Leadership 2030: The Six Megatrends You Need to Understand to Lead Your Company into the Future by Georg Vielmetter and Yvonne Sell, McGraw Hill Education, 2014, 240 pages

The tumultuous changes of the past decade, including China’s economic rise and the financial meltdown, were just the beginning. The next cataclysmic wave is surging relentlessly ahead, demanding leaders who can steer their companies through complexity and change. Drawn from original research conducted with Z-Punkt and further analyzed by Hay Group, Leadership 2030 explores six megatrends that will dramatically impact organizations’ markets, cultures, systems, and processes:

• globalization 2.0: Asia dominates the global economy

• climate change: sustainability becomes imperative

• individualism: freedom of choice erodes loyalty

• digitization: boundaries blur between private and working lives

• Demographic changes: aging populations intensify the talent war

• Converging technologies: The sharpest tech shift in history is around the corner.

Research findings and case studies provide evidence of each megatrend and highlight the skills, capabilities, and attitudes leaders must cultivate, such as adaptability, collaboration, cultural sensitivity, strategic thinking, meaning creation, and more. In the rush to produce quarterly profits in chaotic conditions, the longer view is often obscured. This forward-thinking book helps businesses everywhere prepare for the seismic changes on the horizon.

Talk is (Not!) Cheap: The Art of Conversation Leadership by Jim McCann, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, 208 pages

Jim McCann has spent his career talking. For McCann, the founder and CEO of the flower delivery company, 1-800-Flowers.com, being open and ready to speak to a variety of audiences is his most powerful leadership tool. In Talk Is (Not!) Cheap, McCann illustrates how the art of conversation leadership—the process he developed to engage others and create momentum in the workplace—can be used to inspire, innovate, and win.

Using a blend of how-to tips and personal stories, McCann argues that the gift of gab may just be the most critical (and undervalued) skill set in today’s workplace.

Lessons include how to overcome hesitation when diving into conversation with strangers and knowing when to just “shut up and listen!” Whether you’re interacting with customers, pitching new business to a client, or seeking to be heard within your own company, Talk Is (Not!) Cheap could help transform the way you communicate and listen.

Grounded: How Leaders Stay Rooted in an Uncertain World by Bob Rosen, Jossey-Bass, 2013, 386 pages

In his latest book, Grounded, Bob Rosen, organizational psychologist and bestselling author, proposes a new approach to leadership that's designed for actual humans who must grapple with the forces of uncertainty, cynical employees, and personal burnout. Rosen’s new paradigm speaks to our better selves. Based on the author's Healthy Leader model, it focuses on six personal dimensions that fuel—and refuel—the world's top leaders: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, vocational, and spiritual health.

The book argues that leaders at every level can be more self-aware, develop their untapped potential, and drive significantly better results—for themselves, their teams, and their organizations. Grounded shows readers how to build a personal leadership model that works with their values, goals, and capabilities. It features fresh stories from leaders in a variety of organizations including The Lego Group, the New York Fire Department, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Medstar Health. It also gives leaders practical tools to face their toughest challenges with greater skill, confidence, and impact

Ready to be a Thought Leader? by Denise Brosseau, Jossey-Bass, 2014, 272 pages

Within their fields, thought leaders are sources of inspiration and innovation. They have the gift of harnessing their expertise and their networks to make their innovative thoughts real and replicable, sparking sustainable change, and even creating movements around their ideas.

In Ready to Be a Thought Leader? executive talent agent Denise Brosseau, founder of Thought Leadership Lab, shows readers how to develop and use that gift as she maps the path from being a successful executive, professional, or civic leader to becoming a respected thought leader. With the author's seven-step process—and starting from wherever they are in their careers—readers can set a course for maximum impact in their fields. These guidelines, along with stories, tips, and success secrets from people who have made the transition to high-profile thought leaders, allow readers to create a long-term plan and start putting it into action immediately.