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We often work with managers who, although they might on the surface appear to be successful and confident, have recounted how, in some situations, they feel like ‘driven people’, like they were no longer in control of their inner world. The situations in which this happens are typically marked by high pressure or insecurity. This account describes the typical effect of inner beliefs, which also constitute a risk factor, both for one’s inner mental balance and for one’s ability to bounce back when faced with setbacks.

“I hate corporate politics!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that refrain. My guess is that if you’re in an organization, you too have gotten an earful about the wretched workplace dynamic called corporate politics.

Great coaches are often great teachers. What lessons can leaders learn from Blackhawks Head Coach, Joel Quenneville (Coach Q), as he and the team prepare for the remaining games of the Stanley Cup final? Be strategic. As one of only two men in NHL history to have played 800+ games and coached 1,000+, Coach Q has the ability to “see the game” in a unique way.

Patrick Lencioni is one of my favorite authors, having written several extraordinary business books such as The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Death By Meeting, and Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars. Lencioni is an excellent storyteller and uses fables to convey important business insights and teachings. The Advantage was published in March of 2012 and is his first book that doesn’t employ a fable format. However, it shines in its ability to organize and convey with clarity the important teachings in his previous books, including the three I mentioned above.

I read this volume with deep interest and through two sets of lenses; one as a Psychologist, and the other as an Executive Coach. I believe Cain’s basic mission in publishing this book is to bring the reader’s attention to how underutilized and undervalued introverts really are. She begins with the premise that we live in a broader value system she calls the “extrovert ideal”. That is to say, “there is an omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight.”