A year of leadership book selections
Mid-December 2014 Book Selection- Charles Duhigg, THE POWER OF HABIT, Random House, 2012. This book has been a New York Times best seller. It deals with the development of habits in individuals and organizations and the difficulty of changing habits. Leadership literature and practice has been concerned with issues around change management in complex systems. This book deals with an important part of the change management and leadership perspective. Change is about breaking habits and creating new habits. Duhigg present a three part model called the habit loop—cue, routine and reward. To understand how to change habits, the author explores each dimension of the loop. He explores many examples of behavioral and organizational change throughout the book
December 2014 Book Selection-Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, and Chris Yeh, THE ALLIANCE, Harvard Business Review Press, 2014. The way we work today is different than the way we worked in the past A job in a specific organization tends to no longer be for a lifetime. The alliance model encourages workers and organizations to invest in each other. The authors build a framework for our new ways of work on a tor of duty model. The tour can be rotational, transformational, or foundational. People now move from organization to organizational. The goal is to make the transition as seamless as possible. The authors also discuss how our social media contacts enhance the experience. The authors also explore the development and use of corporate alumni networks. The book is excellent and introduces a number of innovative ideas for work today. Explore http://www.theallianceframework.com
Mid-November 2014 Book Selection- Bob Buford, DRUCKER AND ME, Worthy Publishing, 2014. This book is as much about the author as it is about Peter Drucker. Through his meetings with Drucker, Buford becomes a very successful entrepreneur during the first half of his life and a major philantropist to the ministers who developed many of the mega churches . During this same period, Drucker shifted his interest to leadership and management in not for profit organizations. Buford and Drucker worked to increase the leadership skills of these ministers of mega churches. This is a very insightful book for all leaders and especially leaders in the faith community.
November 2014 Book Selection-Atul Gawande, BEING MORTAL,Metropolitan Books, 2014. This book has become a New York Times Best Seller. This is a well written and yet difficult book to read. Gawande deals with issues related to dying in America. He discusses the limits of medicine and the difficulty of addressing the needs and wishes of dying patients. Leaders often do not recognize their own mortality. This book deals with what is important to each of us in promoting well-being as we age and face our own mortality. There is much that this book can teach us about life and death.
Mid-October 2014 Book Selection-Cynthia McCauley, D. Scott DeRue, Paul R. Yost, Sylvester Taylor, EXPERIENCE-DRIVEN LEADER DEVELOPMENT, John Wiley, 2014. This is an important book for all leadership development. The argument that leaders learn much from experience and that leader development programs benefit from tying training to the workplace. The book includes 82 contributions with many different strategies and tools presented. The book will take you time to read but it is worth it. The training model uses systems thinking, coaching , reflection, change strategies, and job rotation techniques for example to support the model. The book also builds on the leadership work of the North Carolina Center for Creative Leadership. This book needs to be on the bookshelf of every leadership development professional.
October 2014 Book Selection-Robin Sharma, THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI, JAICO, 2009. A wealthy workaholic lawyer suffers a heart attack. He leaves his work, sells all his worldly goods, and goes to India to find himself. He spends time learning the seven virtues of enlightened living. He becomes a monk. He comes home to teach his protégé how to live a more quality driven life. This is an excellent book about the teaching of India’s sages and how their lessons improve our lives and help us to become better leaders. There are many solid lessons for all readers in this book.
Mid-September 2014 Book Selection-Eugene Bardach, A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO POLICY ANALYSIS, Sage, 2012. This is the fourth edition of a now classic book on policy development and policy analysis. In a research study I did almost 20 years ago, public health leaders at the time argued that leaders were often weakest in the area of policy development and strongest in the areas of assessment and assurance. The author presents an eightfold path to more effective problem solving which is a critical process for successful policy development to occur. Bardach also presents cases to demonstrate the use of the model. This is an important book for leasders to digest and utilize.
September 2014 Book Selection- Ray Martini, THE DEATH OF LEADERSHIP, Author House, 2014. It seems like we are talking more about leadership and management in recent years. Yet, the author argues in this short book that there is growiong evidence that effective leaders are declining in number. Leadership books present leadership as something which is generally positive and easy to attain. This is clearly not the case in reality. Using personal experiences, Martini discusses our leadership failures and the lack of effective leadership today.
