Timless Leadership

Timeless Leadership provides eighteen lessons about being a leader from the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Indian sacred text. This is no ordinary “leadership according to” book. The author plummets the depths of what it means to be a leader. Chatterjee, a scholar and leadership coach, approaches his subject with sensitivity and reverence. Reading this book is like entering into the calm of a sacred space. Chatterjee makes clear the spiritual, philosophical, and practical implications of the Bhagavad Gita for leaders. This book explores the spirituality of leadership without advocating any particular religious perspective. True leadership emerges from within the leader. This book should be the starting point for anyone wanting to be a leader. There are many volumes that focus on technique. Chatterjee has written a guide on how to integrate being a leader into one’s personal identity.

Thinking In Systems

A key ability of leaders is to be able to think in terms of systems, in wholes. Systems are complex. However, they need not be complicated. Donella H. Meadows in her book "Thinking in Systems" does an excellent job in untangling the complex elements of systems so as to make an understanding of systems less complicated. With diagrams and clear explanations, Meadows provides the reader with the basic knowledge needed to comprehend the complex world of systems. But she does not end there. She also explains how systems may be influenced. The book identifies system traps and how to avoid them. Leverage points for intervening in systems are explained. How to live within systems is discussed.

This is a timely book. The economic, social, political, and environmental crises we face today are systems problems. They can be resolved only if we understand the dynamics of systems. A quote in the book by Václav Havel reads that “we must learn to wait as we learn to create.” An understanding of systems can give us the patience and knowledge we need as citizens and leaders to resolve our current crises. Reading this book is an excellent start toward achieving that understanding.

Learning As A Way Of Being

I highly recommend reading Peter Vaill's book Learning As A Way of Being. The book focuses on how to educate for managerial leadership, whether taking place in corporate training programs or higher education. Vaill describes seven qualities of learning as a way of being that are critical for training leaders. The seven qualities of learning proposed by Vaill include:

• Self-directed: The learner should be able to manage his/her efforts to confront unique learning challenges.


• Creative: An attitude of exploration is needed when confronting novel learning problems.


• Expressive: This is learning by doing.


• Feeling: The learner needs to be able to deal with feelings of confusion, fear, and incompetence as well as experience the meaning of what is learned.


• On-line: Learning takes place within the environments we find ourselves rather than being confined to educational institutions.


• Continual: The realization that we are to learn throughout our lives and maintain the mindset of a beginner.


• Reflexive: Learn about learning and be aware of one's own learning process.

Vaill explains each of these qualities in depth. The book will be valuable to those responsible for leadership training. It will also provide those who would lead with an understanding of the type of learning that is required to grow into being a leader.

Start

Leaders create that which does not yet exist. Leaders initiate. In the book Poke the Box, author Seth Godin makes the case for taking the initiative. Those who create, lead, succeed are those who risk being initiators. Godin urges the reader to get in the habit of starting. He addresses the reasons for not taking the initiative and shatters the rationale behind each excuse.

Godin, at the start of the book, outlines the seven imperatives for making something happen. These include: 1. be aware; 2. be educated; 3. be connected; 4. be consistent; 5. build an asset; 6. be productive; 7. ship. To make something happen you need an idea, people to work on it, someplace to make it, raw materials, a way to distribute, finances, and marketing.

This is not a how-to book, though. Poke the Box is a manifesto about starting. There are no set formulas for initiating. There are no road maps for success. Success goes to those who create the maps. Godin’s purpose is to motivate the reader to start. Poke the Box is a quick read; it can be finished in one sitting. Godin doesn’t want you wasting time reading a manual, he wants you to start. Godin’s book is a great place to begin.

Lead With Luv

Lead With Luv is written as a conversation between business author Ken Blanchard and President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines Colleen Barrett. The main message of the book is that you need to care first about your employees if you want to achieve lasting business success. Southwest Airlines is held up as the role model of a company that gets it right. The authors emphasize that profit is a product of caring. The purpose of a business is to serve—first the employees, then customers, and finally shareholders.

