Listen Up or Lose Out: How to Avoid Miscommunication, Improve Relationships, and Get More Done Faster

Robert Bolton and Dorothy Grover Bolton

AMACOM, 272 pp., $19.95

You've spent hours planning for your upcoming budget meeting, gathering statistics you'll use and planning exactly what you'll say. You've considered everything—except whether you'll understand what the other leaders in the meeting will communicate. That involves a talent that often gets lost among other interpersonal skills: listening. If you find yourself spending more time thinking about what you'll say to others than how you'll receive what they communicate, then consider Listen Up or Lose Out. Backed by extensive research, it explains why you should improve your listening, specific techniques for doing so, and how you can apply those techniques in both your professional and personal life.

The High Potential's Advantage: Get Noticed, Impress Your Bosses, and Become a Top Leader

Jay A. Conger and Allan H. Church

Harvard Business Review Press, 272 pp., $30

Do you aspire to rise in the corporate ranks, becoming a chief talent development officer or chief HR officer? Do you know how you'll get there? If you answered "yes" to the first question and "no" to the second, then you might enjoy reading The High Potential's Advantage. It defines five skills that differentiate high-potential employees from other workers: situation sensing, developing your team's talent, career piloting, complexity translating, and catalytic learning. You'll get an in-depth examination of each skill, learning how to discover what your boss looks for. Readers also will learn how to navigate their organizations' process for identifying, evaluating, and promoting high-potential leaders.