Best Leadership Books of 2010

A crisis exposes character or the lack of it. Our reaction is important. Our recent history requires a response; a correction; a change in the status quo.

If we are thinking more-of-the-same or merely upping our game then we are destined to fail again. On the other hand if we are looking to change our games or approach, then we have a way forward.

The way forward will mean reviewing a lot of overly familiar ideas like, “self-awareness is critical to a good leader” because those are the things we forgot or were maybe never taught. While books about these ideas can seem boring they can, if we let them, take us to a higher level. But they require introspection and often more attention than we may think we have time for. But what is the alternative?

As reading goes, the books listed here may not be as exciting as how-can-I-leverage-other-people’s-money nor are they going to be paradigm-shifting as in why-hasn’t-somebody-thought-of-this-before. However, while many of the ideas are not new, they can be life-changing.

Some of the books listed below help to reacquaint us with ideas that we might have consciously or unconsciously decided that we would get back to when we had the time. Others help us to better understand the connected world we live in. One helps to explain the artistry of leadership. Some, while exploring the lives of others, help to provide a context for all of it.

The big lesson for all of us: nothing—leadership, capitalism, society—can be sustained forever in a culture of get—with a mindset of always more. But that’s a tough lesson to act on. When faced with the daily business of life, the ideas of give and service seem so vapid—intangible—naive.

Give. Easy to say. Much harder to live.

You Already Know How to Be Great by Alan Fine

Driven to Lead: Good, Bad, and Misguided Leadership by Paul R. Lawrence

Serve to Lead: Your Transformational 21st Century Leadership System by James M Strock

Leading Outside the Lines: How to Mobilize the Informal Organization, Energize Your Team, and Get Better Results by Jon R. Katzenbach and Zia Khan

The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison

The Executive and the Elephant: A Leader's Guide for Achieving Inner Excellence by Richard L. Daft

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence by Tom Peters

Denial: Why Business Leaders Fail to Look Facts in the Face—and What to Do About It by Richard S. Tedlow

The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win by David Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman

The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Consistently by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker

Artistry Unleashed: A Guide to Pursuing Great Performance in Work and Life by Hilary Austen

The Truth about Leadership: The No-fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers by Stan Slap





Biographies:

Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership by Warren Bennis with Patricia Ward Biederman

Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda

Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

Related Interest:
Best Leadership Books of 2009
Best Leadership Books of 2008

Posted by Michael McKinney at 06:03 PM
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