Leadership Books To Read Before The End Of Summer

Starting to choose which business books you'll bring along with you on Spring break this year? Here are some leadership books I highly recommend:

Comments

Use A Board Of Advisors

David Burkus often provides valuable comments to my various Blog postings, and he's a person who effectively uses a board of advisors, instead of mentors, to help him achieve success. "I've found that in my life, it was easier and more effective to set up a board of advisors," said Burkus, the editor of LeaderLab . "This is a group of people, three to five, that have rotated into my life at various times and that speak into it and help me grow. I benefit from the variety of experience these people have." LeaderLab is an online community of resources dedicated to promoting the practice of leadership theory. Its contributors include consultants and professors who present leadership theory in a practitioner-friendly format that provides easy-to-follow explanations on how to apply the best of leadership theory. Community users can download a variety of research reports and presentations about leadership and leadership versus management. For example, a pr...

Reach Communications & Leadership Expert David Grossman Via His New App

If you haven't engaged with David Grossman's website, Blog and incredibly useful eBooks, make a point of checking them all out at his website for The Grossman Group. David just launched his new App, called " Ask David ." Via the App, David promises to bring his communications industry expert advice and wisdom right to your fingertips. Topics covered include: Employee engagement Internal communications Change management Leadership effectiveness Crisis messaging Diversity and inclusion

Great Business Quote

Here's a great quote from author and speaker Harvey Mackay : "When a person with money meets a person with experience, the person with the experience ends up with the money, and the person with the money ends up with the experience."

How To Write An Employee Satisfaction And Engagement Survey

According to Polaris , a company that specializes in employee research, “a company’s employees are often the face and frontline of an organization and their opinion of that organization affects their attitude, thus affecting customers’ attitudes, behavior and ultimately, the bottom line.” That is why Polaris recommends that business leaders conduct employee research that allows leaders to better understand what motivates employees, drives loyalty, and makes and keeps employees happy. “An added benefit of conducting employee satisfaction research is that, in doing so, a company lets their employees know they are important, their opinions and suggestions matter, and there is a sincere desire to make the company an enjoyable place to work,” reports Polaris. Here are 10 questions Polaris recommends you ask employees as part of a wide-ranging employee satisfaction and engagement survey : For each of the following statements, indicate if you: • Strongly disagree • Disagree • Somew...

Do You Really Need To Read Leadership Books?

The answer is yes. And, fortunately, there are lots out there to select from. However, if you don't have time to read books about how to be an effective and good leader, you can select a few words from the list below and then practice what those words mean, as you lead your team every day. Leaders on the LinkedIn Executive Suite group came up with these nearly 50 words in answer to a discussion topic I posted in the group forum: " A Good Leader Is [insert one word]." A big thank you to that group for this valuable list. Accountable Adaptable Approachable Authentic Aware Bold Brave Candid Caring Clear Challenging Charismatic Compassionate Courageous Credible Decisive Dedicated Ethical Empowering Engaged Fearless Forward-Thinking Gracious Honest Humble Inclusive Influential Inspiring Intuitive Loyal Mindful Moral Motivating Objective Open Passionate Pro-active Receptive Responsible Respectful Skilled S...

The Need For Humanity In Leadership

The authors of the new book, ESSENTIAL , explain that the American workplace is in crisis. Questions of where, how, and why we work loom large, and trust in traditional leadership models has plummeted. “Simultaneously, leaders find themselves more lost than ever—overwhelmed and burning out as they struggle to navigate this rapidly changing landscape,” they add. Now, there’s essential evidence that proves humanity in leadership is needed to save our work. In ESSENTIAL: How Distributed Teams, Generative AI, and Global Shifts Are Creating A New Human-Powered Leadership authors Christie Smith, Ph.D. and Kelly Monahan, Ph.D. bridge generational perspectives, combining the wisdom of a seasoned Boomer with the fresh insights of a tech-savvy Millennial, respectively. “We’ve dedicated our careers to empowering and enabling companies to thrive through a human-powered approach to leadership. Our experience and research show that for businesses to thrive,...

Effective Listening: Do's And Don'ts

Here are some great tips from Michelle Tillis Lederman's book, The 11 Laws of Likability . They are all about: what to do and what not to do to be a leader who's an effective listener : Do : Maintain eye contact Limit your talking Focus on the speaker Ask questions Manage your emotions Listen with your eyes and ears Listen for ideas and opportunities Remain open to the conversation Confirm understanding, paraphrase Give nonverbal messages that you are listening (nod, smile) Ignore distractions Don't : Interrupt Show signs of impatience Judge or argue mentally Multitask during a conversation Project your ideas Think about what to say next Have expectations or preconceived ideas Become defensive or assume you are being attacked Use condescending, aggressive, or closed body language Listen with biases or closed to new ideas Jump to conclusions or finish someone's sentences

How To Find And Work With A Mentor

Fortunately, I've benefited from having great mentors throughout my career. And I've have the honor and good fortune to be a mentor, both formally and informally, for various individuals the past few decades. Mentoring is powerful. Both being a mentor. And being mentored. That's why I became an instant fan of the book, One Minute Mentoring: How to Find and Work With a Mentor -- and Why You'll Benefit from Being One . The book presents a fictional parable about the power of finding, or being, a mentor. In what is about a one- to two-hour read, you'll gain knowledge and easy-to-use tools for how to find and leverage mentoring relationships . Ken Blanchard You'll also learn why developing effective communication and relationships across generations through mentoring can be a tremendous opportunity for companies and individuals alike. Bestselling author, Ken Blanchard, Ph.D . teamed up with Claire Diaz-Ortiz to write One Minute Mentoring . Bla...

Inspiring Leadership Quotes

These quotes truly inspire me and hopefully they will inspire you as well : “The three common characteristics of best companies -- they care, they have fun, they have high performance expectations.” -- Brad Hams “The one thing that's common to all successful people: They make a habit of doing things that unsuccessful people don't like to do.” -- Michael Phelps “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." -- Harry S. Truman “The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.” -- Peter Drucker “Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” -- Dwight D. Eisenhower “Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team.” -- John C. Maxwell "People buy into the leader, then the vision.” -- John C. Maxwell “Great leaders have courage, tenacity and patience.” -- Bill McBean ...

"Great Places To Work" Employee Perks

StLouis magazine is featuring in its January issue 60 companies that they deemed "great places to work". Helping those companies to earn that honor are the perks they give their employees, some of which you might want to consider for 2011. Here's a sampling of the perks that cover the vast range offered by the 60 companies: ARCO Construction Company -- Paid sabbaticals after every five years with the company Armstrong Teasdale -- Women's career-coaching program Bryan Cave -- Backup day-care/elder-care services Build-A-Bear Workshop -- Health Insurance for part-time employees Boeing -- Continuing education tuition support Centene Corporation -- Dry-cleaning pick-up/delivery; on-site car washes and oil changes HOK -- Paid paternity leave LarsonAllen -- Development coaches for employees Maritz -- Health fair Monsanto -- Lactation rooms Nestle Purina PetCare Company -- On-site tailor Ralcorp Holdings -- New jobs listed internally first Scottrad...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog