The most popular summer reads for UK business leaders
Perlego, the large online textbook and self-development library, has seen non-fiction popularity skyrocket since the UK lockdown, with users spending more than 152,000 hours (17.2 years) reading on the platform since March alone. In light of the challenges businesses face, many c-suite execs are turning to non-fiction literature for guidance.
Gauthier Van Malderen, Co-founder and CEO of Perlego said: “With advice on leadership during a pandemic, managing a remote team and the importance of diversity, the most popular reads over the last three months reflect the increasingly volatile and changing nature of running a business today.”
Based on reader behaviours and insight, the top 10 most popular summer reads for UK business leaders and C-suite executives on Perlego, are as follows:
1. Work Together Anywhere
Authors: Lisette Sutherland and Kirsten Janene-Nelson
Published: 2020 by Wiley
With many offices remaining closed or running at a reduced capacity, Work Together Anywhere offers a complete blueprint for optimising team success by supporting every member of the business. The book is packed with hands-on materials and actionable advice for cultivating agility, camaraderie, and collaboration, wherever you and your team are working.
2. Coronavirus: Leadership and Recovery
Authors: N/A
Published: 2020 by Harvard Business Review Press
As the pandemic is exacting its toll on our lives and wreaking havoc in the global economy, forward-looking organisations are moving past crisis management and positioning themselves to leap ahead in a transformed economy after the ‘Great Pause’. This book provides essential thinking about managing a company through the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping employees healthy and productive, and challenging the business to continue innovating and reinventing itself ahead of the recovery.
3. The Diversity Bonus
Author: Scott E. Page
Published: 2017 by Princeton University Press
Scott Page, a leading thinker, writer, and speaker, makes a clear and compellingly pragmatic case for diversity and inclusion. He presents overwhelming evidence that teams that include different kinds of thinkers outperform homogenous groups on complex tasks, producing what he calls ‘diversity bonuses’. These bonuses include improved problem solving, increased innovation, and more accurate predictions – all of which lead to better performance and results.
4. Leading and Managing Change in the Age of Disruption and Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Mathew Donald
Published: 2019 by Emerald Publishing Limited
This book modernises the topics of management, leadership and organisational change. It covers modern disruptions, ranging from Trump and other geo-political changes, to Brexit, new currencies, trade wars, and even knowledge mobility. It also considers the broad scope of potential impacts posed by artificial intelligence. Including strategies that the modern manager can implement in their daily work, the book provides critical thinking that will future proof organisations with practical models.
