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Bookshelf Many young women entering the corporate workplace—particularly those of color or those who are the first in their families to take on the business world—would love to have a mentor like Dartmouth profes- sor Ella L.J. Edmondson Bell. In Career GPS, co-authored by journal- ist Linda Villarosa, Bell steps graciously into that mentoring role, provid- ing unvarnished advice to a new generation of women executives who face unexpected hazards. "Despite their polish and drive, their skills, education, and confidence, there is still plenty to trip up these women in this complicated, fast- changing corporate landscape," the authors write. These women can't just know the company and the industry; they must candidly assess and capitalize on their own abilities, cultivate social networks, and pay sharp attention to their own profes- sional and personal goals. And some of them must develop these skills without any family history or sup- port to draw on. "Your mother, an Irish immigrant, may have cleaned houses like the ones your colleagues grew up in," note Bell and Villarosa. Their wise and compassionate words will help many young female execu- tives make it more steadily up the ladder. (Amistad, $25.99) If life is the ultimate competition, intel- ligently managing a career is the smartest strategy anyone can adopt. In Your Career Game, Nathan Ben- nett and Stephen A. Miles propose that the career game is "a fascinat- ing, complex, nuanced, real-life, multiplayer game played in real time" that follows the principles of 64 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2010 game theory. "A well-crafted strat- egy is an adaptable plan that takes into account your own objectives, resourc- es, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as those of your competition. Those using this strategy also must consid- er the condition of the playing field, the rules, and the time structure of the game," write Bennett, a profes- sor at Georgia Tech, and Miles, an executive with the search firm Heidrick & Struggles. For instance, they explore the "information asym- metries" that exist when a candidate applies for a job and how both can- didate and company can try to over- come a lack of information. They discuss the fact that different players may be working for different payoffs and how those payoffs affect their choices and strategies. The analogies are intriguing, the writing is lively, and the whole book is a useful way of looking at the game called work. (Stanford Business Books, $24.95) In The Why of Work, Dave and Wendy Ulrich ask how great leaders cre- ate a sense of meaning and purpose that "not only engages employees but also delivers value to custom- ers, investors, and communities." According to Dave, a University of Michigan professor, and Wendy, a psychologist, today's workplace is rife with challenges: a workforce that's experiencing declining mental health, accelerating isolation, low levels of commitment, and high levels of hostility; shareholders who are insisting that compa- nies assume greater social responsibility; and a work environment that is increas- ingly complex. Leaders can address these challenges by creating an organiza- tion that has inherent value as well as market value—what the authors call abundance. In an abundant organiza- tion, they write, "individuals coor- dinate their aspirations and action to create meaning for themselves, value for stakeholders, and hope for "Three forces are reshaping the world of the 21st century: youth, ICT, and entrepreneurship," says Rob Salkowitz in Young World Rising. While he believes these intertwined forces will have some impact in the Western world, he expects them to com- pletely remake business in less developed nations with populations that skew toward youth, including India, Vietnam, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Mexi- co, and Colombia. Tech-savvy twenty-somethings with mobile devices in hand will figure out ways to serve base-of-the-pyramid markets, he says—and then scale their operations globally to rewrite the rules of business. "Like all young people, the members of the Net Generation want to change the world," writes Salkowitz, a consultant and entrepreneur. "Unlike most previous cohorts, they actually have the means at their disposal: overwhelming numbers; unprecedented connectivity and access; a sense of global commu- nity that transcends old boundaries; and a recognition that mar- ket forces can be the ally rather than the enemy of progressive change." He admits that his demographically driven scenario is only one of many possible futures, but he makes it seem likely, heady, and full of hope. (Wiley, $29.95)