Welcome to Bookends

Listen, Learn and Discuss

Bookends Book Club is a forum in which business leaders can learn more from the authors of key books in the area of leadership, talent development, teamwork, and other issues related to for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. This site is wrapped around our interviews with authors which are available to you as podcasts.

You’ve heard that old saying: so many books, so little time. How true! Often it is difficult to decide which books will offer the most value for your limited time resources. Bookends Bookclub has been created to help you address this problem. In just one hour of ‘multi tasking time’ while you drive, jog, or clean your kitchen, you can take a pretty good tour of a book written for organizational leaders and HR professionals. CEOs, CFOs, managers, supervisors, physicians or pastors, this material can help enhance the leader in you.

In addition to authors, host Susan Stamm interviewed CEOs of key businesses in PA whose companies have been recognized among the best places to work in the State. These 30 minute interviews are available from the “Podcast” dropdown menu and are labeled “Best CEOs.” If you have recommendations of other notable business leaders you’d like to hear from, please contact Susan.

For three years, we have selected books which dealt with themes important to successful organizations (profit and non-profit): Employee engagement (2009), Books that transform (2010), and Leadership (2011). This year we will focus upon the theme of personal development. Many of our podcasts have study guides to help you and your teams get the most from the interviews.

Because of their outstanding quality and selections we will be primarily considering books published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Listening to these interviews, we suspect you will want to obtain your own copies to explore in greater depth the insights they contain. To that end you may wish to access Berrett-Koehler Publishers’ website. You may wish to purchase the book, read it, and then be part of the live conversation. Otherwise, these podcast can serve to introduce the themes and authors.

Bookends interviews feature books that have important messages about leadership, people management, relationships and organizational success. Our author interviews take you on a extensive walk-through of each featured book. This way you can preview the book before you purchase it and know you will be investing your time in the books you really want to read. You can even engage the authors on LinkedIn to discuss their books further following each interview. Look for us in a LinkedIn Group called Bookends: The Discussion and be sure to check the Resource Blog for additional resources related to each book.