Strategic Execution: Driving Breakthrough Performance in Business

Kenneth J. Carrig and Scott A. Snell

Stanford Business Books, 240 pp., $35

CEOs recognize strategic execution as the top priority they face. Based on the authors’ research with such firms as Marriott, Microsoft, and SunTrust, this book presents the most critical elements for execution. Carrig and Snell address the challenges with execution, why it matters, and why the approach remains elusive. They also introduce an integrated framework for understanding the four priorities that most affect execution excellence: alignment, agility, ability, and architecture. Applying the framework will help business leaders to diagnose their challenges and determine their path toward breakthrough performance.

Aligned: Connecting Your True Self with the Leader You’re Meant to Be

Hortense le Gentil

Page Two, 230 pp., $16.95

Alignment is the congruence of who you are and what you think, feel, and love on a fundamental level with what you do, say, and envision for your future. It’s about becoming your true self—and pushing past the limits you once thought were holding you back. In Aligned, le Gentil delivers an essential three-part guide to help readers lead with ease, joy, and impact—and to become even more successful. She uses real-life examples and case studies to show readers how to connect with who they truly are, do the work to become who they want to be, and project their aligned self from their inner world onto the outside one.