General ISOC reading list -

An in depth listing of recommended books on the caring dimensions. All books listed are available at www.amazon.com or www.tatteredcover.com except those with an * asterisk.

• Acterberg, Jeanne, Woman as Healer Shambhala, 1990. Acterberg's book examines the role of the feminine in western health care.

• Arrien, Angeles, The Four-Fold Way Harper Collins, 1993. An excellent book of practical wisdom from indigenous cultures.

• *Barkley, Robert, Successful Preventive Dental Practice Macomb Illinois: 1972. Barkley's revolutionary book that created a paradigm shift in dentistry and showed a generation of dentists a new and more fulfilling way of practicing dentistry. This book has been out of print for years. Try a dental school or the ADA library. Worth the trouble to find.

• Beckwith, Harry, What Clients Love; A Field Guide to Growing your Business, 2003. Beckwith's other two books are: Selling the Invisible, 1997. and The Invisible Touch, 2000. Dead center, right on books on Service Marketing. Best books I have read on marketing a dental practice. *Top Ten Book*

• Bridges, William, Transitions Addison-Wesley, 1980. An excellent book on understanding the process of change. Helps the reader make sense and cope with the often frustrating results of change.

• * Carlisle, Lynn, In A Spirit of Caring Kendall/Hunt, 1994, A highly acclaimed book on understanding and finding meaning in the doctor/patient relationship. Sold out, but available online on ISOC under "Archives". Click on "ISOC Book". * Top Ten Book *

• Carlson, Richard and Shield, Benjamin, Healers on Healing Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc. 1989. Thirty seven essays by some of the world leaders in health care that examine the underlying principles of healing. *Top Ten book*

• Combs, Arthur and Gonzalez, David M., Helping Relationships 4th Edition. Allyn and Bacon, 1994. The fourth edition of the leading book on helping relationships that was first published in 1971. A classic book by a pioneer in helping relationships. * Top Ten book *

• Das, Ram and Gordon, Paul, How Can I Help? Knopf, Alfred A., 1985. Reflections and stories on the process of serving others through the act of helping.

• De Pree, Max, Leadership is an Art Doubleday, 1989. Practical insights by the head of a major corporation on the art of leadership. Leadership Jazz published by Doubleday in 1992 is De Pree's sequel.

• Elgin, Duane, Voluntary Simplicity William Morrow, 1981. Elgin's book that examines a way to create a life that is "outwardly simple and inwardly rich".

• Farson/Keyes, Whoever Makes The Most Mistakes Wins Free Press, 2002. Dick Farson has always been a contrary thinker. His education was in humanistic psychology and he has applied the tenants of humanistic psychology to the business world for 30 years. For a dentist indoctrinated with the myth of perfection, this is valuable reading. Farson also wrote Management of the Absurd which is an excellent contrary look at management.

• Fisher and Ury, Getting to Yes Houghton Mifflin, 1981. Helping another person often involves negotiating with them to help them choose healthy ways of living. Fisher and Ury's book is the best book on the process of negotiating I have read. * Top Ten Book *

• Gerber, Michael. The E-Myth-revisited Harper Business, 1995. The best book I have read on developing your business through creating systems that free you to practice dentistry.

• Goleman, Daniel, Emotional Intelligence Bantam, 1995. This book has become a classic. Goleman is a journalist for the New York Times. He covers the fields of behavioral and brain science. His book is about why the human dimensions are more important than traditional IQ in our society. Important for dentists personally and professionally. * Top Ten Book*

• Harman and Rheingold, Higher Creativity Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1984. The author's examine the secret history of inspiration and describe a simple sequence that has often triggered breakthrough insights.

• Hudson and McLean, Life Launch, a passionate guide to the rest of your life, The Hudson Institute Press, Third Edition, 2000. How to understand the new paradigm of life transitions. Hudson and McLean throw out with the four old rules and introduce the 4 new rules of life transitions. Includes apt descriptions of the various developmental stages of adult lives.

• Kurtz, Ernest and Ketcham, Katherine, The Spirituality of Imperfection, Bantam Books, 1992. Every dentist, team member, or consultant who struggles with the myth of perfection must read this book. It has been a long time since I have read a book that has had the impact on me that "The Spirituality of Imperfection - Storytelling and the Search for Meaning" has had. 30 years in fact. For me, it has been a destiny book.

• Land and Jarman, Breakpoint and Beyond Harper Business, 1992. By using nature as an example, the author's weave a compelling account of the process of change and give a vision of a way of responding to the changes going on in our society now. The section on how nature works is the best explanation of the nature of science I have read.

• Leider, Richard J and Shapiro, David A., Claiming Your Place at the Fire Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2004. This book takes issue with the perception that you just fade away as you move toward retirement. Leider and Shapiro write about the "new elders" and how they are reshaping the second half of their lives. These new elders ask 4 questions; "Who am I?"; "Where do I belong?"; "What do I care about?"; and "What is my purpose?".

  If you are entering or in the second half of your life, you will find this short to the point book very valuable in planning this stage of your life.

• Levoy, Robert, 201 Secrets of a High Performance Dental Practice Mosby, Inc, 2005. This book is over flowing with tips, tactics, and techniques to help you with your dental practice. Levoy uses quotes from many leading dentists and practitioners from Pete Dawson to Howard Farran and leaders outside of dentistry from Tom Peters to Gary Hamel.

