Books the “Freaks” are Reading
“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”
Harry S. Truman
Books Leadership “Freaks” are reading:
- How Full is Your Bucket by Tom Rath & Donald Clifton
- Boundaries for Leaders by Dr. Henry Cloud
- You Already Know How to Be Great by Alan Fine
- Building a Magnetic Culture by Kevin Sheridan
- The Heart of Leadership by Mark Miller
- Built to Last by Jim Collins & Jerry I. Porras
- Cultures Built to Last by Richard Dufour & Michael Fullan
- Learning from Lincoln by Harvey Alvy & Pam Robbins
- Moral Mazes by Robert Jackall
- Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
- Stewardship by Peter Block
- Risky is the New Safe by Randy Gage
- Multipliers by Liz Wiseman
- Whale Hunting by Tom Searcy and Barbara Weaver Smith
- The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz
- The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Outdoor Leadership by John Graham
- Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- Leadership and the Art of the Struggle by Steven Snyder
The complete list is on the Leadership Freak Facebook page. (Books are listed in the order they appeared on the page.)
I’ve just finished reading and recommend:
- The Heart of Leadership by Mark Miller
- Adversaries into Allies by Bob Burg
- Finding Allies, Building Alliances by Mike Leavitt & Rich McKeown
- Daring Greatly by Brene’ Brown
- The Authentic Swing by Steven Pressfield
My current Reading list:
- The Myth of Creativity by David Burkus
- The Practical Peter Drucker by William Cohen
- Hacking Leadership by Mike Myatt
- The Execution Short Cut by Jeroen De Flander
- Truman by David McCullough
- On Becoming a Leadership Coach, Second Edition, various authors
What books are you reading?
What leadership books do you recommend?
I still find John Kotter’s seminal “Leading Change” (1996) still to be very relevant especially in understanding the distinct difference (and ‘value’) of management vs. leadership.
I will definitely be bookmarking this list and adding a few to my amazon wish list ahora mismo. Thanks Dan!
Kotter is amazing. I also really love his book, “Urgency.” In particular the little insight that urgency isn’t desperation. Thanks for mentioning a wonderful book.
So many good ones – “Immunity to Change” is still a favorite.
Thanks for adding to the list!
Start with Why. Simon Sinek
Simon has a new book coming out in 2014 on building cultures in businesses.
Top on my list when it becomes available. Simons insight into the human condition is amazing!!! Real dude, practical not a theoretical blowhard.
As a Man Thinketh. James Allen
New Pair of Glasses. Chuck Chamberlin
First 164 of the AA Big Book Just substitute ego everywhere you see alcohol and then you can utilize the greatest manual for living ever written? Why, cause it does tell you what to believe it shares with the reader how to think. Only shares experience , not theory and fear based threats.
I have read thousands of books and just my opinion but I feel you are doing yourself a tremendous disservice by not gaining the wisdom and insight into the human condition these men have to share with you.
Interesting thing is if you did read, then share your opinion, you would agree instead of having contempt prior to investigation. Your call!
I Concur!
Shifterp back to now!
Bonus must read……Sermon on the Mount. Emmett Fox. The New Thought Movement is way cool!!! Much better than the lame fear based old thoughts. Just my opinion.
Thanks for adding to the list Scott!
Thanks Dan, had a typo!! The AA Big Book does not tell folks what to believe, it helps teach people how to think. Greatest manual for living ever written cause it does not ask you to draw lines in the sand and separate yourself from others who think different from you.
That’s why
Sorry for the typo.
SP back to now!
Have you thought about followership, seriously thought about the practice of followership? I practiced Creative Followership for 32 years in my journey to president of Chick-fil-A, Inc. It works!
Take a look at my new book Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness. You may be surprised.
http://creativefollowership.com/book-reviews/
There are no leaders without us followers.
Jimmy Collins
Thanks Jimmy,
I’m glad you jumped in and brought up the topic of followership. In a sense, leading is following.
I actually wrote about this topic and offered some scholarly resources all the way back in April of 2012: http://bit.ly/1dBXRR6
The article is a mess but the resources were useful.
Thanks for writing something useful on this important and neglected topic.
For those interested, Find Jimmy’s book here.
Thank you for posting this list of suggestions. I have a penchant for buying books, and a library of several hundred, so this is akin to sending a child into a candy store with money in his/her pocket. 🙂
In addition to Kotter, I like Kouzes & Postner, Collins, Porter, Mintzberg. For a story of an exceptionally effective leader, nothing beats the biblical account of Nehemiah.
Two little gems for those seeking exceptional organization performance were written by the Raymond Floyd who just became CEO of our company yesterday. His pedigree at GM, Exxon, and Suncor is exceptional – having led each of 6 business segments to exceptional performance – while rearing a lovely family with both children as doctors – while getting degrees in engineering, business, and law- while being active in charity work- and receiving internationally recognized prizes for his work.
HIs books, “Liquid Lean” and “A Culture of Rapid Improvement” are chock full of practical ideas for achieving excellent performance by leveraging human hearts and intellect and relentlessly pursuing positive change. I’ve known him now for about 6 months, and found him to walk the walk – while being a very likeable person with neither false humility or self-serving ego. Ray doesn’t do much talking about leadership, but he catalyzes action and purpose in a rare fashion.
Here’s some from my library. I tend to “graze in many pastures” rather than read entire tomes.
The Power of Why – Richard Weylman
Start with Why – Simon Sinek
Thinking Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
All in: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results – Gostick and Elton
Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy: Dev Patnaik
Another good one is “Winning With People” by John Maxwell.
