My Top 5 Recommended Books on Leadership

For those of you that follow me on Twitter,  you will know that I participate in some weekly ‘Twitter Chats’.  One of my favorites is called #tchat, hosted by Talent Culture.

To learn more about Talent Culture and their weekly chat, please click the following link: What is tchat? It’s a great community and I highly recommend it.

Last week’s tchat was about learning from the community and gathering sources to share with others.

The first question that was asked of the community was “What 1-2 “must read” books would you recommend to a business peer?” There are many on my list but it is hard to contain them all in only 140 characters.

I was inspired to share my list of resources with you. While I have many, many books that I would recommend, these are my top 5 recommended books on leadership.

The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business by Patrick M. Lencioni

There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart they are and more to do with how healthy they are. In this book, Lencioni brings together his vast experience and many of the themes cultivated in his other best-selling books and delivers a first: a cohesive and comprehensive exploration of the unique advantage organizational health provides.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change was a groundbreaker when it was first published in 1990, and it continues to be a business bestseller with more than 10 million copies sold. Stephen Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, realizes that true success encompasses a balance of personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for performing better in both arenas. His anecdotes are as frequently from family situations as from business challenges. Before you can adopt the seven habits, you’ll need to accomplish what Covey calls a “paradigm shift”–a change in perception and interpretation of how the world works. Covey takes you through this change, which affects how you perceive and act regarding productivity, time management, positive thinking, developing your “proactive muscles” (acting with initiative rather than reacting), and much more. This isn’t a quick-tips-start-tomorrow kind of book. The concepts are sometimes intricate, and you’ll want to study this book, not skim it. When you finish, you’ll probably have Post-it notes or hand-written annotations in every chapter, and you’ll feel like you’ve taken a powerful seminar by Covey. —Joan Price

Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead With Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Richard E. Boyatzis and Annie McKee

Drawing from decades of research within world-class organizations, the authors show that great leaders excel not just through skill and smarts, but by connecting with others using Emotional Intelligence competencies like empathy and self-awareness. The best leaders, they show, have “resonance”–a powerful ability to drive emotions in a positive direction to get results–and can fluidly interchange among a variety of leadership styles as the situation demands. Groundbreaking and timely, this book reveals the new requirements of successful leadership.

Getting Ahead: Three Steps to Take Your Career to the Next Level by Joel A. Garfinkle

In Getting Ahead, one of the top 50 executive coaches in the United States, Joel Garfinkle reveals his signature model for mastering three skills to take your career to the next level: Perception, Visibility, and Influence.

The PVI-model of professional advancement will teach you to: (1) Actively promote yourself as an asset and valuable person inside the organization, (2) Increase your visibility to gain others’ recognition and appreciation for your efforts and (3) Become a person of influence who makes key decisions inside the organization.

Getting Ahead will put you ahead of the competition to become a known, valued, and desired commodity at your company.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell

If you’ve never read The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, you’ve been missing out on one of the best-selling leadership books of all time. If you have read the original version, then you’ll love this new expanded and updated one.

Internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author John C. Maxwell has taken this million-seller and made it even better:

• Every Law of Leadership has been sharpened and updated
• Seventeen new leadership stories are included
• Two new Laws of Leadership are introduced
• New evaluation tool will reveal your leadership strengths—and weaknesses
• New application exercises in every chapter will help you grow

Why would Dr. Maxwell make changes to his best-selling book?

“A book is a conversation between the author and reader,” says Maxwell. “It’s been ten years since I wrote The 21 Laws of Leadership. I’ve grown a lot since then. I’ve taught these laws in dozens of countries around the world. This new edition gives me the opportunity to share what I’ve learned.”

Is something missing from my list that you would recommend? Leave a comment below and let me know. We can expand on this list, and provide more resources to share with the community.