While a simple checklist wouldn’t seem to have the power to eliminate mistakes and improve performance, this book proves otherwise. In his book, The Checklist Manifesto, surgeon and author Atul Gawande spins a fascinating account of the power of the checklist, citing examples of its effectiveness in building skyscrapers, investing in the stock market, piloting jets and conducting surgery.

Cheer up. Look on the bright side. Think positive. Change comes from within.

Don’t you hate it when people tell you that you could be happier and more successful if you’d simply put your mind to it? As if it were all in your hands. But what if they’re right? Can you really improve your life by managing your thoughts? Of course you can, answers former CEO Mary J. Lore, author of the aptly named Managing Thought.

Begin the idea that a resume is really just an advertisement for yourself, and you'll understand that  HOW you present information about your skills and job goals is as important as WHAT you include.

If you’re changing careers or looking for a job in a new industry, this book can help you adapt your resume to a new career in a new industry by simply rethinking its structure. With dozens of examples, author and career coach Catherine Jewell shows readers how to identify their relevant skills and emphasize their strengths in the pursuit of a new career.

The book Now Discover Your Strengths (authored by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton) was released in 2001 and Strengths Finder 2.0 is it 2007 follow-up.  Both of these books are useful guides for anyone making a decision about their career path.

The idea behind both books is that each one of us possesses distinct strengths. By identifying these strengths and putting them to work in our careers, not only will we be more successful and productive, we’ll enjoy our work more.

While emotional intelligence often goes by other names such as “people smarts” or “soft skills,” it is simply the ability to interact effectively with others.  Maintaining control over negative emotions, cultivating self-respect and respect for others as well as keeping a positive outlook even when things aren’t going according to plan are all important components of emotional intelligence.

Some people realize five or 10 years into a career that they’re not happy with their choice. Other people invest decades into a career only to be downsized or outsourced right out of a job. In both cases, the move into a new career can be a combination of soul-searching and job searching. Career coach Carl Wellenstein has practical advice for career changers of all kinds.

What can you do when your boss makes your work life miserable? From the authors of Working with You is Killing Me comes yet another book of wisdom, this time focused on the often problematic relationships employees have with their bosses.

With the subtitle, "How to Find Hope and Rewarding Work Even When 'There are No Jobs',” this slim and timely volume is a gold-mine of information for anyone unexpectedly unemployed in this unsettled and unsettling economy. Bolles, author of the classic career guide What Color is Your Parachute, condenses his many years of wisdom into 100 short pages of practical advice and effective resources for the unemployed. Bolles has become a trusted advisor to job seekers everywhere, offering not only good advice but much-needed words of encouragement too.

Too often when we have a conflict or a complaint at work we either say nothing or say the wrong thing.  This book offers us a constructive third alternative.

The author, Richard S. Gallagher, calls it the CANDID approach. This acronym provides us with a strategy (Compartmentalize, Ask questions, Normalize, Discuss, Incentivize, and Disengage) for opening difficult conversations without putting other people on the defensive.

With some tough talk followed by clear-headed, straight-forward advice, Andrea Kay will help you deal with whatever it is dragging you down at work. Her first  bit of advice? Face facts, lower your expectations and quit believing that everything should  be perfect. Kay begins by dealing out the 12 Naked Truths of the workplace and follows with pragmatic solutions for making the best of  an imperfect and unfair world.