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Future Forward by Glenn Rifkin Leadership Lessons from Patrick McGovern

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What's it about? Future Forward (2019) chronicles Patrick McGovern’s five-decade journey building International Data Group from a one-person research shop into a $3 billion global technology media empire. It reveals ten leadership lessons McGovern used to create publications in nearly 100 countries while maintaining extraordinary employee loyalty and editorial integrity. On a December afternoon in 1983, Patrick McGovern walked through Computerworld’s newsroom, visiting each workspace to deliver bonuses and speak with every staff member individually.This personal touch defined the founder of International Data Group, who built a technology media empire from nothing into a $3 billion global enterprise.McGovern started IDG in 1964 in a small Massachusetts house with one research report.By the time of his death in 2014, IDG had publications in nearly 100 countries: brands like Computerworld and PCWorld as well as the For Dummies book series. The company helped launch technology jour...
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The American Revolution by Geoffrey C. Ward An Intimate History

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What's it about? The American Revolution (2025) expands on the sweeping saga of the American Revolutionary War for independence from the six-part PBS series of the same name. It captures, with considerable detail and rich empathy for the individuals on all sides, the broad international context for the conflict which kick-started more than two centuries of anti-colonial revolutions around the world. The story of the American Revolution is taught in history classes and recounted by tour guides in cities like Boston and Philadelphia. But it often comes down to a handful of characters and stories about a Tea Party, a midnight ride, Betsy Ross sewing the nation’s flag, or George Washington crossing the Delaware. They tell the two-dimensional tale of an upstart British colony crying for liberty against a distant king, ultimately winning its hallowed independence. But the reality is far more complicated. For instance, the tale doesn’t include that more than 20 nations were directly i...
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Startup CXO by Matt Blumberg A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Company’s Critical Components

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What's it about? Startup CXO (2021) serves as a comprehensive tactical manual for scaling the specialized leadership roles that drive a growing company’s most vital departments. With contributions from several co-authors, it details how various executive functions – from finance and marketing to product and people operations – must evolve and integrate to ensure a business survives the transition from a small team to a mature organization. Starting a company is one thing. But scaling it? That’s an entirely different challenge. In the early days of a new venture, you can get by on hustle, improvisation, and sheer force of will. But, as your startup grows, the scrappy approach that got you to product-market fit becomes the bottleneck – and it starts preventing you from reaching the next level. It’s at that point that you start needing structure and specialized expertise. And, perhaps most importantly, you need leaders who can build the systems and teams that turn a promising idea i...
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Human Edge in the AI Age by Nitin Seth Eight Timeless Mantras For Success

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What's it about? Human Edge in the AI Age (2025) explores how to thrive in an era where artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the nature of work and human value. Inspired by decades of hands-on business experience and ancient Indian wisdom, it introduces proven mantras that help you identify and strengthen distinctly human capabilities – making sure you stay essential as machines grow more capable. AI is rapidly changing how we work and live.More than that, it’s beginning to challenge the value of human contribution in many areas. What do we have to offer in an age when machines are mastering skills from complex reasoning to emotional intelligence? This lesson offers a practical framework for thriving amid the upheaval.It distills six of the eight actionable mantras covered in Human Edge in the AI Age – selected to help you cultivate timeless human strengths no algorithm can replicate, such as problem-solving and entrepreneurship.Blending decades of tech leadership wit...
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Monster Transformation by Ari Lightman Conquer Your Digital Fears

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What's it about? Monster Transformation (2025) presents a practical approach to organizational change in an era shaped by generative AI. It explains how transformation depends on developing specific human and organizational capabilities, and it shows how these competencies help teams adapt, learn, and operate effectively as technology reshapes work. You know the feeling: a new AI tool lands in your inbox with big promises, a consultant waves a glossy roadmap, and your team scrambles to “get on board” while still keeping the day-to-day running. Projects start, stall, restart, and somehow nothing ever really changes. People feel busy but not better. The pace of technology speeds up, but confidence lags behind. That tension shows up everywhere, from rushed pilots that never scale to cautious committees that slow everything to a crawl. This is the messy middle of digital transformation, where ambition crashes into culture, habits, and fear. Teams want progress, but they also need sa...
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The Medici by Paul Strathern Godfathers of the Renaissance

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What's it about? The Medici (2016), examines how one modest family became among the most powerful in Europe through banking innovation, political manipulation, and unprecedented cultural patronage. It explores their role in sponsoring the Italian Renaissance alongside their relationships with artists, scientists, and political figures who shaped Western civilization. It is a mild, sunny day in April of 1478 as two favored sons of a prominent family make their way through the crowded streets to attend High Mass at Florence Cathedral. As the brothers kneel in prayer, assassins make a sudden, coordinated strike on them with daggers. Within seconds, Giuliano de' Medici lies dying from nineteen stab wounds. Brother Lorenzo fights for his life, blood streaming from a knife wound on his neck. The attack was meant to end a dynasty that had risen from peasant farmers to unofficial rulers of Florence in just over a century. But how did a family of agricultural workers transform the...
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