These are great books we highly recommend:
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Audible. Most of the books I “read” are in audiobook form. This helps me to pass the time as I go for a run or during my daily commute. If you are not sure whether you will like it or not, you can get a free month from audible. This free month offers 2 credits that can be used to get any audiobook you like and they are yours even if you cancel during the month. After that you get 1 credit per month and a HUGE discount on other books. I highly recommend giving it a try for the free membership! I have been a member for a long time and am very pleased.
Atomic Habits by James Clear. This is a newer book, but I read it twice in a row. James teaches how to change the way we look at habits and how to use them to our advantage. I am big fan of taking small steps each day toward a much larger finish line and this book is a great tool to help you blueprint it.
Do Over by Jon Acuff.When you don’t like your job, Sunday isn’t really a weekend day. It’s just pre-Monday. But what if you could call a Do Over and actually look forward to Monday?
Jon teaches how to build a career savings account to set you up for anything life can throw at you. Even if you are not about to move jobs or careers, the advice will make you more valuable to your current team.
Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. This is one of the first leadership books that I have read and it changed my perspective in many areas. It helped to lay out a framework for me to apply all of the lessons I learned to that point and build a foundation for the future.
Move Your Bus by Ron Clark. Teamwork is crucial to the success of any business, and as acclaimed author and speaker Ron Clark illustrates, the members of any team are the key to unlocking success. Imagine a company as a bus filled with people who either help or hinder a team’s ability to move it forward: drivers (who steer the organization), runners (who consistently go above and beyond for the good of the organization), joggers (who do their jobs without pushing themselves), walkers (who are just getting pulled along), and riders (who hinder success and drag the team down). It’s the team leader’s job to recognize how members fall into these categories, encourage them to keep the “bus” moving by working together, and know when it’s time to kick the riders off.
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a “Circle of Safety” that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside. Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.
The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews. This modern morality tale teaches seven fundamental strategies for creating a successful life. Much like the best-selling books by Og Mandino, this unique narrative is a blend of entertaining fiction, allegory, and inspiration. Storyteller Andy Andrews gives a front-row seat for one man’s journey of a lifetime. David Ponder has lost his job and the will to live. When he is supernaturally selected to travel through time, he visits historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, King Solomon, and Anne Frank. Each visit yields a Decision for Success that will one day impact the entire world. Get the audiobook version…Andy is an AMAZING story teller.
We Need To Talk: How To Have Conversations That Matter by Celeste Headlee. Today most of us communicate from behind electronic screens, and studies show that Americans feel less connected and more divided than ever before. The blame for some of this disconnect can be attributed to our political landscape, but the erosion of our conversational skills as a society lies with us as individuals. And the only way forward, says Headlee, is to start talking to each other. In We Need to Talk, she outlines the strategies that have made her a better conversationalist—and offers simple tools that can improve anyone’s communication.
Also, check out my interview with her at: http://inspiretomorrow.org/podcast/episode007/
The Maverick Paradox: The Secret Power Behind Successful Leaders by Judith Germain. This book offers a fresh perspective to a sub-culture of of workers very few of us knew existed. Judith Germain has studied and cataloged what a maverick is and how to harness their power. Ironically, we all know someone like this and have no clue of their hidden talent and capabilities. We think they are bucking the systems and trying to carve their own paths when they are really trying to solve the problems no one else can seem to handle! If you want a different perspective on how to lead all of the members of your team more effectively, buy this book. If you want to read a well-written book that will get you thinking differently about how to retain some of the most talented people in your org, read this book.
Also, check out my interview with her at: http://inspiretomorrow.org/podcast/episode004/
Finish by Jon Acuff. Not sure if you’ve heard of the book, ‘Finish’ by Jon Acuff. I got the audio version and am really enjoying his perspective on setting goals. He shows a different side to many age-old beliefs and how to get through the feeling that we have to be perfect. We all know what it’s like to start a new routine and then miss a day for some reason and then it totally messes us up and we quit. I am going to buy the paperback to have, but would seriously recommend the audio version because this guy is VERY entertaining.
