My 2022 Gift Giving Book List

2022 was an excellent year for business and Leadership books. This might be a happy hangover from the pandemic as the authors, academics, coaches, consultants, and seasoned executives wrote their first or most recent offerings.

In this list, you’ll find a much-anticipated sequel on workplace culture in the form of a handy workbook, fascinating teamwork advice from one of Canada’s favourite MDs, and a captivating 5-part leadership model from a highly recognized former senior manager in HR. You’ll also see books on the hybrid workplace, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), linking time use and happiness, as well as strategies for dealing with toxic types at work are also standouts. ?

I’ve also included some notable pre-2022 titles to help you begin the New Year with gratitude, lead without a formal leadership or management role, and make progress with workplace well-being strategies.

Most fittingly, Canadians and women are featured prominently on this end-of-year list of authors, as well as they should.

The Culture Playbook: 60 Highly Effective Actions to Help Your Group Succeed by Daniel Coyle, Bantam, 2022. A much anticipated and highly interactive follow up to Coyle’s bestseller The Culture Code. Sharpen your pencil and work your way through tips, answer reflection questions, fill in conversation starters and outline your action steps to a better culture for groups, teams and entire organizations.

The Power of Teamwork: How We Can All Work Better Together by Brian Goleman, M.D., Collins, 2022. CBC Radio fans need no introduction to the decade-long White Coat, Black Art radio show and podcast host. An engaging and very human broadcaster and author of two previous books (The Night Shift & The Power of Kindness), Goleman uses the complex and fascinating backdrop of Canadian healthcare to help us understand his world and teach valuable teamwork lessons that transcend the medical world. ???

Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most by Cassie Holmes, Gallery Books, 2022. Professor Holmes studies the relationship between time and happiness and challenges readers on how to better connect their happiness to how they use their time. Insightful takeaways at the end of each chapter together with a sprinkling of reflection exercises make this a helpful guide to how we use time, our most valuable resource.

Leading to Greatness: 5 Principles to Transform Your Leadership & Build Great Teams by Jim Reid, Figure 1 Publishing, 2022. Canadian Jim Reid is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and the former Chief HR Officer with Rogers Communications, and the winner of One of Canada’s Top 50 Executives issued by the Toronto Globe and Mail. He lays out his concise yet profound model in part one, moves from theory to practice in part two with a team coaching model, and closes the book with a workbook of activities and exercises. The short case studies dispersed throughout are interesting and informative and his focus on leading change is spot on. ??

The Strong Emotional Leader: An Inside-Out Journey to Transformational Leadership by Carolyn Stern, Figure 1 Publishing, 2022. The British Columbian emotional intelligence expert seeks to turn leadership on it’s head by examining the other F-word (feelings) and then walking readers through an Emotional Intelligence self-coaching model. This Canadian work is highly acclaimed by a who’s who of academics and authors working in this space. Sharpen your pencil, there are lots of exercises to engage with the material. ?

Jerks At Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them by Tessa West, Portfolio, 2022.?The New York University social psychologist brings a useful and humorous take on what can create a lot of distress in peoples work lives. The tone is conversational, the strategies are highly applicable, and it’s all grounded in science. ??

Hybrid Workplace: Insights you Need from Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Review Press 2022. A timely and helpful treatise on the challenges of one of the most important changes to workplaces of our time. Twelve insightful articles gathered under the headings of Designing a Better Hybrid Workplace, Management and Culture in the Hybrid Workplace and Hybrid Meetings and Collaboration. This is required reading for everyone attempting to move from a rushed, pandemic fuelled emergency measures inspired workplace strategy to a thoughtful, effective space for virtual collaboration and employee engagement.

Anti-Racist Leadership: How to Transform Corporate Culture in a Race-Conscious World by James D. White and Krista White, 2022. A fascinating and useful father-daughter crafted template for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) by the former CEO and Chair of Jamba Juice, a global smoothie chain. An important book for senior leaders looking to make real progress in DEI.

Surviving to Thriving: The 10 Laws of Grateful Leadership by Steve Foran, 2019. Who better to help us lead a more inspired life than the uber-positive Halifax-based electrical engineer with engaging personal stories and thought-provoking reflection questions to close each chapter? Full disclosure, Steve Foran, founder of Gratitude at Work, is a friend and someone I admire greatly. His gratitude practice and quest for one billion happier people is truly inspiring. ??

Wellbeing at Work, How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter, Gallup, 2021.

Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership: How to Make a Difference Regardless of Your Title, Role, or Authority by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, Wiley, 2021.