Great Leadership Reads - Leadership KinnexUS

Great Leadership Reads are our recommendations for the beginning of your leadership journey. LK Publishing is influenced by the science of social psychology, where the way a person thinks is heavily influenced by the group in which s/he works and lives. By definition leaders influence the way that groups operate and determine what they hope to achieve. The readings below are are a great place to begin your leadership journey!

Ronald Heifetz in The Practice of Adaptive Leadership provides a hands-on guide to learning how to lead in times where organizations and times are changing rapidly. This book is based on two others he’s written, Leadership without easy answers and Leadership on the line.

Team of teams is written by General Stanley McChrystal, and he derives very similar conclusions as Heifetz by using the war against Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), Boeing, and other case studies to illustrate that adaptability is more important than efficiency in many 21^st century organizations and institutions. His analysis of how leaders dealt with the complicated world of the 20^th century is insightful when compared to the need to adapt to the complex world of a war with AQI. Complicated is still here; knowing when to work to be efficient, and when to adapt, is the key to leading, along with nurturing a culture of trust.

The new psychology of leadership by Haslam, et al. I use this in my doctoral class on leadership – great summary of leadership literature, and explains the social psychology approach to leadership used by Heifetz and McChrystal. I favor this approach, but some don’t like the move away from trait leadership (or a more “commanding” or “authoritarian” style of leadership). Those who like to build teams will like this approach.

Chris Lowney, Heroic leadership. Excellent book about the history of the Jesuits, and looks at the work of Ignatius Loyola as a “leader” of the world’s oldest “corporation.” Great history, well written, and provides insights into how to organize one’s day using the Jesuit traditions of the examens. Basically a journaling and reflecting process, I found this book very useful when dealing with motivation and organization.

Jim Collins, Good to great. Perhaps the most popular book on organizations of the past 10 years; summarizes the top performing Fortune 500 companies and analyzes why these companies stand out from their peers. Of special interest is the case study of Wells Fargo, which seems a great example of adaptive leadership.

Robert Sutton, The no asshole rule. Best book I’ve read on dealing with toxic leaders, staff, and colleagues. Humorous, and gives one courage and rationale to get rid of toxic colleagues. Not about leadership per se; rather more about “bad” leaders, so if you can identify the bad ones then you are on your way to figuring out how to be a good one.

Duty, by Robert Gates. Perhaps the best book I’ve read on leadership. Gates, the former Secretary of Defense, is particularly good at taking responsibility for his own mistakes and failures. In doing so he builds great teams, fights micromanagement, and stays on mission. Fantastic read, especially if you like national politics. Also good is his new book on Leadership.

Making it all work by David Allen. A follow up book to Getting things done. But I like this one better because it provides the rationale for why we organize the way that we do. Particularly good for developing techniques to organize information flow (especially email) and create lists of to-dos.

Army Field Manual 6-22. Now replaced by ADRP 6-22. The most widely read book on leadership – ever. Over 4 million downloads from the Center for Army Leadership. Clear terms, good explanations for how leadership “works.” Of course, we are not military so some of the lessons are not applicable. But the general discussion of leadership is excellent. ADRP 6-22 is available for free at http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/ADRP_1.html

Mohammed, Jim Collins’ Good to Great. See above reference.

Ethan, Wooden, J. R., & Jamison, S. (2005). Wooden on Leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill