12 Business Books for 2012

Photo: Fuse | Getty Images This year promises to be full of uncertainty. There’s the U.S. presidential election, the continuing financial crisis and, oh yeah, the Mayan calendar suggests this will be the year it all ends for us.So why waste any valuable time searching for a good book?There are some truly exciting books coming out this year offering great advice on getting ahead, getting your teams to work better, and getting the most out of life itself.Due to the nature of the publishing world where schedules often change, we’ve only selected a dozen titles from the first six months of 2012.Click through to check out the business-focused books we’re most looking forward to reading in the first half of this year.

Photo: Amazon.com By: Clayton Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon PerezPages: 256Publisher: HarperBusinessPublication Date: May 2012Price: $25.99Christensen is revered by many around the world as the Innovation Guru. His books, including “The Innovator’s Dilemma” (considered one of the most influential business books of all time), are best-sellers and have transformed many executives and saved countless businesses. But with this newest book, the Harvard Business School professor is offering something that just might take his loyal followers by surprise. How’s that for “disruptive innovation?”In “How Will You Measure Your Life,” Christensen takes his readers on a journey to make the case that the path to one’s professional and personal success starts with this profound question: “How do you lead a fulfilling life?”Through a series of questions and models that have been used successfully in the world of business, Christensen reveals how to find happiness in your life, in your relationships, and in your career through the moral decisions you make.Much in the same vein as Steve Jobs’ epic address at Stanford’s 2005 commencement and Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture”, this book (which as it happens, is based on a 2010 speech Christensen gave to Harvard Business School graduates after he had survived a heart attack, advance-stage cancer, and a stroke) will inspire and cause readers to pause to answer one of life’s most pressing questions: What exactly is a well-lived life?

Photo: Amazon.com By Bernard T. FerrariPages: 208Publisher: PortfolioPublication Date: March 2012Price: $25.95We all know that talk is cheap — so how do you value listening? Well, if you’re Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric (minority stakeholder in CNBC’s parent company), you put a lot of value in listening.Writing the foreword for “Power Listening,” Immelt says, “Listening may be the single most undervalued and undeveloped business skill, especially in an age of increasing uncertainty and fast-paced change.”Ferrari, a long-time McKinsey & Co. strategist and author of “Power Listening,” says you can pretty much trace back most of today's problems to poor decision-making because someone along the chain of command wasn’t listening. Whether it’s a simple misunderstanding or those bigger and more costly problems like the collapse of a business, Ferrari says the inability to listen can be blamed for most of those problems.Ferrari says if you're not listening — truly listening — you're not engaged with those who are trying to communicate with you. If you’re not listening, you're not asking the right questions, challenging all assumptions, or understanding the context of every interaction. By learning how to listen — you'll become the "Master of the Question" — key to learning vital information and avoiding misunderstandings or assumptions that can sink you, your team, or your business.

Photo: Amazon.com By: Robert HarrisPages: 304Publisher: KnopfPublication Date: January 2012Price $25.95Fear is universal; be it fear of public speaking, heights, water or for our own safety — all of us have experienced fear. Heck, it’s so pervasive that the money guys and their computer wonks on Wall Street have even figured out a way to trade on our fear.But — there is fear and then there is real fear.A huge hit when it launched this fall in the U.K. —  “The Fear Index” is a financial thriller that will scare the bejesus out of you and finally — FINALLY — explain what those hedge-fund guys actually do for a living.Harris has written a financial what-if … as in “what if you could build a computer algorithm one step ahead of the stock market, that can predict the rise and fall of stocks based on human behavior and emotions and buy and sell accordingly?”In “The Fear Index,” he’s imagined a hedge fund built around a revolutionary form of artificial intelligence, an automated system called the VIXAL-4 — think Hal in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” only this time it’s man, machine and money!