The book is a quick and inspiring read. There are many stories illustrating Southwest’s outstanding customer service. The authors describe what needs to be done to create a caring company, but don’t expect a how-to manual. Do expect to discover how love is relevant to business success in a competitive world.

A Quick Reference on Persuading

Persuasion is an important skill for leading. For those looking for a quick introduction to the subject, I recommend The Skinny of The Art of Persuasion by Jim Randel. This book provides sound information in an engaging, conversational style. Information is presented in short frames with simple visuals. The information is concise. The essence of the topic is covered in a fun way that keeps the reader’s attention. The book can be read in an hour or so; excellent for people in a hurry or who don’t like to read. For those who want more details on the subject, the reading list at the end provides sufficient recommendations. This book is a good introduction to the subject and a handy resource. There is even a removable bookmark printed with the nine rules of persuasion the reader may use as a quick reference. A good book for those new to the subject or for those who want a quick refresher.

Most Influential Books On Leadership

An informal survey done over the listserv of the International Leadership Association resulted in the following list of most influential books on leadership. I came across this list in Deeper Learning in Leadership by Dennis C. Roberts.

International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior by N. Adler
Integrating the Individual and the Organization by C. Argyris
Knowledge for Action by C. Argyris
Social Foundations of Thought and Action by A. Bandura
On the Nature of Leadership by R. Barker
Bass & Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership by B. Bass
Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations by B. Bass & B. Avolio
Spiral Dynamics by D. Beck & C. Cowan
Leaders by W. Bennis & B. Nanus
Stewardship by P. Block
Thought As A System by D. Bohm
Power Up by D. Bradford & A. Cohen
The Student Leadership Guide by B. Burchard
Leadership by J. M. Burns
Philosophical Foundations of Leadership by D. Cawthon
The Courageous Follower by I. Chaleff
Leadership Theory and Research by M. Chemers & R. Ayman
To Lead The Way by D. B. Clark
The Charismatic Leader by J. Conger
Principle Centered Leadership by S. Covey
The 8th Habit by S. Covey
The Deep Blue Sea by W. Drath
A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness by F. Fiedler
New Approaches to Effective Leadership by F. Fiedler & J. Garcia
Paradigms and Promises by W. Foster
The Reconstruction of Leadership by W. Foster
Nuts! by K. Frieberg & J. Frieberg
The Leadership Investment by R. Fulmer
On Leadership by J. Gardner
Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way by R. Gerber
Servant Leadership by R. K. Greenleaf & L. C. Spears
Leadership by M. Hackman & C. Johnson
The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell by O. Harari
Leadership Without Easy Answers by R. Heifetz
Kinds of Power by J. Hillman
Leadership by R. L. Hughes, R. C. Ginnett, & G. J. Curphy
The Social Psychology of Organizations by D. Katz & R. Kahn
Exploring Leadership by S. R. Komives, N. Lucas, & T. R. McMahon
The Leadership Challenge by J. Kouzes & B. Pozner
Leadership On The Line by M. Linsky & R. Heifetz
The Connective Edge by J. Lipman-Blumen
SuperLeadership by C. Manz & H. Sims
The Leader, the Led, and the Psyche by B. Mazlish
The Leadership Odyssey by C. S. Napolitano & L. J. Henderson
Leadership by P. Northouse
The Adventure of Working Abroad by J. Osland
Surfing the Edge of Chaos by R. Pascale, M. Milleman, & L. Gioja
In Search of Excellence by T. Peters & R. H. Waterman
Lincoln on Leadership by D. Phillips
Ready To Lead? by A. Price
Leading People From The Middle by W. Robinson
Leadership for the Twenty-First Century by J. Rost
Organizational Culture and Leadership by E. H. Schein
Leadership in Administration by P. Selznick
The Fifth Discipline by P. M. Senge
Insights on Leadership by L. Spears
Policy Paradox by D. A. Stone
Leadership and the New Science by M. J. Wheatley
A Theory of Everything by K. Wilber
The Leader's Companion by T. Wren
Leadership in Organizations by G. Yukl
The Nature of Executive Leadership by S. Zaccaro