My first choice is The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. It is short but full of very simple ideas about how to help people give of their best.
My second book, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury, is a little more sophisticated. It provides a useful background to different negotiating techniques. It then puts forward a simple approach based on addressing the underlying interests of each party rather than arguing from opposing positions.
My final choice, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, tells you everything you need to know about how not to run an organisation. It also has an important message: what often appears as madness can be a well-adjusted reaction to an insane situation.
