At Third Factor, we’ve made it our job to learn as much as we can from top performers in sport, government, academia, industry, business and share their best practices with people like you. It should come as no surprise that this group of lifelong learners loves to read, and our deep curiosity leads us in some unexpected directions.
Because reading is no fun if you can’t share it with others, we’ve made it an annual tradition to share our top picks in a Summer Reading List. Whether you want to learn something new or lose yourself in a story, these are the books our team recommends for Summer 2023.
Titan is an incredible book that chronicles a remarkable life. Neither celebrating nor condemning Rockefeller, author Ron Chernow delves deeply into the inherent contradictions of a deeply religious man who amassed the greatest fortune in history, a robber baron who ruthlessly accumulated capital and also revolutionized science, medicine and education through his unprecedented philanthropy. It is a biography that provides a wealth of lessons on leadership (my copy is full of dog-eared pages on communication, delegation, and management), a reflection on ethics, a cautionary tale on the inter-generational challenges of wealth, a rollicking account of the dawn of industry in the late 19th and early 20th century, and an intimate survey of a 98-year life that is unlikely to ever be duplicated. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Let me start by telling you what this is not. It is not a traditional time management book. We are mortals and assuming you live to 80 years of age you have roughly 4000 weeks. The human lifespan is observably, terrifyingly, insultingly, short.
When you get efficient at managing your tasks, you actually end up with more of them and many of them will not be what you really want to do. In other words when you get efficient at using your time, time ends up mastering you, and you end up with more demands that will offset any benefits.
In the appendix, at the end of the book, Brukeman includes 10 tools for embracing your finitude. That list alone is worth the price of the book.
This is an easy book to read, light in tone, and very practical on a philosophical level. I highly recommend it!
Peggy Baumgartner, Chief Learning Officer
Nothing but the Truth by Marie Henein
Nothing but the Truth is the memoir of Canadian lawyer Marie Henein and is an inspiring example of an authentic leader amidst numerous obstacles. Breaking away from the confines of a male-dominated system, Henein fearlessly embraces her true self and values. Through her actions and choices, she demonstrates the power of staying true to oneself rather than conforming to societal norms. “Nothing but the Truth” is a surprisingly brilliant read that will leave you motivated and empowered.
Our modern approach to work looks radically different than the hunting and gathering work that our brains evolved to do – it’s no wonder burnout, disengagement, and unhealthy work cultures are so prevalent across our organizations today. In Tomorrowmind, Gabriella Rosen Kellerman and Martin Seligman explore our changing workplaces through the lens of behavioural science and offer practical solutions for fostering resilience, creating meaning, navigating change, and tapping into creativity to build the mindsets needed for the workplaces of today and the future.
Kevin Kelly is the former editor of “The Whole Earth Catalog”, the Chief Maverick at Wired Magazine and dubbed “the real life world’s most interesting man.” His book, Excellent Advice for Living, is essentially a collection of quotes or mottos to help guide practical action and decision making in everyday life. For example: “That thing that made you weird as a kid could make you great as an adult – if you don’t lose it.” While you can read it in an hour, its insights are worth practicing for a lifetime. I wish I had picked it up earlier.
With a long history of studying and teaching resilience I’m drawn to life stories that demonstrate conscious reflection and balanced perspective. Run Towards the Danger is a collection of 6 essays that bring an insightful voice to adversity and the inner dialogue that occurs while navigating challenging times. Award winning actor, screenwriter and director Sara Polley reveals intimate details about work, family, and health that represent the complexity and humanity that surrounded her. As Polley makes sense of her own life experiences one cannot help but think more deeply of one’s own. There is tremendous vulnerability and pain, curiosity and humour on these pages and much inspiration to live fully with courage and understand the past with compassion.
This is a beautifully written story of family with five boys, the youngest of whom begins to voice thoughts and feelings about being a girl at a very young age. What unfolds is an insightful and enlightening exploration of how the family, the parents and the brothers, manages the challenges presented for the child and themselves. There are so many layers morally, practically and emotionally that inspired and challenged me as I reflected on how I would respond as a parent. While this sounds like a dark and psychologically dense topic the book is written with a beautiful lightness that captures the chaos and joy endemic in a family with two good parents and 4 boisterous, kind young men and one young woman in the making. Reading this book was an enjoyable and mind broadening exercise complete with hope. It evoked deep empathy and great respect in me for any family or individual who must make this journey.
