Thursday. March 7th 5:30 - 8pm (MNP, 1 Adelaide St. East Suite 1900 Toronto)
Elon Musk, Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Alan Vance, 2015
Thursday. January 25th 5:30 - 8pm (MNP, 1 Adelaide St. East Suite 1900 Toronto)
Who says Elephants Can't Dance Inside IBM's HIstoric Turnaround, Louis Gerstner Jr., 2002
In 1990, IBM had its most profitable year ever. By 1993, the company was on a watch list for extinction, victimized by its own lumbering size, an insular corporate culture, and the PC era IBM had itself helped invent.
Enter Lou Gerstner. The presumption was that Gerstner had joined IBM to preside over its continued dissolution into a confederation of autonomous business units, effectively eliminating the corporation that had invented many of the industry's most important technologies. Instead, Gerstner took hold of the company, making the bold decision to keep it together, defiantly announcing, "The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision."
Told in Lou Gerstner's own words, this is a story of an extraordinary turnaround, a case study in managing a crisis, and a thoughtful reflection on the computer industry and the principles of leadership. Summing up his historic business achievement, Gerstner recounts high-level meetings, explains the no-turning-back decisions that had to be made, and offers his hard-won conclusions about the essence of what makes a great company run.
©2002 Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (P)2002 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Wed. December 6th 5:30 - 8pm Holiday Social (MNP, 1 Adelaide St. East Suite 1900 Toronto)
Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today, by Hal Hershfield, 2023
We have all had the desire to travel through time and see what our lives will be like later in life. But while we want the best possible future for ourselves, we often fail to make decisions that would truly make that version of the future a reality.
Based on over a decade of groundbreaking research, Your Future Self is the "entertaining and powerful book" that explains that in our minds, our future selves often look like strangers. Your Future Self describes the mental mistakes we make in thinking about the future and gives us practical advice for imagining our best future so we can make that vision a reality.
Wed. November 1st 5:30 - 8pm (Reign Restaurant, Royal York Hotel)
Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most, by Adam Alter 2023
A groundbreaking guide to breaking free from the thoughts, habits, jobs, relationships, and even business models that prevent us from achieving our full potential.
Almost everyone feels stuck in some way. Whether you're muddling through a midlife crisis, wrestling writer's block, trapped in a thankless job, or trying to remedy a fraying friendship, the resulting emotion is usually a mix of anxiety, uncertainty, fear, anger, and numbness. But it doesn't have to be this way. Anatomy of a Breakthrough is the roadmap we all need to escape our inertia and flourish in the face of friction.
Artfully weaving together scientific studies, anecdotes, and interviews, Alter teaches us that getting stuck is a feature rather than a glitch on the road to thriving, but with the right tweaks and corrections we can reach even our loftiest targets.
80/20 Your Life: Work less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More by Richard Koch, 2020
Wednesday, September 27, 2023, 5:30pm-8pm
Abstract:
EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS WITHOUT EXTRAORDINARY EFFORT.
Richard Koch's original bestseller THE 80/20 PRINCIPLE gave millions of highly effective businesspeople around the world a serious advantage in the pursuit of success. In 80/20 YOUR LIFE he shows how to use this powerful tool in all areas of your life.
80/20 YOUR LIFE shows how working out the few things that are really important, and the few methods that will give you those things, leads to increased happiness and greater success. When you read this book, you'll discover why 'less is more' isn't just a saying, but a sure-fire method to achieve your goals and live your best life.
80/20 YOUR LIFE shows how working and worrying less can transform your personal life.
'Highly practical and full of examples... The trick is to apply 'less is more' and 'more with less' to ourselves, our work and our relationships' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
'This book is for anyone interested in succeeding personally as well as professionally. It uses a simple, concise, self-help approach to guide the reader through the different areas of life that can benefit from the 80/20 way of thinking' PROFESSIONAL MANAGER
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
IRENE - Corus Quay,25 Dockside Dr, Toronto, ON M5A 1B6, Tuesday, July 25, 2023, 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Abstract:
In 2009, Simon Sinek started a movement to help people become more inspired at work, and in turn inspire their colleagues and customers. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, including more than 28 million who’ve watched his TED Talk based on START WITH WHY -- the third most popular TED video of all time. Sinek starts with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some commands greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?
START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way -- and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle.
Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World's Most Secretive Industry by Matthew Campbell
Royal York Hotel, Reign Restaurant, on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Abstract:
Shortlisted for the 2022 Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award.
