Jeffery James of Inc Online posted a wonderful article about the 9 Business books every leaders should read on May 1st. You can read his full post here: http://time.com/3842586/leadership-books-should-read/?utm_content=14723796&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook
Here are the books on Jeffery’s list, see how many you have on your shelf or how many you have actually read.
1. The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker
2. The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
3. Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel by Scott Adams
4. The Age of Unreason by Charles Handy
5. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
6. Don’t Bring It To Work by Sylvia Lafair
7. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
8. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
9. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
10. Well, Jeffery very smartly leaves this choice up to us the reader, because we no doubt all have a book which has influenced us as leaders. What is yours?
All of these books deal with essentially the same core group of “Leadership” issues. Those issues stand the test of time because we are human and as leaders we are leading humans who are not perfect. Leaders lead people on issues of “Relationships,” “Communication,” “Consistency,” “Integrity,” and to put it even more simply leaders as we as those whom we lead must live what they lead by being congruent.
For it is when we each become “congruent” that our leadership is called into question. This incongruity is visible in speech, body language, decisions, attitude and virtually everything we do and say, both in our professional lives and in our private lives. It doesn’t take long for the facade to crack and the ideal leader image to fade.
What are you reading today?
How will that book impact you as a leader and those you lead this month?
In less than 6 weeks we will be at the half-way point of 2015, how are you doing with your own set of leadership goals you set for yourself a short 5 months ago?
As leaders, we do not have the luxury to blow off what we set down on paper or in our “clouds” just because times get tough and the road gets really rocky. Those who have given up are busy planning their summer getaways, those who are serious are figuring out how to make those goals come to fruition by years end. They push through and forward to the goal line bringing their team and those they lead with them.
The leader who sets his or her intention and focus on this is truly a prized leader. What is your intention for the remainder of 2015?
