Talent Wins: The New Playbook for Putting People First

Ram Charan, Dominic Barton, and Dennis Carey

Harvard Business Review Press, 256 pp., $30

Talent Wins, written for a CEO audience, shows why talent management should have a seat at the strategic table and what talent leaders should do with that seat. The book begins by explaining the importance of bringing HR and finance executives together, assembling and maintaining a roster of top talent, and digitizing HR functions. It then covers how to energize a board of directors behind talent strategy, the process of designing and redesigning how organizations work, methods for making HR a source of competitive advantage, and steps for unleashing individual talent. Finally, the book ends with a description of how implementing the book's suggestions should change how a CEO leads.

The Power of Collaboration: Powerful Insights from Silicon Valley to Successfully Grow Groups, Strengthen Alliances, and Boost Team Potential

Thea Singer Spitzer

Career Press, 224 pp., $15.99

Business leaders and mainstream society know Silicon Valley, California, as one of the world's greatest centers of innovation and profit. Further, they recognize that a contributing factor to those results is each company's commitment to exceptional collaboration among employees. That's why Singer Spitzer presents a framework for implementing a valley-style approach to working together in any company, regardless of geography. Her book pulls together findings from interviews with 28 leaders from the region, showing the tools, mindsets, and attitudes individuals and companies need to achieve outstanding collaborative results.