Author Archive for Lynne Cunningham

Guest Post: Best Books of 2008

Editor’s note: The following is an excert from Lynne Cunningham’s list of the best books she read in 2008. You can read the full annual roundup and past book reviews online.

There were 26 books on my reading list in 2008 and I have a hefty stack of books ready to read in 2009. Typically, I start with books written by authors I’ve only heard of and don’t know. This year was different. Many of my best recommendations were written by people I’ve been fortunate enough to know and work with.

If you read one book from my 2008 list, read:

Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic: Inside One of the Worlds Most Admired Service Organizations by Leonard L. Berry and Kent D. Seltman. It is thoroughly researched and well-written. The book shares incredible stories of extraordinary service from empowered physicians and employees. Have a box of Kleenex nearby when you read the final chapter. Certainly the authors talk about the successes at Mayo Clinic but they also evaluate times that things didn’t go so well and how the organization recovered and used those examples to get better. I hope we all have an opportunity some day to work in an organization that is practicing destination medicine.

If you read two books, add:

The Truth About Getting the Best From People by Martha Finney. This is a very readable book. Its 49 short, highly quotable, and inspirational chapters are an easy read. The book could be used for a weekly managers’ discussion by reading one chapter a week. It would be an excellent preassignment for a Leadership Development Institute focusing on moving your People Pillar metrics–employee engagement, reward and recognition, and employee retention.

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