What do parents, teachers, CEOs and managers have in common?
They are all leaders.
Parents are given the task of leading their children. Teachers, their students. CEOs, their businesses. Managers, their team.
But regardless of who you are leading, the principles are the same.
Learning how to motivate your employees will work just as well with your own children. Granted, sometimes we need to adjust the concepts slightly based on the age and maturity of the people we are leading.
The problem is most people approach leadership as hit or miss; relying on the power of hope…which as you might imagine is not the best way to lead.
Leadership comes naturally to some. For others, it’s a struggle. The constant balancing of egos, keeping harmony within the unit, getting people to work together rather than against each other and more. But here’s the good news, leadership skills can be learnt.
All it takes in a willingness to want to improve, less than a hundred bucks (at the local used bookstore or library) and an hour a day and you can transform your life forever.
Not just how you see your team, but so much more.
So I did a little digging and came up with a list of 17 books all leaders must read.
From motivation and management to mindset and communication, these books have a little bit of everything and will help change the way you see leadership.
- The Winner Within by Pat Riley
- Start With Why by Simon Sinek
- The Art of the Leader by William Cohen
- Blue Ocean Strategy by W.Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
- Beyond the Obvious by Phil McKinney
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey
- Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
- Tribes by Seth Godin
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Drive by Daniel H. Pink
- Influence by Robert Cialdini
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- The 360-Degree Leader by John C. Maxwell
- Getting Things Done by David Allen
- The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker
- Keys to the Vault by Keith Cunningham
Good leaders are hard to come by, just ask any employee. In fact, the number one reason people leave their jobs is their relationship with their boss.
So being a leader that people look up to often will determine the success of the company.
Bill Gates is quoted as saying, “The key for us, number one, has always been hiring very smart people.”
Steve Jobs said “I noticed that the dynamic range between what an average person could accomplish and what the best person could accomplish was 50 or 100 to 1.Given that, you’re well advised to go after the cream of the cream….A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.”
But without a good leader, those very, smart people will walk out the door.
It’s not enough to “find good people” as my mentor, Jim Rohn, is famous for saying. Once we find them, we must keep them. That’s where leadership comes in, at every level of the company.
And with these books, you’re well on your way to being a leader that people will respect.
Great leaders care about people. As such, I believe, that all great leaders should instill a desire to want to improve in all the people around them.
Anything that leaders can do to help others be better is a good investment that will pay off big time.
So study, learn, inspire and care.
That’s what great leaders do.
Use these books to help you get started.
Adrian Shepherd