Chris Farris Zabaneh, Associate Trainer
The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin
This inspiring and thought-provoking book was my intro to performance psychology. In this captivating memoir, former child chess prodigy and martial arts champion Josh Waitzkin shares his insights on achieving excellence in any field. This taught me all about the concept of the learning process as an art form, emphasizing the importance of mindset, adaptability, and resilience. It’s a great way to enjoy a read while in the pursuit of mastery in any field (from leading in an organization to simply tending to your summer garden).
Alexis Dawson, Program Logistics & Materials Lead
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
Essentialism is about eliminating the non-essentials from your life to make more room for doing less, but better. I chose this book because it inspired me to make small changes to how I prioritize my life at home and work that have really made a difference. Some tips I took to heart were if something isn’t a clear yes, it’s likely a no – and how to say no gracefully, yourself. It also emphasizes the importance of sleep which is key to getting everything else right.
I love a good memoir and this book did not disappoint. A Life in Parts is a story about the joy, necessity and the transformative power of simple hard work. It’s a wonderful and inspiring story of how we can tap into some skill or natural talent when we have the single-mindedness and fortitude to commit. If you’ve watched and enjoyed Bryan Cranston’s work, you will enjoy this book.
This summer I’ll be reading Nudge: The Final Edition by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, whose work has helped governments and businesses around the world achieve better outcomes not through force or persuasion, but using environmental design. The Final Edition promises to incorporate new stories and insights learned from the frenzy of activity the first edition initiated when it was published in 2008.
Many websites use affiliate links to make money when you buy something from Amazon – we don’t. Feel free to follow the links provided or pick up the book you want from your favourite local bookseller. Emerson is a leading global technology, software and engineering company that provides heating, air conditioning and refrigeration solutions for commercial and residential markets. In Canada, much of its success relies on its relationships with some 2,500 contractors who in turn rely on Emerson solutions to operate their businesses.
Rewarding its contractor-customers with memorable experiences has long been an important part of Emerson’s strategy and Emerson has worked with Third Factor for several years to ensure that these events go beyond simply being memorable to also help customers improve their leadership skills.
In service of this, Third Factor designed and delivered a full-day experience to equip Emerson’s customers with meta-skills for adapting to rapid change, a first-hand understanding of their performance under pressure, and practical strategies for using the pressure in their lives as fuel for growth – featuring an unforgettable para ice hockey experience on a frozen glacial lake.
Click here to read the case study. As our business continues to grow, we are very excited to welcome Kim Fulton to the team to lead our coaching and leadership practice.
Third Factor has been teaching coaching skills to managers for 30 years, since our Founders Peter Jensen and Sandra Stark pioneered the application of the principals they were observing in their work with Olympic coaches to the corporate world. Rooted in our best-in-class 3×4 Coaching model, our suite of coaching programs have helped tens of thousands of leaders become better coaches. I can’t think of anyone more perfectly suited to continue this tradition of excellence than Kim.
Kim joins us from the consulting firm, Kearney, where she created and led the firm’s employee experience centre of expertise. As part of this role, she established Kearney’s thought leadership in the employee experience space and developed new product offerings to help organizations reimagine work from an employee-centric perspective.
Kim also brings expertise in, and passion for, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. She’ll be drawing on her experience working with Catalyst, a leading voice in DEI, and as the leader of Kearney’s Women’s Network, to ensure our coaching and leadership programs continue to lead the way when it comes to inclusivity.
Kim not only earned her MBA from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, but graduated at the top of her class. She now serves on the Advisory Board for the Full-Time MBA.
Welcome to the Third Factor team, Kim. We can’t wait to see how our programs will benefit from your passion and expertise.
The Meta-Skilled Organization: Building the Capability to Evolve
Skills allow us to execute. Meta-skills like empathy, resilience, creativity, and self-awareness allow us to evolve.
As organizations and industries face increasingly rapid change and disruption, in which job descriptions are fluid and agility is essential, these meta-skills are increasingly at the heart of sustained success.
The ability to adapt is what makes us future-proof, and what separates individuals and teams that
endure from those who are replaced.
