What's the best book on leadership and motivating your team?
There are a ton of books out there on the subject, but does anyone have any recommendations. I've heard the Balanced Scorecard is good, as well as Seth Godin's Tribes, though they probably are drastically different. What's a good book to get started?
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Dec 3, 2014
I can go with a lot of the recommendations and like to add
It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy (revised)
by D. Michael Abrashoff
Jul 27, 2014
Hi Mary-Alice, one of the best books on leadersip is fr om Max landsberg The tools of leadership. He also has other books I would recommend such as The tao of coaching and The tao of motivation. All 3 are definitely worth reading and easy to implement.
Jun 25, 2014
Hi Mary-Alice! I'm new to mosaicHUB, but think it is AWESOME! You and your team have done an outstanding job with design and development. I really like the badge idea as a "visual scorecard." I'm still learning and figuring it out, but I have told a lot of people about mosaicHUB already.
Back to the book question, I have been reading and teaching leadership material, along with transforming my life, every day since I was exposed to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in 2008. It's the one thing I can do to be better tomorrow than I am today. Growth doesn't just happen! We must be intentional.
I'm also a John Maxwell Team Certified Coach, Trainer, & Speaker, and I believe what John believes. Leadership is influence. Nothing more. Nothing less. Everything rises and falls on leadership.
I'll use Simon Sinek's "Golden Circle" principle from his book, Start with Why, to provide my recommendations from a leadership perspective. In the center of the circle is "why" we do what we do." In the middle ring is "how" we do what we do. In the outer ring is "what" we do. I highly recommend this book to anyone that owns their own business or is a top level leader of a business.
The book to read to learn "Why" leadership is important is: The 5 Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell. It will put everything else into perspective from a leadership point of view. It's like a blueprint of leadership/influence. It helps you see the big picture.
The book to read to learn "How" to become a higher level leader (first of yourself, then of others) is: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. When I teach on leadership, I use the following analogy. The 5 Levels of Leadership illustrates to us "why" we need to use a hammer (how) and a nail (what) to build our influence. The 7 Habits is the hammer. All other leadership books are like nails with different: shapes, sizes, lengths, designs, materials, and purposes. But, without a hammer, they are of little value.
There are many, many books that cover "what" to do as a leader. "What" you have to do first though is build trust. Trust is the foundation of Leadership. My favorite book on trust is: The Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey (the son of Stephen R. Covey). In my book, I have a chapter that goes farther and discusses the foundation of trust. I believe it is our intent. If my intent is manipulative (only I benefit), I will never get to build trust. If my intent is motivational (mutual benefit), I can proceed to build trust.
My favorite book that illustrates high level leadership in action is: It's Your Ship by Capt. Michael Abrashoff. He details how he took command of his first ship and led the crew of the worst ship in the Navy to become the crew of the best ship in the Navy. It's an awesome book that shows how tried and true leadership principles can be applied and yield tremendous results even in the very strict "command & control" world of the military.
There are a ton of great books that detail "what" to do to grow your leadership/influence. I'll list five of my favorites: "Leadership & Self-Deception" by The Arbinger Institute; "Developing the Leaders Around You," "Everyone Communicates, Few Connect," and "Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn" all three by John Maxwell; "The 8th Habit" by Stephen R. Covey.
I've actually just released my first book, Demystifying Leadership Series: Defining Influence. I wrote it specifically for the person that has never been exposed to any formal leadership training or leadership books, typically those on the front lines in entry level positions. However, I've had millionaire clients, school teachers, & an SEC athletic coach read it and love it along with those it was intended for mechanics, factory workers, & construction workers in the blue-collar world along with office personnel in banks and medical clinics too.
My favorite leadership quote is by Abraham Maslow, "If we are not modeling what we are teaching, then, we're teaching something else."
We are always teaching what we are modeling. However, we are not always teaching what we are teaching.
Jun 17, 2014
Check out…
Give & Take, Adam Grant
Purpose Economy, Aaron Hurst
To Sell is Human, Dan Pink.
These books go back to the basics, how we need to lead by laying the right foundation… principles that will inspire and motivate your team.
Apr 3, 2014
One Minute Manager [by Kenneth Blanchard]. It may not be a single best book, but it does give extremely simple yet useful tips and an overall perspective on how things should be managed. A must read.!
Apr 2, 2014
I consider Alexander's life as _THE_ text book on leadership. Here is a link http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/alexandr.html
Mar 29, 2014
It is hard to pinpoint just one book, I am a John Maxwell Devotee and love just about anything he writes, but I especially love Today Matters and How Successful People Think. I also enjoy Simon Sinek, Ken Blanchard, and Covey 7 Habits. I also got heaps of Covey Jnr Speed of Trust and Smart Trust.
