Even if you don't have life-or-death negotiations regularly, the thoughtful strategies in this book will show you how to become an excellent empathetic communicator who gets more done with others.

Terra King and I discuss using this book's very practical skills, including excellent listening and calibrated questions, to bridge divides and find agreements that work for everyone involved.

Loretta J. Ross' excellent book Calling In gives both a theoretical framework for when to call someone in (vs a call out) and detailed steps and considerations for how to do it well.

Along the way, she shares wisdom from her decades spent building and sustaining movements.

Moving people to do something is a tricky proposition. If you try too hard, you come off as the worst incarnation of a sleezy salesperson, and that doesn't work.

To learn specifically what to do instead, check out this podcast and the book To Sell is Human by Daniel H. Pink.

When Radical Candor exploded onto the business world in 2017, the story was that this book justified and celebrated the effectiveness of being an a-hole to your people. "Candor" was the code for "being mean," and it was all ok because it worked.

Reading Radical Candor by Kim Scott, you get a much more nuanced (and useful) take on how to be an effective leader by challenging directly AND caring personally.

This episode of the Books Applied Podcast is a fast-paced conversation with Brandi Oldham that hits on what Kim Scott actually said about Radical Candor and how to do it well. We get into the four traps to avoid when delivering radical candor and how to be an excellent communicator and leader.

Caring for other people who are experiencing trauma can cause a trauma exposure response in us. In Trauma Stewardship, Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk dive into the warning signs for trauma exposure and how to respond to those signs in a way that sustains and fuels us.

This is a great read for anyone who works or spends time with people experiencing trauma.

I hope this podcast motivates you to read the book so that you can be more self-compassionate and find a sustainable path while caring for others.

Jo Linden and I discuss the mentor mindset, what it is, and how to do it well, based on the book 10 to 25 by David Yeager.

It turns out that the problem with young people today is that older people didn't do their homework and learn the best way to support them based on young people's developmental priorities. David Yeager does the homework for us in his research that goes into this directly applicable book.

If you know or work with any young people (or people who work with young people), you'll find amazing insights in 10 to 25.

Learn more about Jo and her work with youth-serving adults at: https://www.lindenconnects.com/schools.

Effy and I talk about Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara and its lessons for how to be deeply of service to others. Also, Effy defends working in retail, and Iggy enjoys discovering the more nuanced and effective alternative to "assume positive intent."

There are many reasons why I was late to pick-up Untamed by Glennon Doyle (I mention them specifically in the episode). I'm glad I did (eventually) so I could have this animated conversation with the always sharp Daava Mills.

Maybe you can't relate to this book, and that's ok. It still might surprise you.