I read too slowly. I start a paragraph and then half way through I'm off thinking of something else. The better the book the more thoughts it triggers for me outside of the content of the book itself. Does that mean I only read bad books quickly???
Having said that, there's a few books that have radically changed me as a leader, and so I've shared them in this post. As always, this blog is valuable because of your contributions, so let me know which books (if any) have changed your leadership approach. I'll put them on my reading list.
All the books listed below include links to buy them from Amazon. Any purchases via these links will result in a credit for some percentage of the sale in my amazon.com account. My plan is to devote ALL of these credits back to this blog. This will pay for all sorts of blog-funding, from leadership books for regular contributors to bandwidth for the site if it ever goes independent.
So many leadership books are anecdotal, however, Good to Great is one that started with fact. Taking companies that radically outperformed their peers and then painstakingly researching them to find out why. Guidance that shines through here for me was humility of great leaders, followed by a relentless focus on people and getting the best talent on the bus.
7 Habits stands out for me because of the importance it places on figuring out why you want to bother to do anything. I read it back in 1998 when Sharon and I spent a month in Italy. I'd recommend the same for anyone else reading this. Not necessarily that you go to Italy (although I do recommend that), but that you read it when you have plenty of time to reflect away from your daily grind. That was key to me - thinking deeply about what's important and using those drivers as motivation over the 11 years since then (I still read and refine the personal mission statement I created back then on a periodic basis - this is the topic of a future post...).
Straight from the Gut is another one for focusing on talent. That's the secret to Jack's success and so many other successful leaders I've seen. Also just fun to read - a great account of his career and the thinking behind so much of what he did at GE.
Discover your Strengths stands out as a book that (again) is rooted in research and fact, and then introduces and justifies the concept that you should channel your strengths rather than trying to improve your areas of weakness. Know your weaknesses, but overcome them by collaborating with people who have strength in those areas.
In addition to the books above, there's a bunch that were great reads for me because they summarized, consolidated, or reinforced learnings. However, none of them were game changers as a result of new insights. Still, they may be for you depending on where you've been and what you've already read. These include:
The Effective Executive is one that would DEFINITELY be on my list if I'd read it 10 years ago. So much of what I've learnt/read/suffered through is in here. Expect a post devoted to this book alone in the future.
I've used the First 90 Days framework for my last few roles and recommend it to anyone taking on a new role/responsibilities.
And finally, here's a few that I've enjoyed reading, however, which I wouldn't consider to be true leadership books. Still, if you're short of books to put on your reading list...
I hope all of these are either game changers for you in the future or already have been. Please let me and the rest of the blog readers know what's made an impact on you - I need all the help I can get! Don't we all?