Photo: Amazon.com By: David Novak, chairman & CEO of Yum! Brands Inc.Pages: 256Publisher: PenguinPublication Date: January 2012Price: $25.95Called one of the best-performing CEOs in the world by Harvard Business Review, David Novak runs the world’s largest restaurant company — leading 1.4 million employees. Now, he’s written a book and is offering you a rare opportunity — a chance to change your business and your life.Not what you’d expect from a corporate suit — but Novak is not your typical executive. Novak doesn’t waste time and doesn’t insult your intelligence. Instead, he forces you to dig deep to find out what drives you by asking: “What’s the single biggest thing you can imagine that will grow your business or impact your life?”Whether you're running the night shift at one of his Taco Bells, or you're leading a multinational conglomerate, Novak’s advice is a real game-changer — if you’re willing to do the work. Be warned: this book puts the “work” in workbook. "Taking People With You" is the result of a program that Novak teaches up to eight times a year within the company; a step-by-step guidebook and workbook. Think of this book as your own personal MBA course with one of the most successful executives on the planet. And like any MBA course, it takes time, diligence and patience, or as Novak says, “To do this right, you need to take your time, reflecting on each step and on your own leadership style.”If you’re looking for a book you can grab in the airport and complete by the time you reach the coast, skip this one. But if you’re ready to put in the time and work to make the big changes, Novak’s book will surely become your treasured traveling companion.

Photo: Amazon.com By: Charlotte BeersPages: 256Publisher: Vanguard PressPublication Date: February 2012Price: $25.99Once dubbed “the most powerful woman in advertising,” Charlotte Beers knows just how tough it is to rise to the top.Beers’ story is well known — her humble beginnings as a researcher at Uncle Ben’s Rice to CEO of two worldwide ad agencies and then on to become undersecretary of state under Colin Powell — heck, Harvard Business School still teaches a best-selling case study on leadership entitled “Charlotte Beers at Ogilvy.”One of the few female corporate giants, Beers writes a compelling story about life at the top, and what’s really holding back so many women. Unlike other authors, Beers doesn’t hold back — she’s not out to mollycoddle anyone. With less than 3 percent of women making up Fortune 500 CEOs, Beers is on a mission to get women to get real about themselves and their dreams.In “I’d Rather Be in Charge,” Beers shatters some long-held beliefs, arguing that women actually have it harder, not easier, today and that women have everything it takes (education and opportunities), except the ability to communicate their own leadership skills. Beers has put together a book she hopes will help women overcome their internal obstacles to finally rise to the top.In a glowing review, Martha Stewart said, “Read this book to learn how to be in charge.” Now that’s a good thing indeed.

Photo: Amazon.com By Peter H. Diamandis and Steven KotlerPages: 400Publisher: Free PressPublication Date: February 2012Price: $26.99Between global warming, a global financial crisis and global food shortages, you can’t blame folks for being a tad depressed AND on top of all that, if you believe the Mayan Calendar, 2012 is supposed to be the year it all ends for all of us.But in their new book, “Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think,” the authors offer a boldly contrarian and optimistic book for today’s cynical times. They make the case that we are indeed on the cusp of a new era, an era when the lives of millions are improved.Think of this book as the ultimate “Yes, we can.”Tech entrepreneur turned philanthropist, Diamandis (he’s the chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation) and award-winning science writer Kotler declare that “humanity is now entering a period of radical transformation where technology has the potential to significantly raise the basic standard of living for every man, woman and child on the planet. Within a generation, we will be able to provide goods and services that were once reserved for the wealthy few to any and all who need them. … Abundance for all is actually within our grasp.”Some good news for a change!

Photo: Amazon.com By: John CoatesPages: 368Publisher: Penguin PressPublication Date: June 2012Price: $27.95Long before he took up the science of risk taking, John Coates lived it by running a derivatives desk in New York. While there, he witnessed what he called “the hour between dog and wolf,” those moments when traders were literally transformed before his eyes — flying high and taking big risks when their trades were going great, to cowering in the corner almost afraid to move when their trades went south.Coates left the manic world of the trading desk and headed to Cambridge to become a neuroscientist, but he never forgot what he witnessed on the trading floors. He wanted to know if what he witnessed, this so-called “biology of boom and bust,” was indeed a science."The Hour Between Dog and Wolf" is the result of a series of experiments by Coates and others in a new field called the biology of risk. These scientists have proven that risk does change one’s body chemistry – especially men. Coates has been able to identify a so-called feedback loop “between testosterone and success that dramatically lowers the fear of risk in men, especially younger men.” Another interesting finding from their experiments is that the fear of risk is not reduced in women. By studying the biology of risk, Coates says, we’ll all be better able to understand why we take chances even when we know we shouldn’t — be it on the trading floors, on the sports fields, in politics. and even on the battlefield.

