Leadership Development

On Becoming a Leader Deemed “the dean of leadership gurus” by Forbes magazine, Warren Bennis has for years persuasively argued that leaders are not born—they are made. Delving into the qualities that define leadership, the people who exemplify it, and the strategies that anyone can apply to achieve it, his classic work On Becoming a Leader has served as a source of essential insight for countless readers. In a world increasingly defined by turbulence and uncertainty, the call to leadership is more urgent than ever.

The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition “Leadership books are a dime a dozen and most don’t last a week let alone years. The Leadership Challenge has lasted because it is research based, it is practical, and it has heart! Believe me&they have hard evidence for what we usually think of as a soft topic. This book especially shines when ordinary folks can take these practices and work them into our lives on a moment-by-moment basis. Both authors are leaders in their own right, which doesn’t hurt a bit. Why offer a new revision? Practically speaking, Jim and Barry have piles of new data to share, new real life examples to tell, and updates given the wild and crazy new economy.” – Tom Peters, management guru, founder and chairman, Tom Peters Company and author, In Search of Excellence.

Leadership is Dead: How Influence is Reviving It Anyone can make an impact. All you need is influence—the most potent professional asset on the planet. The problem is that influence is also the most underused asset on the planet. And the primary reason is that the enemy of influence is a universal human trait: self-preservation. You guard your ideas, your status, and your reputation. Within your self-constructed walls you must cast safer visions, take smaller risks, and accept shallower relationships to ensure the security of all you are protecting. This is the downside of self-preservation: While your walls protect you and yours from demise, they also restrict your influence. This book shows that the key to effective leadership is learning how to influence in a way that engenders greater trust, stronger partnerships, and more impactful endeavors.

Leadership from the Inside Out “Leadership from the Inside Out is an interactive,reflective journey into the heart of authentic,personal leadership. It gives you the practical tools to grow as a whole person to become a leader for life. Leadership from the Inside Out was named the #1 best selling business book by CEO-READ in 2000.”

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You 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

“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.”

Reviewed here on The Practice of Leadership!

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). It’s our nature.
Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they’re enabling countless new tribes to be born—groups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming.
And so the key question: Who is going to lead us?
If you ignore this opportunity, you risk turning into a “sheepwalker”—someone who fights to protect the status quo at all costs, never asking if obedience is doing you (or your organization) any good. Sheepwalkers don’t do very well these days.Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities in leading your fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers. . . . It’s not easy, but it’s easier than you think.

Reviewed here on The Practice of Leadership!

True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership True North shows how anyone who follows their internal compass can become an authentic leader. This leadership tour de force is based on research and first-person interviews with 125 of today’s top leaders—with some surprising results. In this important book, acclaimed former Medtronic CEO Bill George and coauthor Peter Sims share the wisdom of these outstanding leaders and describe how you can develop as an authentic leader. True North presents a concrete and comprehensive program for leadership success and shows how to create your own Personal Leadership Development Plan centered on five key areas:

• Knowing your authentic self
• Defining your values and leadership principles
• Understanding your motivations
• Building your support team
• Staying grounded by integrating all aspects of your life

True North offers an opportunity for anyone to transform their leadership path and become the authentic leader they were born to be.