Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel H. Pink (Penguin Group, December 2009)

Selected by Jeanne Goodwill, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

Daniel H. Pink is a writer who “has a lot of interest in the workplace and what makes for an effective and pleasant workplace, versus one where nothing gets done and people hate their jobs,” Goodwill says. She points out Drive’s key fact that “most people are not motivated by extrinsic rewards, but are motivated by intrinsic rewards, their own sense of self-fulfillment and creativity,” citing the volunteers who give their time and money freely to help the people in Haiti as an example. As a manager, Goodwill is “interested in how people work and how to work effectively with people” and with Drive we see that “what people are trying to do to motivate their kids or motivate their employees just doesn’t work. Really [managers] need to find a way to give [employees] more freedom and autonomy.”