• Lockard,Bill, The Exceptional Dental Practice, Why Good enough isn't Good enough, Lockard Publications, 2007. Bill Lockard has written a book that I would place up there with L.D. Pankey's "A Philosophy of the Practice of Dentistry". Bill's book shows that he was a rapt student of Dr. Pankey - and of life and dentistry. He has combined all of these in creating a book that only a wise elder could write after a lifetime commitment to learning the lessons that dentistry has to teach. An autographed copy of this book can be ordered at: Online Order Form | Oklahoma City, OK | Bill Lockard, DDS

• Maslow, Abraham, Motivation and Personality Harper and Row, 1970. Maslow's foundational classic text that includes his famous hierarchy of needs. A necessary work if you want to understand the theory of human motivation.

• Mayeroff, Milton, On Caring Harper Perennial, 1971. A gem of a book that gives the essence of caring in a clear, inspirational way. The best book on caring that I have read.

• Morgen, Sharon Drew, Selling with Integrity Berret-Koehler, 1997. A perfect fit for people looking for a nonmanipulative collaborative way of selling through respect and serving.

• Moore, Thomas, Care of the Soul Harper Perennial, 1992. A book on reclaiming and caring for the soul and for touching the sacredness and beauty that the soul gives to life.

• Needleman, Jacob, Money and the Meaning of Life Doubleday, 1991. Money or the pursuit of money is often confusing and frustrating. Needleman brings his experience as a philosopher to examine the meaning of money and how we know "the price of everything and the value of nothing".

• Needleman, Jacob, Why Can't we be Good? Tarcher/Penguin, 2007. This has been a destiny book for me. What is a destiny book - a book that changes your life. My other destiny books are listed in my top ten (not all of the top ten are my destiny books.)

  It is also one of those life changing books that I discovered while browsing in a book store. Many of the most important books in my life have been discovered this way.

  The most important benefit for me came in Chapter 7, "The Ethics of Attention". Needleman uses the book Mediations by Marcus Aurelius and a philosophy class he taught at San Francisco State University on "The Nature of Religious Experience" to introduce an exercise on a way to experience "a new kind of relationship to the things that annoy (and torment) you".

  He also examines the larger religious, political and cultural questions about "Why can't we be good". * Top Ten Book *

• * Pankey and Davis, A Philosophy of the Practice of Dentistry Medical College Press, 1985. The book that presents L.D. Pankey's landmark work in integrating "the philosophy" into a dental practice. I am continually awed by the depth and completeness of L.D. 's work. This book should be on every dentist's bookshelf after he has read and reread it. It is a constant source of wisdom and inspiration. (Call the Pankey Institute @ 305-361-5433 to order) * Top Ten Book *

• Pilzer, Paul Zane, The New Wellness Revolution, Wiley, 2007, How to make a fortune in the next trillion dollar industry, second edition, revised and expanded. As a dentist, consultant or team member, it is one of those books that you need to read to understand the profound changes that are going on in the health care and wellness industry. If you are not aware of these changes and do not plan for them, you could be blind-sided by the wellness revolution's impact on your dental practice.

• * Polansky, Barry, The Art of the Examination Private Practice Press, 2002. Barry Polansky,DMD does an excellent job of telling his story of how he applied Pankey's, Barkley's, and Hailey's concepts to his examination process.

  Included are forms, how to's and ideas on implementing "The Art of the Examination" in your practice. This should be in your library next to the other dental books listed on this page. The book can be ordered at 1-800-453-9891.

• Prather, Hugh, Notes to Myself Bantam, 1970 and Notes on Love and Courage. Doubleday, 1977. Prather's wonderful and inspiring work on his discovery of what it means to be fully human. A touching, poignant work.

• * Rogers, Carl, Freedom to Learn Merrill, 1969. The most powerful book I have ever read. It changed my life by showing me a way of being that I didn't know existed. A radical thought provoking way of being and helping people. Other books by Carl Rogers are On Becoming a Person, On Personal Power, A Way of Being, and Freedom to Learn for the 80's. Go to: Carl Rogers, books in print to order and find out more about Carl Rogers.

  His books, with new up-dated forwards, are also available at Amazon.com Books: Carl Rogers

  * Top Ten Book *

• Seigel, Bernie, Love, Medicine and Miracles Harper and Row, 1986. The journey of a physician on discovering how the body, mind and spirit are interrelated and the healing connection he could create with his patients.

• Stanley/Danko, The Millionaire Next Door Longstreet Press, 1996. Stanley and Danko have been studying the rich for 20 years and have found results that surprised them. They write about the seven common denominators they have found.

• Tannen, Deborah, You Just Don't Understand Ballintine Books, 1990. The work by a professor of linguistics that brougt her scholarly approach to how men and women communicate differently. A necessary work on discovering the obvious. Important in understanding how people and genders differ in thoughts, communication and attitudes.

• Treacy and Weirsema, The Discipline of Market Leaders Addison Wesley, 1995. Bob Frazer introduced dentistry to this book. The book examines the three disciplines of the market. They state that companies need to excell in one of these by narrowing the focus and chosing its customers. Great for dentists who think there is only one market of and way to practice dentistry.