In this webinar, Third Factor CEO and author of The Power of Pressure,
Dane Jensen, will illustrate how the capability to evolve can be broken down into six core meta-skills and outline practical skills and strategies you can use to cultivate your own ability to adapt.
You’ll gain new insights into what’s really required for future-proofing yourself and your organization, and discover six core meta-skills across three categories that foster personal evolution.
You should attend if:
- You want to build your team or organization’s resilience to rapid change
- You’re responsible for change management at a project or organizational level
- You’re charged with building competencies of adaptability, flexibility, innovation, or problem solving
- You want to build your own capability to adapt to an uncertain future
The Meta-Skilled Organization
Sorry we missed you
This event has passed, but it won’t be the last. Be the first to know about future webinars from Third Factor by entering your information below.
About the presenter:
Dane Jensen is the CEO of Third Factor, the author of
The Power of Pressure: Why Pressure Isn’t The Problem, It’s The Solution, an acclaimed speaker, an instructor at Queen’s University and the University of North Carolina, and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.
How do you make a leadership development program stick at a time when there are so many competing priorities?
This is the problem Renee Landry, Bayer’s U.S. Learning Lead, and Rachel Lamb, Bayer’s Senior Leadership Expert, set out to solve. The solution was Rise & Thrive, an innovative microlearning experience developed in partnership with SweetRush and Third Factor.
Approximately half of Bayer’s US leaders voluntarily participated in the program, which has received outstanding quantitative and qualitative feedback from participants as well as attention from the broader learning industry. The program has also been recognized with four Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards.
Click here to read the case study.
We’re excited to announce that we have received accreditation from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for our flagship coaching program, 3×4 Coaching.
Based in our thirty years of working with great coaches, 3×4 Coaching teaches the 3 plays and 4 skills that exceptional coaches use to deliver results and build commitment. We’ve delivered 3×4 Coaching to thousands of leaders across hundreds of organizations ranging from tech startups to one of the world’s largest banks.
As the leading global organization for coaches and coaching, the ICF sets the gold standard for coaching education. This accreditation demonstrates that 3×4 Coaching meets the highest standards in coaching professional development, meeting the ICF’s strict educational and ethical requirements.
ICF-credentialed coaches who complete 3×4 Coaching in its 2-day classroom or virtual learning journey formats will earn a total of 12 CCE credits that may be used when renewing their credential. Coaches who complete the 1-day classroom workshop will earn 7 CCE credits. Click here to find details on our upcoming open enrollment programs.
Learn more about the ICF Continuing Coach Education (CCE) accreditation and standards at their website. We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded four Brandon Hall Group Excellence Awards alongside our partners, Bayer and SweetRush.
The awards are a result of our participation in Bayer’s innovative Rise and Thrive program, a microlearning experience based on the idea that if you have two minutes, you have enough time to become a stronger, more empathetic, more inclusive leader. The experience comprises bite-sized content including short videos, curated articles, and 2-minute “dares.”
Rise and Thrive was pioneered by Bayer’s U.S. Learning Lead, Renee Landry, and Senior Leadership Expert, Rachel Lamb. The interactive experience was developed by e-learning development company SweetRush and supported with video and learning content by Third Factor.
Approximately half of Bayer’s 4,000 US leaders voluntarily participated in the program, which has received outstanding quantitative and qualitative feedback from participants as well as attention from the broader learning industry.
The awards include:
- Gold: Best Advance in Custom Content
- Gold: Best Unique or Innovative Learning and Development Program
- Gold: Best Use of Video for Learning
- Silver: Best Unique or Innovative Leadership Program
Brandon Hall Group is a research and analyst firm with a mission to empower excellence in organizations around the world. The Excellence Awards recognize the best organizations that have successfully deployed programs, strategies, modalities, processes, systems, and tools that have achieved measurable results. All of this year’s winners can be found on the Brandon Hall Group website. If you’ve read Dane Jensen’s book, The Power of Pressure, you may have enjoyed the title of Chapter 9: Sleep and Other Inconvenient Necessities.
Like it or not, downtime is essential for performance under pressure over the long haul. High performers prioritize sleep, nutrition, and breaks to stay fresh and energized. That’s why we’re always excited to share our summer reading list: there’s no better break than some time off over the summer with a good book.
Whether you want to learn something new or veg out with an easy read, you’ll find your perfect summer book on this list. Here’s what our team recommends for 2022.
