People Skills Books
This is a list of my favorite books on interpersonal and people skills:
- Antipatterns: Identification, Refactoring, and Management (Auerbach Series on Applied Software Engineering) – how to recognize 48 common problems in your work environment, how to improve interaction with clients, customers, peers, supervisors, and subordinates.
- Coping with Difficult Bosses – how to understand difficult bosses, how to deal with difficult bosses, how to cope with Ogres, Fire-Eaters, and Bullies, how to cope with Stallers, Wafflers, and Super-Delegators, how to cope with Power Clutchers, Paranoids, and Perfectionists, how to cope with Know-It-Alls and other Experts, how to cope with Scalawags, Schemers, and Skunks.
- Crucial Confrontations: Tools for talking about broken promises, violated expectations, and bad behavior – how to deal with conflict more effectively.
- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High- how to handle difficult conversations, how to create dialogue, how to improve emotional safety, how to create mutual respect.
- Dealing with People You Can’t Stand: How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst- how to identify the 10 most unwanted behaviors and how to deal with each of them, how to be persuasive and use your influence, how to turn conflict into cooperation, learn how difficult people think, what they fear, and why they act the way they do.
- Get Them On Your Side- how to assess allies and resistors, how to build coalitions, how to negotiate support, how to understand the agendas of others.
- Masters of Networking: Building Relationships for Your Pocketbook and Soul- how to build a successful networking lifestyle through effective communication and long-term partnerships, learn how the world’s best networkers leverage and maintain their networks.
- Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex – how to communicate more effectively, how to improve empathic listening,
- Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships – learn the accuracy of first impressions, learn the basis of charisma and emotional power, how to detect lies, learn about "mindsight," learn the sweet spot for achievement.