
By Alyson Nyiri, CHRL
THE COACHING HABIT:
SAY LESS, ASK MORE
& CHANGE THE WAY
YOU LEAD FOREVER
Michael Bungay Stanier
Box of Crayons Press, 2016
Well-researched and filled
with humourous anecdotes
and resources, The Coaching
Habit demonstrates the power
of seven simple questions
to enable managers to coach
team members to higher and
more fulfilling performance
levels. Leveraging the science
of the brain, Bungay Stanier
incorporates easy and effective
methods to ingrain these
new coaching habits into our
daily behaviours. Effective
coaching, writes Bungay
Stanier, should be a daily, informal
act. New and seasoned
managers as well as established
coaches will find the
tools and tips in The Coaching
Habit an invaluable tool.
Point of interest
Through the strategic use of
his seven questions, managers
can zero in on the
performance issues and
interests of their team members.
But the “secret sauce”
of building a great coaching
habit is to stay curious.
DEEP WORK: RULES FOR
FOCUSED SUCCESS IN A
DISTRACTED WORLD
Cal Newport
Grand Central Publishing, 2016
This process of learning hard
things never ends, writes
Newport. And we need uninterrupted
time to do it. Our
current embrace of distraction
is founded on faulty thinking
about knowledge work.
Knowledge work is often ambiguous
and hard to define. In
addition, we are often lured
into spending too much time
on shallow activities, such as
checking and responding to
emails. Social media tools fragment
our time and reduce our
ability to concentrate, yet are
ubiquitous in our workplaces.
Newport’s central argument is
that deep work should be a priority
for business despite the
culture of busy-ness embraced
by most companies.
Point of interest
In this new economy, writes
Newport, three groups will
have a distinct advantage: those
who can work well and creatively
with intelligent machines,
those who are the best at what
they do, and those with access
to capital. To remain valuable,
we must master learning complicated
things.
EFFECTIVE SUCCESSION
PLANNING: ENSURING
LEADERSHIP
CONTINUITY AND
BUILDING TALENT FROM
WITHIN
By William Rothwell
AMACOM, 2016
Succession planning is more
multifaceted than ever. As products,
markets and management
activities become increasingly
complex, prospective employees
both inside and outside
the organization require extensive
prequalification. This fifth
edition incorporates the many
changes to the economy over
the past 15 years, including, for
example, how succession plans
were recast as a direct consequence
of 9/11.
Point of interest
Rothwell’s chapter on the future
of succession planning and
management (SP&M) offers 15
interesting predictions. He predicts
that career planning will
be increasingly integrated into
SP&M and envisions decision
makers becoming more inclined
to revive company-sponsored
career planning and management
programs.
Point of interest
According to their research,
trainers who embodied high
levels of respect, empathy and
genuineness achieved the best
results in their training. These
three qualities are the core conditions
of effective teaching.
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HRPATODAY.CA ❚ MARCH/APRIL 2016 ❚ 47