Ah, so many books…so little time. Thanks for sharing this interesting list.
One of the most helpful comments I heard about reading books came in the context of studying about Enneagram. Do you know the Enneagram rubric, and if so, do you find it helpful? The comment was that authors, like everyone else, operate out of their worldview which is usually dominated by one of the nine places on the enneagram. Books that are written by authors who resonate more closely with your own (enneagram) perspective will be more intuitively helpful to you than books, no matter how accurate and inspiring, written by someone operating out of another (enneagram) perspective. Have you found there to be helpful truth in ideas like this?
I am incurably curious Mary Ann and wanted to thank you for enneagram’s!!!
Gonna find out all about them now!!!
You made it a great day!!
Thank you!!
Scott back to now!!!
Thanks for sharing this!
Hi Dan. Thanks for the great list of suggestions. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading several of these which you’ve recomended in the past. If you have not done so already, may I suggest Dale Carnegies-How to win friends and influence people. Even though it was written MANY years ago it’s content is still relevant today. Next to the Holy Bible it is without a doubt the best book I have ever read. “Have a blessed weekend my friend”!
It’s #17 on the list.
Thanks Redge. I did however see it on the list. I suggested this to Dan only because I know he has not read it yet. Thanks again! Hava great day. BTW, in my opinion it should be #no 1 on the list.
Just wanted to add to the List
Help Them Grow Or Watch Them Go – Beverly Kye & Julie Winkle
Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn – John Maxwell
15 Invaluable Laws of Growth – John Maxwell
Necessary Endings – Dr. Henry Cloud
The Secret – Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller
The Advantage – Patrick Lencioni
5 Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni
5 Levels of Leadership – John Maxwell
Helping People Win at Work – Ken Blanchard
Anatomy of Peace – Arbinger Institute
Leadership and Self-Deception – Arbinger Institute
All great books, that have mentored me in so many ways, I’m still waiting for the opportunity to put these into practice.
Great list Dan. I have several of these on my list, they may have to be moved up.
I just finished Tribal Leadership (Dave Logan et. al.) and just started The Three Laws of Performance (Steve Zaffron & Dave Logan). I highly recommend both, they seem to give practical and actionable plans.
Great lists, tks for posting! The Passion of Command, by Colonel BP McCoy – recent favorite.!!
I read Heart of Leadership recently. Also read Lean In – my review of which apparently turned some people off of reading it altogether (which wasn’t my intent!). Here are my thoughts on Lean In: http://biggreenpen.com/2013/09/08/lean-in-a-book-review/ Great list you’ve compiled here, Dan!
What a great list! Thank you. I’ll be adding these to my own reading list shortly. I have a suggestion for you … The Motivation Myth by Mattison Grey. It’s all about acknowledgement. Whenever someone asks for me a book recommendation, this one is it.
PS: I’m reading Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst at the moment and listening to The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Happy Sunday!
I can’t believe it! I have not read any of those books! I draw my inspiration from mythology, history and the classics. Plus, Sun Tzu, Kautilya etc
I also love Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott. You can’t lead with out effective conversations, and Susan’s book is a great read loaded with great advice.
I recently started reading a biography or autobiography of every president of the United States. Trying to learn something from the past 🙂
Just heard Mark Sanborn speak last week on the topic of his new book, “You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader” – the title says it all. I’ve been telling my children this for many years.
http://www.amazon.com/You-Dont-Need-Title-Leader/dp/0385517475
Does anyone use http://www.goodreads.com? I think it’s a great tool for keeping track of my reading.
Dan –
Thanks for the list (and all the responding additions). I run a leadership book club and we’ve read 35 leadership related books since 2005. I am grateful to have some more resources. Below are some from our list:
Numerous John Maxwell books.
The Fred Factor – Mark Sanborn
The Leadership Pill – Blanchard & Muchnick
First Break all the Rules – Buckingham & Coffman
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 – Bradberry & Greaves
Leadership 2.0 – Bradberry & Greaves
George Washington’s Leadership Lessons – James Rees
Lincoln on Leadership – Donald Phillps
You Have to Say the Words – Kathy Ryan
Women in High Gear – Anne Deeter Gallaher
Everything I Need to Know in Life, I Learned from Singing Karaoke – Kimberly Wood Dierwechter.
great list! I also like anything written by Max Dupree!
Hi
Two books I’ve found very insightful are “The Advantage” by Patrick Lencioni and “To Sell is Human” by Dan Pink.
Lencioni’s book focuses on organizational health and the key areas of focus effective leaders must attend to to be effective. While Pink’s book focuses primary on selling and influencing I find his model invaluable in supporting leadership effectiveness.
Dan can you tell us more why your books speak to you?
This Week? Die Empty, Todd Henry; Remote, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson; Innovation’s Dirty Little Secret, Larry Osborne; Creative Confidence, Tom and David Kelley.
Last Week? Conversational Intelligence, Judith Glaser; Turn the Ship Around, L. David Marquet; Rise of the DEO, Maria Giudice and Christopher Ireland; Solving Problems with Design Thinking, Jeanne Liedtka, Andrew King, and Kevin Bennett.
I am interested in reading a good book on Strategic thinking? I want to learn how the great thinkers think. Any suggestions?
Great list I will have to check them out
I’m in the middle of “Leadership and Self-Deception” – Arbinger Institute. It is a very interesting way to get the point across. I also enjoyed Thomas Kolditz’s “In Extremis Leadership.” Please keep the suggestions coming.
Two more: To Sell is Human by Dan Pink and The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni