Business & Economics

If attention is the new oil, Ben Smith’s Traffic is the story of the time between the first gusher and the impact of climate change. The curtain opens in Soho in the early 2000s, after the first dotcom crash but before Google, Apple, and Facebook exploded, when it seemed that New York City rather than Silicon Valley might become tech’s center of gravity. There, within a few square blocks, Nick Denton’s merry band of nihilists at his growing Gawker empire and Jonah Peretti’s sunnier crew at HuffPost and BuzzFeed were building the foundations of viral internet media. It was tech’s age of innocence: the old establishment might have been discredited by the Iraq War, but digital news would facilitate the spread of truth. After all, didn’t progressive activists online get Barack Obama elected?

Ben Smith, who would go on to earn a controversial reputation as BuzzFeed’s editor-in-chief, was there to see it, and he chronicles it all with marvelous lucidity scored with dark wit, sparing no one—and certainly not himself. Smith tells a nuanced story: yes, Denton’s ideology of radical transparency was problematic, but at least he had an ideology. Jonah Peretti survived long after Denton’s Gawker perished because his focus on clicks was relentlessly content-agnostic. But unintended consequences began to snowball.

Traffic explores one of the great ironies of our time: the internet, which was going to help the left remake the world in its image, has become the motive force of right populism. People like Steve Bannon and Andrew Breitbart and Gavin McInnes and Chris Poole, the creator of 4chan, all seemed like minor characters in the narrative in which Nick and Jonah and crew were the stars. By 2020, any reasonable observer might wonder if the opposite wasn’t the case. To understand how we got here, Traffic is essential and enthralling reading.

The final word on what traits make for highly successful managers—and a detailed explanation of how to identify potential standout performers.

Executive Intelligence is about the substance behind great leadership. Inspired by the work of Peter Drucker and Jim Collins, Justin Menkes set out to isolate the qualities that make for the ‘right’ people. Drawing on his background in psychology and bolstered by interviews with accomplished CEOs, Menkes paints the portrait of the ideal executive.

In a sense, Menkes’s work reveals an executive IQ—the cognitive skills necessary in order to excel in senior management positions. Star leaders readily differentiate primary priorities from secondary concerns; they identify flawed assumptions; they anticipate the different needs of various stakeholders and how they might conflict with one another; and they recognise the underlying agendas of individuals in complex exchanges.

Weaving together research, interviews and the results of his own proprietary testing, Menkes exposes one of the great fallacies of corporate life, that hiring and promotion are conducted on a systematic or scientific basis that allows the most accomplished to rise to their levels of optimal responsibility.

Finally, Menkes is a passionate advocate for finding and employing the most talented people, especially those who may have been held back by external assumptions.

How do Olympic medal-winning athletes turbo-charge their motivation?
How do multi-millionaire founders develop the habits of champions?
And how do Premier League football coaches lead their teams to victory?

High Performance reveals the methods the world’s most remarkable athletes, coaches and entrepreneurs use to excel.

From taking responsibility for your situation to finding your ‘trademark behaviours’, thinking flexibly to crafting a high performance culture, Jake Humphrey and Professor Damian Hughes identify the eight crucial steps to becoming the best ‘you’ possible.

Along the way, they draw on cutting-edge research to explain why these methods work – and how we can all use them. Anyone can learn the secrets of high performance.

Drawing on conversations with… Dina Asher-Smith | Steven Bartlett | Tom Daley | Steven Gerrard | Evelyn Glennie | Kelly Holmes | Chris Hoy | Eddie Jones | Siya Kolisi | Frank Lampard | Jo Malone | Matthew McConaughey | Ant Middleton | Tracey Neville | Robin Van Persie | Mauricio Pochettino | Gareth Southgate | Holly Tucker | Jonny Wilkinson | Clive Woodward | Toto Wolff and many more…

We have all encountered inspirational leaders who’ve helped us, taught us, encouraged us, pushed us to get outside our comfort zones, or motivated us to become the best version of ourselves. What is it about their leadership styles that inspires us to do more for our team and our personal and professional growth?

Turns out, we admire these leaders for the same reasons we love our favorite hotels, resorts, restaurants, or bars: How they make us feel is essential. Members of today’s workforce—especially millennials and Gen Z—are looking for inspiring environments and work that truly fulfills them. Before anyone is compelled to do anything they first must feel. Speaker, consultant, and hospitality industry veteran Taylor Scott knows that the most effective leaders approach their roles with heart, emotionally connecting with their team members before attempting to manage them. Scott draws from his two decades in leadership roles at respected hotels, resorts, and restaurants. He distills the principles of gracious hospitality, translating them into actionable leadership lessons which apply in any industry