Mid-August 2014 Book Selection- Doris Kearns Goodwin, THE BULLY PULPIT, Simon and Schuster, 2013. This is an excellent hisory and biography about the friendship and the contrasting leadership styles of two American Presidents- Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. To the mix was added the rise and fall of the muckrakers. Leaders function in differentways and they are clearly affected by changes in environmental circumstances. The leadership at the state level and the national level were also critical factors in the happenings of our country during the late decades of the 19th century and the early decaedes of the 20th century. As different in temperament as these two presidents were, much of their lives were spent in friendship ntil Taft becanme President. Then, there was dissension between the two men. They mended their relationship again after their presidencies. This book is an excellent follow-up to TEAM OF RIVALS.
August 2014 Book Selection-John Medina, BRAIN RULES, Pear Press, 2014. Leaders need to understand how and why people behave as they do. Medina presents an understandable approach to how our brains work to affect the way we behave. The author presents twelve principles that leaders should consider as they view their own behavior and the behavior of others. Medina explores such issues as how exercise affects our brains, The book also provides a link to a film tied to the book. This is clearly a worthwhile book for leaders and others to explore.
Mid-July 2014 Book Selection-Scott Bekun,THE YEAR WITHOUT PANTS, Jossey-Bass, 2014. Leaders like to blog and one of the most used blog sites including for this blog is wordpress. This book tells the story from behind the scenes of wordpress. The author spent a year as a team leader for the company and he documenrts through a fascinating narrative his experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and you will too if you like blogging or plan to become a blogger.
July 2014 Book Selection-Daniel Goleman, FOCUS,Harper, 2013. The author of the now classic book on emotional intellgence continues to explore EI ion this new book. Empathy needs to be viewed in the context of focus and attention.Goleman explores the science of attention and how it impacts brain function. Leaders need to be empathic and this requires focus on others with whom leaders must interact. Focus needs to be seen in the context of inner, outer, and other activities. A leader who is well focused is able to balance data streams and learns to interrelate these streams into seamless action. Also see http://www.DanielGoleman.info
Mid-June 2014 Book Selection-Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, THINK LIKE A FREAK, Willkiam Morrow, 2014. This is the third book in the Freakonomics series. The authors once again give many examples of how their approaches clarifies a number of issues that more traditional economic approaches do not. The book also presents guidelines to how to look at the world through freak glasses as well as a series of steps on how to think like a freak. This is a good book for leaders to read and absorb. See http://www.freakonomics.com .
June 2014 Book Selection- Robin Sharma, THE LEADER WHO HAD NO TITLE, Free Press, 2010. To be a leader requires an approach to leadership that affects all parts of life and all your relationships. In my training seminars, I talk about a leadership mindset. Leadership is not always about the position you hold in an organization. Using a ffable, the author explores leadership without a title through four key principles and five action steps to make each principle a part of your life. This is an excellent book about the importance of personal leadership development. I strtongly recommend it. Also see http://www.theleaderwhohadnotitle.com and http://www.robinsharma.com
Mid-May 2014 Book Selection-Michael D.Watkins, THE FIRST 90 DAYS(SECOND EDITION), Harvard Business Press,2013. It was great for me to return to this book now in its second edition. I found the new version improved significantly from the first edition. The author not only expands his STARS organization model but now includes many new strategies for leaders dealing with transition situations. Transition within organizations can be quite complex with different organizational strategies needed in different parts of the organization. Leaders need different sets of tools for each of the STARS situations. This is clearly a book thaat needs to be on the shelf of all leaders.
May 2014 Book Selection-Jon Gordon- THE CARPENTER, Wiley, 2014. This is the latest in a series of books by the author who presents simple messages of what leadership means and is. Like ken Blanchard and others, he uses a story format to present his ideas. This is the first book by the author that I have read, but it will not be the last. As a mentor and guide, the carpenter presents a three pronged approach to successful leadership which he calls The Way. It is first important to love what you do. Second , true leadership is about service. The final prong is the importance of caring. See JonGordon.com and http://www.Carpenter11.com
Mid-April 2014 Book Selection- James Kouzes and Barry Posner, TURNING ADVERSITY INTO OPPORTUNITY, John Wiley, 2014. This mini-bookexplores the fact that life and organizations seem to facde more crises today than in the past. leaders need to function not only when things are going well but also when things are not going so well. Building on their theory of the six practices of exemplary leadership, they explore six strategies for dealing with adversity. These six strstegies will not only deal with adversity, they will also increase opportunity.