Peggy Baumgartner, Chief Learning Officer
The Power of Regret by Daniel Pink
When people ask me what about my regrets in life, I always say I have none. Yet Daniel Pink's research points to regret bringing clarity, meaning and focus to all that is important to a person. My flip answer of ‘no regrets’ reflects my optimistic personality, and this summer I will get a little more curious about the value of digging a little deeper to see what I can learn. I would love to hear from others who explore this ‘new to me’ emotion.
Easily my most gifted book of the past year, Why We Sleep is a tour de force exploration of the nature, benefits, and challenges of sleep. The research Walker cites is profound and varied, and the way he presents it is engaging, accessible and actionable. Whether you are looking for the motivation to commit to more sleep or strategies to sleep longer or better, you’ll find it in here. Plus, as a bonus, it’s the only book I’ve read where the author actually encourages you to fall asleep while reading.
While it appears to be a book about finance, this book uses stories about people and money as a way of illustrating the real world dynamics of human behaviour. The content is entertaining, the writing clear and the insights well worth pondering.
While this book has Alzheimer’s prevention at its heart, it’s a powerful read for anyone who wants to “do good” for their brain to improve memory, prevent cognitive decline, and eliminate brain fog. Packed with tons of practical information backed by research, this is an easy-to-read perspective on how we help our most vulnerable organ (the brain) by digging deep into the fat, protein, carbs, sugars, vitamins, and minerals it needs to function optimally.
I borrowed this book from a friend around a decade ago and never gave it back, with good reason. Dr. Posen breaks down stress using simple stories, relevant information, and a few hard truths. The book is divided into 52 (mercifully short) chapters, each ending with a highly actionable "prescription" to help you convert the concepts into action and make small changes that add up to a much healthier relationship with life's demands.
Where the Crawdads Sing (Recommended by Reese’s Book Club and my Hockey Moms Book Club) is about Kya Clark, an isolated, abandoned “Marsh Girl” who is educated in the swamps of North Carolina living deep with nature. A coming-of-age novel that covers prejudice, friendship, solitude, desertion, and education, the narrative is as rich as the setting Owens describes. Make sure to read it before the motion picture comes out this summer.
My pick provides a fascinating look at how you can apply design thinking to your own life to create options, possibilities, and a mindset that allows you to craft a life well-lived. Haven’t been to design school? Don’t see yourself as a creative person? No problem. Get this book, grab a notepad, and be ready to think outside the box, because Bill and Dave will take you step by step through a series of exercises that will get you thinking like a designer to solve problems and mental blocks, brainstorm the “many lives” you could live productively and happily, then choose the one that speaks to you most. Happy summer reading!
This is a fun history book about film, music, sports, politics, culture, global events, and the momentum of the internet. If you are interested in reliving the nineties in an unconventional manner, this is a terrific read. Chuck Klosterman writes with engaging insight and humor that will evoke both memories and questions and explains things I wasn't able to explain for myself.
For those who love historical novels with a twist, this is a fabulous read. It is the story of a young, bright woman with a restless spirit who rebels against the mores of her time. Sue Monk is a daring woman herself as she introduces Jesus who meets up with this young woman when they are both older teenagers and marries her. It is a marriage of convenience that serves both well. The writing is grounded in meticulous research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus’ life that focuses on his humanity. And it is an inspiring and unforgettable account of one woman’s bold struggle to realize her own potential in a dangerous time for women to speak up. More than that, it is just great story telling and good writing. I love learning about historical periods in this way. Enjoy.
Alexis Ullerick, Program Logistics Lead
The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey
My pick synthesizes the findings of the author’s year long project to become as productive as possible. Grounded in the concept that productivity comes from managing your time, attention, and energy, Bailey shares his year long journey of productivity experiments like getting up at 5:30 every morning, cutting out caffeine, becoming more intentional and deliberate in his work, and so many more. Each chapter includes a challenge to implement his insights into your own life. Chris Bailey’s writing is fun and witty! When I finished the book I felt like I’d gained a year’s worth of knowledge in just a few days, which already had me feeling pretty productive!
Many websites use affiliate links to make money when you buy something from Amazon – we don’t. Feel free to follow the links provided or pick up the book you want from your favourite local bookseller.