A Waterstones Best Books of 2022 pick.
A Financial Times, The Times and The Economist Book of the Year
'Gripping... A startling tale of fraud and impunity. ' TheEconomist.
'I read it in one sitting, and I know it'll stay with me for a long time.' Oliver Bullough, Sunday Times bestselling author of Moneyland.
Inside the corrupt and secret business of global shipping, the explosive true story of a notorious international fraud and murder.
In July 2011, the oil tanker Brillante Virtuoso was drifting through the treacherous Gulf of Aden when a crew of pirates attacked and set her ablaze in a devastating explosion. But when David Mockett, a maritime surveyor working for Lloyd's of London, inspected the damaged vessel, he was left with more questions than answers. Soon after his inspection, he was murdered.
Dead in the Water is a shocking expose of the criminal inner-workings of international shipping, an old-world industry at the backbone of our global economy. Through first-hand accounts of those who lived the hijacking - from members of the ship's crew and witnesses to the attacks, to the ex-London detectives turned private investigators seeking to solve Mockett's murder - award-winning reporters Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel piece together the astounding truth behind one of the most brazen financial frauds in history.
The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World by Tim Marshall
Royal York Hotel, Reign Restaurant, on Tuesday May 23, 2023. 5:30pm-8:00pm
Abstract:
"The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World" by Tim Marshall is a thought-provoking book that uses maps to explore and explain the key geopolitical issues facing our world today.
In the book, Marshall argues that geography is a fundamental factor that shapes the fate of nations, and that understanding the topography, climate, and resources of a country is essential to understanding its political, economic, and social landscape.
The ten maps that Marshall presents cover a range of issues, including climate change, population growth, migration patterns, the rise of China, and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Each map is accompanied by a detailed analysis that sheds light on the complex factors at play and their potential implications for the future.
Overall, "The Power of Geography" is a fascinating and accessible exploration of how geography shapes the world we live in, and how it will continue to shape our future. It is a must-read for anyone interested in geopolitics, international relations, or global trends.
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Making Numbers Count by Chip Heath and Karla Starr
Time: on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Royal York Hotel, 5:30pm to 8:30 pm.
A clear, practical, first-of-its-kind guide to communicating and understanding numbers and data—from bestselling business author Chip Heath.
How much bigger is a billion than a million?
Well, a million seconds is twelve days. A billion seconds is…thirty-two years.
Understanding numbers is essential—but humans aren’t built to understand them. Until very recently, most languages had no words for numbers greater than five—anything from six to infinity was known as “lots.” While the numbers in our world have gotten increasingly complex, our brains are stuck in the past. How can we translate millions and billions and milliseconds and nanometers into things we can comprehend and use?
Author Chip Heath has excelled at teaching others about making ideas stick and here, in Making Numbers Count, he outlines specific principles that reveal how to translate a number into our brain’s language. This book is filled with examples of extreme number makeovers, vivid before-and-after examples that take a dry number and present it in a way that people click in and say “Wow, now I get it!”
You will learn principles such as:
-SIMPLE PERSPECTIVE CUES: researchers at Microsoft found that adding one simple comparison sentence doubled how accurately users estimated statistics like population and area of countries.
-VIVIDNESS: get perspective on the size of a nucleus by imagining a bee in a cathedral, or a pea in a racetrack, which are easier to envision than “1/100,000th of the size of an atom.”
-CONVERT TO A PROCESS: capitalize on our intuitive sense of time (5 gigabytes of music storage turns into “2 months of commutes, without repeating a song”).
-EMOTIONAL MEASURING STICKS: frame the number in a way that people already care about (“that medical protocol would save twice as many women as curing breast cancer”).
Whether you’re interested in global problems like climate change, running a tech firm or a farm, or just explaining how many Cokes you’d have to drink if you burned calories like a hummingbird, this book will help math-lovers and math-haters alike translate the numbers that animate our world—allowing us to bring more data, more naturally, into decisions in our schools, our workplaces, and our society.
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The Power of Crisis
Tuesday, January 24, 2023, 7pm-9pm (Remote)
Renowned political scientist Ian Bremmer draws lessons from global challenges of the past 100 years—including the pandemic—to show how we can respond to three great crises unfolding over the next decade.