April 2014 Book Selection-Lyn Boyer, CONNECT, Self-Published, 2011. leadership is all about the connections we make with others.Affec tive leadership requires leaders to not only connect with other people but also influence followers to agree on common goals. Emotional attachments become important. in facty, mind, body, emotion, and language which are insepaparable from self all play a role in leadership. Boyer discusses connect in learning, thought, presence, emotions, through language, listening, trust, and lightness rather than heaviness. She offers to discuss ideas in the book through her email address.
Mid-March 2014 Book Selection-Ari Meisel, LESS DOING, MORE LIVING,Tarcher/Penguin,2014. I am going to keep this book on my desk. It is full of tools and websites for saving time and making life easier and making us more productive. Did you know that you should not have more than 10 e mails in your inbox at any one time? The book is easy to read and will provide you with nine important fundamentals to help all leaders including tools and websites related to the 80/20 rule, the external brain, customization, choosing your own workweek,, stop running so many errands, finances,organization strategies, batching to make tasks easier, and wellness. See http://www.lessdoing.com
March 2014 Book Selection-Ezekiel J.Emanuel, REINVENING AMERICAN HEALTH CARE, Public Affairs, 2014. Every leader and in fact every American will find this book of interest. It first reviews the American health care system and how attempts to reform the system have often failed. Emanuel then looks at the Affordable Care Act in detail. He looks at how the ACA will change the way health care occurs. The author then makes six predictions for the future. This is an excellent book that is quite readable. i would put the book on my bookshelf next to Paul Starr’s classic book on the transformation of American medicine.
Mid-February 2014 Book Selection- Jared Diamond, THE WORLD UNTIL YESTERDAY,Viking, 2012. This is my second book selection by Professor Diamond. It is not specifically a book about leadership although it present much information that will benefit leaders’ Diamond has clearly learned much about the tools of leadership that helps him in his own research. In this book, he clearly works at the intersection between his field of geography and the fields of economics, political science, psychology, sociology, anthropology, theology, nutrition, medicine, public health and several other fields. Hew integrates an understanding of traditional and modern societies through the lens of integration of many knowledge fields and the ability to synthesize mountains of information. We have much to learn from traditional societies that help us better understand why we do the things we do. This is a n excellent book at all levels.
February 2014 Book Selection-Ram Charam, Dennis Carey, and Michael Ussem, BOARDS THAT LEAD,Harvard Business Review Press, 2014. The relationship between a CEO and the head of the board is a key set of leadership issues. This book explores the four key governance models and all the major leadership issues that boards need to address. Case studies are used as well as numerous checklists for Boards. An important point that the authors make is that all board members need to have leadership experiences prior to coming on the board. This is an important book for CEOs and board members to read if hey want to make their agencies and organizations more effective.
Mid-January 2014 Book Selection-Mark Miller, THE HEART OF LEADERSHIP, Berrett-Kohler, 2013. This is the latest in a series of books by Miller using a parable including two characters from his other books exploring leadership. This book starts with the assumption that service leadership skills can be learned by most professionals, but it is character that makes the successful leader. In fact, character is 90% of the successful leader. The book discusses the five aspects of leadership character and how leaders change as a result. They must learn to develop hear t. See www.GreatLeadersServe.org
January 2014 Book Selection- Frans Johansson, THE MEDICI EFFECT, Harvard Business School Press, 2006. This is an important book about creativity for all leaders to read. It discuss the limits of silos and governing paradigms on creativity and change. Leaders tend to create the most change and innovation when they connect with other people from different disciplines. Leaders need to step into what the author calls the Intersection. It is in the intersection that the Medici Effect occurs. The Medici Effect involves the burst of creativity that occurs from the different ideas that happen in the Intersection.
Rowitz On Leadership 