Leadership and Self Deception by the Arbinger Intitute

 This is a self-help book presented in the form of a story.  A new manager gets called into his boss's office.  His boss tells him that he is lacking an important skill he will need to be successful in the company.  That skill is being able to see others as people instead of objects.  As the new manager listens to his trainer, he begins to realize what he is learning will help him at home as well as in the office.  He leaves the training eager to mend fenses with his wife and rebelious teenager.  

This is one of the foundational books of the Arbinger Institue leadership development training.  It has a lot of good ideas, and I felt challenged, as I read it, to identify whom I was looking at as objects rather than people.  The way the ideas were presented were as engaging as any book of this type.  I think I liked it more than Crucial Conversations.  I felt like that book's approach to conflict resolution was a bit formulaic.  In the end, people really can tell if you are sincere or just going through the motions. There was a lot of hype and promotion of the Arbinger Institute in the book,  especially at the end, but it wasn't more than I expected. I read it because all the managers at the city where I work will be going to a Arbinger Institute training in November.  I am looking forward to the training. (2018, 302 p)