Photo: Amazon.com Meg Cadoux HirshbergPages: 260Publisher: An Inc. OriginalPublication Date: March 2012Price: $23.95Go into any book stores and you’ll see shelves full of books offering advice on how to start and run a business, but surprisingly very little has been written about the impact running a business has on the family.In “For Better or for Work: A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs and their Families,”Meg Cadoux Hirshberg, a columnist and the wife of the founder of Stonyfield Yogurt, offers her account of what life in a startup really looks like — from the inside.Addressing a range of topics that affect the lives of most entrepreneurs and their families, Hirshberg offers tips “for navigating emotional and logistical terrain of business-building while simultaneously enjoying a fulfilling family life.”

Photo: Amazon.com By: Patrick LencioniPages: 256Publisher: Jossey-BassPublication Date: March 2012Price: $27.95What is it that truly separates a good company from a great one? Strategy? Leadership? Employees? Innovation?In “The Advantage” best-selling author and management consultant Patrick Lencioni says the seminal difference between successful companies and all the rest comes down to the health of the organization. In other words, how “healthy” are they?Lencioni has a huge fan base thanks to his many best-sellers, including, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” In “The Advantage,” his first nonfiction book, he takes up the health care of the corporate world, saying that healthy organizations outperform their counterparts.Taking the readers step-by-step through four key “disciplines,” Lencioni offers leaders how to build a cohesive team at the top, align leaders around a few critical questions, get employees to buy into the company’s answers to those questions and finally how to make and reinforce your plan so that the company is so healthy it is thriving.

Photo: Amazon.com By John A. Quelch and Katherine E. JoczPages: 256Publisher: PortfolioPublication Date: February 2012Price: $25.95What do you think about waking up and brushing your teeth with tea-flavored toothpaste? Not your cup of tea? Well Colgate is hoping that for billions of Chinese, they’ll love the idea. Colgate is one of the many global companies profiled in the book, “All Business is Local.”It’s a given that technology makes it easy for companies like Colgate, Google and McDonald’s to have a worldwide presence. But the authors say consumers don’t make purchases based on a global strategy; they just want the best products and the best experience in the area they know best — their own neighborhoods.Building on the theme that “all politics is local,” marketing experts John A. Quelch and Katherine E. Jocz explore how dozens of international companies are using a local-focused strategy and turning global brands into leading local brands.

Photo: Amazon.com By: J. Keith MurnighanPages: 240Publisher: Portfolio/PenguinPublication Date: June 2012Price: $26.95In an age where we’re all told to do more and more, this author says “fuggedaboutit.” Murnighan wants you to “Do Nothing.”The author, an award-winning professor at the Kellogg School of Management and consultant for Ernst & Young, says too many managers are too deeply involved, too ingrained in the day-to-day management and are unable to do what they’re supposed to do — to lead.In “Do Nothing,” he teaches leaders the art of doing more by doing less — by finding those team members who are good at their job and getting out of their way, letting them do what they were hired to do. In doing so, Murnighan says those micromanagers can build a better team, create a better environment that fosters independence and in the end, become the successful manager they themselves long to be.

Photo: Amazon.com By Laura VanderkamPages: 272Publisher: Penguin/PortfolioPublication Date: March 2012Price: $25.95What if all those people who told you, “Money can’t buy you happiness” were wrong?In “All the Money in the World,” Vanderkam says money can actually buy you happiness — if you understand what really matters.In asking, “If you had all the money in the world (not literally) but all the money you wanted — what would really change in your life — would you live differently?” Vanderkam pushes her readers to think about what matters in life and how to apply that money to get the things that truly matter to you and your quest for the good life.

© 2012 CNBC.com