Mar 27, 2014
There are many great books on leadership. I enjoy The Leadership Challenge, 5th Edition which is based on 25 years of research and continues to be researched and updated. Regardless of the path you take, find a mentor and coach for insights, accountabilities and sanity.
Mar 25, 2014
Ken Blanchard Situational Leadership and The One Minute Manager derived concepts were paramount in my managerial experience. Easy to read and resulted in real world gains for me.
Mar 24, 2014
I would strongly recommend Colin Powell's "It worked for me: In life and leadership".
Mar 4, 2014
You can only become a great leader if you know yourself, truly know yourself. I'd therefore recommend to read:
1. "How to win friends & influence people" from Dale Carnegie
2. "Chicken soup for the soul" from Jack Canfield
Tony Robbins (mainly on Youtube) is also a master in inspiring those wanting to be a true leader.
Feb 27, 2014
Hi Mary-Alice
This is cutting-edge content to look for:
My soon-to-be published e-book on global leadership development is uniquely differentiated: (a) comprehensive theoretical meta-analysis of psychological factors influencingf needs, goals, and behaviors (b) explains cause and contagion of "dark leadership" (c) explains the emergence of "distributed leadership" and effectiveness in the global marketplace.
Feb 21, 2014
It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy.
I know the title says management, but very good book with a focus on leadership and motivating others.
Feb 13, 2014
Believe it or not, here is a free resource that has helped me (for many years since it was "drilled" into my head) that is timeless. Although you will need to parse out the clear non-business references, it is by far the most sound approach to leadership of any of the books I can recommend (and I have read quite a few). I think that too many companies get lost in the minutia of trying to create leaders. There are thousands of books on this topic...and everyone has an angle. I personally feel that getting to the very simple basics is the best start. If training adult learners wasn't hard enough, an application of the basics of leadership is even harder, and if anyone can get that right it is the United States Marine Corps. But, then again, I'm quite biased. I think that you will find it rigid, simple, easy to implement, and probably a novel approach to a business environment....but most of all...effective.
http://www.tecom.marines.mil/Portals/120/Docs/Student%20Materials/CREST%20Manual/RP0103.pdf
Jan 29, 2014
Books tend to focus on a choice between two styles of leadership, democratic or authoritarian, whereas I have learned to sanction a range of behavior. To be successful as a leader I have had to be keenly aware of those forces which are most relevant to my behavior at any given time. I constantly work to understand myself and the individual or group I am dealing with.
My natural inclination is collaborative. Perhaps because I have worked mostly with mature, highly educated individuals, this has usually worked for me. The more mature the follower is, the more freedom is called for. In fact, the characteristics of the follower are the most important variable in determining the most appropriate leadership style.
A second theory that has had significant impact on my development as a manager is the Harvard Classic “monkey-on-the-back” analogy. In any organization the manager’s bosses, peers, and subordinates each impose demands on a manager’s time. In order to properly keep demands on his time under control, an effective manager must learn the “care and feeding of monkeys.” The assigning, delegating, and controlling of work is essential to enlarging the manager’s discretionary time. If one thinks of problems as cuddly little monkey’s, it can be great sport to keep track of who is responsible for each monkey’s care and feeding. Proper handling of monkeys allows for other activities that distinguish successful leadership. I include among these vision, strategic and tactical planning, and communication.
The third theory that I have found personally useful is to adopt organizational development interventions. To change an organization it is often necessary to literally change it. New people, new jobs, new reporting relationships... Organizing work around teams and using process consulting has been effective in reaching personal and organizational goals.
Finally, regarding reward systems, I have learned that people often will respond to incentives of their own design better than those I can dream up.
I hope this helps you think about defining your own philosophy of leadership. It isn't s task done every day.
Jan 26, 2014
7 habits of Highly effective people by Stephen Covey or Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy if you are working with sports fans will give you some good leadership points. Personally I have found that you will never pick up a book on leadership and love it from cover to cover. I always learn one or two good take aways from each book and I try to digest one book a quarter. At the end of every year I have six to eight great new tools that I am using to manage my team. I also have worked with my leadership team to read the book together. We would read a couple chapters a week, kept it to about 50 pages, and we would meet for breakfast and discuss the book and how the lessons learned impacted our business.
Jan 4, 2014
Lots of mentions for John C Maxwell - and I agree for the leadership content, as well as Jim Collins of course
But here's a special one - Jim Lawless, Taming Tigers which is a great look at overcoming your own fears and thus being a good leader
And also Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline
Or Etienne Wenger (et al), Developing Communities of Practice - which is excellent for ideas on managing virtual teams
Dec 27, 2013
I love Pat Lencioni's "The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business," "Drive," by Daniel Pink, and "The Five Levels of Leadership" by John Maxwell. For a great, quick read, I also recommend "Lead with LUV: A Different Way to Create Real Success," by Ken Blanchard and Colleen Barrett.