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Bookshelf One of the most essential leadership skills has always been the ability to shepherd an organization through upheaval. However, notes Wash- ington University professor Jackson Nickerson in Leading Change in a Web 2.1 World, new technolo- gies have rewritten the rules of change management. Because the book is primarily about manage- ment, not technology, Nickerson first explains how change disrupts the workforce and how leaders can either coerce compliance from their employees or coax them into committing to the new reality. He favors commitment, which requires leaders to communicate with their workers honestly, solicit their feedback, then respond in ways that prove they've listened to employee concerns. Web- enabled technologies such as Skype and YouTube have made it exponen- tially easier to construct such a com- munication loop, but Jackson warns that leaders still have to deliver their messages with honesty, authenticity, and compassion. He offers technical tips on how to dress and sit for the camera, but the book is really about using new processes to manage familiar problems that every leader will someday face. (Brookings Insti- tute Press, $24.95) Most books on leadership offer prescrip- tions for how to behave like a leader or hone skills necessary for the top job. Princeton profes- sor Nannerl O. Keohane takes a completely different approach in Thinking About Leadership, a gentle, reflective book that exam- ines the relevant literature, supports 68 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2011 and refutes it with anecdotal evidence, and sifts everything through Keohane's own experiences as president of Welles- ley College and Duke University. "My purpose in writing this book is to invite readers to join me in thinking through some of the dilemmas we need to sort out to understand leadership more fully," she notes. She's not telling anyone how to be a leader; she's raising questions that ought to inter- est anyone interested in the role or the topic. What is leadership? Does gender make a difference? Can lead- ership be taught? Like the best teach- er, Keohane doesn't provide answers. She merely pries open the minds of her readers so they can think about the questions that matter. (Princeton University Press, $27.95) Hank Gilman isn't a management guru; he's a lifelong journalist who's been a top editor at publications such as For- tune, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal. So his funny, forthright, and deeply personal book on managing people, You Can't Fire Everyone, is based on lessons he learned on the job, not in a classroom. Some of those lessons haven't been fun or pretty. For instance, he learned that "you're a cold-hearted troll" if you know someone is wrong for a job, but you keep him around for years, working incompetently for your com- pany when he could be flourishing elsewhere. "What would have been more humane? Firing him early on or letting him languish for years in a job he had no chance of excelling at?" Gilman doesn't just draw on his own experience. As a business reporter, he's had opportunities to talk with great CEOs, as well as bad ones, and he sprinkles plenty of those examples through the book as well. It's an entertaining and insightful read for anyone who's trying to be a better boss. (Portfolio, $25.95) Chris Zane took over ownership of a local bicycle shop when he was 16 and, despite a couple of dramatic missteps during the next 25 years, turned it into $15 million business that's poised to franchise nationally. How does a small-time, small-town bike shop compete so successfully with big box stores and online retailers? Customer service. In Reinvent- ing the Wheel, Zane clearly lays out his philosophy: "The job of every Zane's employee is not just to sell stuff; it is to build relationships with our customers by serving them in a manner they have rarely experienced before." This means never charging customers for any repair part that costs less than a dollar; it means making good on a prom- ise to take back a bike if a customer is dissatisfied with it—even if the customer has been riding it for six years. Zane is selling bikes, but his basic insights apply to any retailer: "When you give your cus- tomers more than they expect… they'll never leave you." (BenBella Books, $24.95) What do visionaries have that the rest of us don't? In Ten Steps Ahead, jour- nalist Erik Calonius answers that question by examining the way the human brain works. Referencing new research in fields such as neurosci-