In this revelatory, unnerving, and ultimately hopeful book, Bremmer details how domestic and international conflicts leave us unprepared for a trio of looming crises—global health emergencies, transformative climate change, and the AI revolution. Today, Americans cannot reach consensus on any significant political issue, and US and Chinese leaders behave as if they’re locked in a new Cold War. We are squandering opportunities to meet the challenges that will soon confront us all.
In coming years, humanity will face viruses deadlier and more infectious than Covid. Intensifying climate change will put tens of millions of refugees in flight and require us to reimagine how we live our daily lives. Most dangerous of all, new technologies will reshape the geopolitical order, disrupting our livelihoods and destabilizing our societies faster than we can grasp and address their implications.
The good news? Some farsighted political leaders, business decision-makers, and individual citizens are already collaborating to tackle all these crises. The question that should keep us awake is whether they will work well and quickly enough to limit the fallout—and, most importantly, whether we can use these crises to innovate our way toward a better world.
Drawing on strategies both time-honored and cutting-edge, from the Marshall Plan to the Green New Deal, The Power of Crisisprovides a roadmap for surviving—even thriving in—the 21st century. Bremmer shows governments, corporations, and every concerned citizen how we can use these coming crises to create the worldwide prosperity and opportunity that 20th-century globalism promised but failed to deliver.
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The Consummate Leader by Patricia Thompson
Time: 6pm-9 pm on Tuesday, Dec 6, 2022 (In Person) Location: Kellys Landing, 123 Front St W, Toronto, ON M5J 2M2, Canada
Exceptional leaders inspire others to dream, fill them with a sense of passion, and expertly guide the way to achieving outstanding results; in short, great leaders can change the world. Yet, as we strive to move and motivate people in our given fields, many of us are unsure of how to best develop the untapped potential in others ... as well as in ourselves.
In The Consummate Leader, award-winning corporate psychologist and management consultant Dr. Patricia Thompson transforms uncertainty into confidence, drawing on both scientific research and her decade-long experience advising senior leaders. In this holistic and interactive guide to professional development, she illustrates the seven keys to becoming an impeccable leader, including how to:
• Achieve heightened self-awareness to affect the way you influence
• Build a happiness toolbox to bring joy to yourself and those around you
• Care for your whole self first as a hallmark of effecting positive change
• Embrace your own authenticity to allow others to embrace their own
• Foster positive relationships in the workplace that promote greater productivity – and job satisfaction
With her accessible and often humorous style – utilizing notable lessons from Nelson Mandela to SpongeBob SquarePants – Thompson reveals why truly outstanding leaders not only focus on strategy, metrics, and execution, they also tend to their bodies, minds, and spirits. Chock-full of real-life examples, thought-provoking exercises, and personal stories, The Consummate Leader is an indispensable book that will reshape the way you approach leadership – and life.
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The New Megatrends: Seeing Clearly in the Age of Disruption
Tuesday, In person, October 18th, 2022, 5:30pm-8:00pm, JOEY Yorkdale, 3401 Dufferin St #305B, North York, ON M6A 2T9
A pioneering forecaster predicts the trends and technologies that will shape global culture and commerce in the next two decades—a must-read guide for business leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking for an edge.
“In a world of half-baked hot takes, Marian Salzman is a true seer.”—Andrew Yang
A little more than twenty years ago, the Y2K computer glitch threatened to bring the global economy to its knees. But instead of overnight disruption, humankind slipped into two decades of economic turmoil, ecological angst, and tribalism, all set against the backdrop of a newly global and digital civilization. Sometimes the events that seem pivotal are just blips, while the more meaningful cultural shifts are hiding in plain sight. Marian Salzman’s job is to uncover those hidden shifts.
So what’s in store for the next two decades?
In this acutely observed guide, Salzman, whose past predictions have been heralded for coming uncannily close to the way we live now, unpacks the course of human life from the bumpy turn of the millennium through the pandemic era, when chaos and “together apart” are the new normal, equity has become a battle cry, and breathing space emerged as the greatest luxury of all.
Drawing inspiration from John Naisbitt’s classic 1982 book Megatrends, Salzman then turns to the two decades ahead. Navigating deftly among geographies, she connects threads across business, civic life, consumerism, family, and entertainment, revealing the trends and developments—some established, some surprising—poised to recast our past, shape our collective future, and shift our identities.
In a world dominated by disruption, being prepared for change is a critical advantage. The New Megatrends is gripping reading for anyone seeking to understand the shape and texture of the next era, which, above all, will be marked by its relentless pace, new technology, and the ever-present threats of climate change and political division.
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