Linchpin
by Seth Godin. Seth Godin has taught generations of readers how to make remarkable products and spread powerful ideas. In Linchpin, he turns his attention to the individual, and explains how anyone can make a significant impact within their organization. There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there’s a third team, the linchpins. These people figure out what to do when there’s no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers.
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. Ryan Holiday shows us how some of the most successful people in history—from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs—have applied stoicism to overcome difficult or even impossible situations. Their embrace of these principles ultimately mattered more than their natural intelligence, talents, or luck.
Resilience by Eric Greitens. We do not bounce back from injury or pain. We have to move through it. Our culture is obsessed with happiness where to find it, how to achieve it but happiness should not be a goal but a byproduct of our actions. Resilience is what makes us strong, keeps us going, and improves our character along the way.Best-selling author, Navy SEAL, and humanitarian Eric Greitens offers a masterpiece of warrior wisdom that will change your life.
You Can’t Beat Me! by Joe Lawrence. Have you ever felt like you were backed into a corner or felt the need to stand your ground? Have you ever said something due to an emotional reaction you wish you could take back. If this is you and everyone else who wants to win every physical or verbal fight or even avoid them all together, this book is for you. You Can’t Beat Me! covers the motives behind fights and the strategies to take to win every fight.
Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back.
Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss. This book contains the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else. Tim has interviewed over 200 guests on his podcast and this book includes new tips from past guests, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met. You will find tons of actionable advice and great perspectives in this all-inclusive book broken into: healthy, wealthy and wise.
The Servant by James C. Hunter. In this absorbing tale, you watch the timeless principles of servant leadership unfold through the story of John Daily, a businessman whose outwardly successful life is spiraling out of control. He is failing miserably in each of his leadership roles as boss, husband, father, and coach. To get his life back on track, he reluctantly attends a weeklong leadership retreat at a remote Benedictine monastery.
20,000 Days and Counting by Robert D. Smith. Most people sleepwalk through day-to-day life, passively letting time slip away. Unfortunately, the only thing that can usually wake people up to the intensity of life is impending death. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? 20,000 Days presents breathtakingly simple strategies and concepts that, once applied, will enable readers to be 100% present and intentional with every passing minute of every day, for the rest of their lives.
Start with Why by Simon Sinek. Any person or organization can explain what they do; some can explain how they are different or better; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not about money or profit – those are results.WHY is the thing that inspires us and inspires those around us.
From Martin Luther King, Jr. to Steve Jobs to the Wright Brothers, Start with Why shows that the leaders who inspire all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way – and it’s the complete opposite of what everyone else does. Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired – and it all starts with WHY.
Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. Dr. Spencer Johnson realizes the need for finding the language and tools to deal with change–an issue that makes all of us nervous and uncomfortable. Most people are fearful of change because they don’t believe they have any control over how or when it happens to them. Since change happens either to the individual or by the individual, Spencer Johnson shows us that what matters most is the attitude we have about change.
Deep Work by Cal Newport. Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there’s a better way.
Work the System by Sam Carpenter. The leader doesn’t see the mechanisms that are producing the bad results. The systems of life are there, working constantly, whether one sees them or not. So it follows that unseen (and therefore unmanaged) systems will produce random bad results. Fixing these bad results is called fire-killing. The leader who is blind to the machinery that is producing the bad results won’t be able to reach in to adjust it so it will create desired results. The successful leader sees the machinery and therefore can adjust it to produce desired results. It’s the seeing part that is critical.
This book is a free download and audio book if you offer your email address at the site above.
Leading with Honor by Lee Ellis is a book for men and women who want to elevate their influence and effectiveness to the next level. The basic layout for each chapter is a story from the POW camp, Hanoi Hilton, to highlight leadership principles and examples. At the end of each chapter is personal coaching designed to help you apply the principles. The book is divided into two sections, Leading Yourself and Leading Others, and contains 14 chapters. There is a “Foot Stomper” at the end of each chapter to summarize the key point and help lead the review. (description from PACE website)
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