The Icarus Deception 2013 - Seth Godin. Available as Kindle book.

"In Seth Godin’s most inspiring book, he challenges readers to find the courage to treat their work as a form of art."
  
"Everyone knows that Icarus’s father made him wings and told him not to fly too close to the sun; he ignored the warning and plunged to his doom. The lesson: Play it safe. Listen to the experts. It was the perfect propaganda for the industrial economy. What boss wouldn’t want employees to believe that obedience and conformity are the keys to success?" 
  
"But we tend to forget that Icarus was also warned not to fly too low, because seawater would ruin the lift in his wings. Flying too low is even more dangerous than flying too high, because it feels deceptively safe." 
  
"The safety zone has moved. Conformity no longer leads to comfort. But the good news is that creativity is scarce and more valuable than ever. So is choosing to do something unpredictable and brave: Make art. Being an artist isn’t a genetic disposition or a specific talent. It’s an attitude we can all adopt. It’s a hunger to seize new ground, make connections, and work without a map. If you do those things you’re an artist, no matter what it says on your business card." 
  
"Godin shows us how it’s possible and convinces us why it’s essential."

The Business of Belief 2013 - Tom Asacker. Available as Kindle book.

"This is a short book. But I hope it takes you, like me, a long time to read it. The Business of Belief earns the word 'profound'—every sentence should be savored." —Tom Peters

"Is this about marketing, life, spirituality, history, change or sales? Yes. A little book with a big idea." —Seth Godin, author of The Icarus Deception

In this thought-provoking and entertaining book, Tom Asacker, author of Sandbox Wisdom and A Clear Eye for Branding, pulls back the curtain on the workings of the mind and reveals the hidden logic to motivating behavior, both in ourselves and in others.

Whether you are launching a new brand or marketing campaign, selling products and services, coaching individuals or leading a team, this book will shatter your assumptions about leadership and the art of influence, and give you the invaluable insights required to understand and move others.

The Business of Belief is Tom Asacker’s most compelling—and important—book yet. It will fundamentally change the way you think about your work and your life. Use it as your companion and as a guide in this fast-paced world overwhelmed by complexity and choice.

The Adaptive School: a Sourcebook for Developing Collaborative Groups 2013 - Robert Garmston and Bruce Wellman. Available as Kindle book.

"Anyone who is building a team, trying to sustain a collaborative group, facilitating a meeting, or participating on a committee will appreciate this set of 'directions,' the practical how-to's of collaborative leadership. . . . It is not a book to peruse and place on the shelf; it is a desktop reference to support change and positive visions of collaborative cultures." --Michael Dolcemascolo, assistant director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison County Board of Cooperative Educational Services, NY, and training associate for the Center for Cognitive Coaching, and the Center for Adaptive Schools

Robert J. Garmston is professor emeritus, School of Education, California State University, Sacramento and director of Facilitation Associates.
Bruce M. Wellman is co-director of Miravia LLC.

The IQ Myth: How to Grow Your Own Intelligence. 2012 - MJ Bromley. Available as Kindle book.

Alfred Binet invented the IQ test - not as a measure of innate intellect or ability, nor as a number by which someone's capabilities could be determined - but as a way of identifying children who were not profiting from the Paris public school system. 

Binet, far from believing IQ was a measure of natural-born talent, said that anyone could achieve anything with "practice, training, and above all, method". 

Taking these three words - uttered a century ago - as its premise, "The IQ Myth" explores the importance of hard work and practice - rather than innate ability or intellect - in improving one's intelligence.

Primarily written for school teachers - though a fascinating book for anyone interested in the science of how we learn - "The IQ Myth" examines the true nature of intelligence and argues that nurture is more important than nature when it comes to realising one's potential.

"The IQ Myth" argues that teachers who 'dumb down' and expect students to make little or no progress get just that in return: 'dumb' students who make little or no progress. However, teachers who set challenging, aspirational targets and push their students to be the best they can be, teachers who create an atmosphere in which students truly believe they can make progress and exceed expectations, get results. 

Building on the work of a range of psychologists and social commenters including Alfred Binet, Carol Dweck, Daniel Pink, Malcolm Gladwell, Matthew Syed and Daniel Goleman, this book looks at a range of so-called geniuses (from Thomas Edison to Mozart) and sportspeople (from Michael Jordan to this year's Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins) and questions the real secret of success and the damaging effect of praise.

Intellectually challenging but written in a friendly, fluent style, this book is a fascinating quick-read for anyone interested in the nature of talent and an essential read for school teachers who want to motivate their students to get better results.

How Children Succeed. 2012 - Paul Tough

“Drop the flashcards—grit, character, and curiosity matter even more than cognitive skills. A persuasive wake-up call.”—People

Why do some children succeed while others fail? The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence: success comes to those who score highest on tests, from preschool admissions to SATs. But in How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter more have to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, optimism, and self-control.

How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators, who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories—and the stories of the children they are trying to help—Tough reveals how this new knowledge can transform young people’s lives. He uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do—and do not—prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides us with new insights into how to improve the lives of children growing up in poverty. This provocative and profoundly hopeful book will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.

“Illuminates the extremes of American childhood: for rich kids, a safety net drawn so tight it’s a harness; for poor kids, almost nothing to break their fall.”—New York Times

“I learned so much reading this book and I came away full of hope about how we can make life better for all kinds of kids.”—Slate