Leadership Reading List

One of the things I've done in my job is run a leadership book and article club. We selected an appropriate book or article and discussed it on the phone during two or three sessions held at different times to accommodate the various time zones around the world.

Typically, while attendance was small, participation was intense. Some books hit closer to home than others. Here are some of the ones we've read that proved extremely popular.

It's Your Ship! by Michael Abrashoff has become an extremely popular book. Commander Abrashoff, of the US Navy, took command of a US destroyer, probably one of the worst ships in the US Pacific fleet. In less than two years, he turned it into the best ship in the US Navy! This book retells how he did it and it is an excellent read. Most lessons apply to civilian organizations as well as military ones.

If you prefer to listen to it, it is also available as an audiobook.

Abrashoff has gone on to write a new book based on research he has done with civilian and military leaders: Get Your Ship Together. I'm in the process of reading it at present and it is good.

Another book that became extremely popular, even with our IT staff members who rarely participated in the book club is The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. This book, through the use of a fable, provides an excellent way to identify why teams do not function well together and, even more important, provides a way for team members to talk about it in a less threatening way than saying "you are not a team player!" As a matter of fact, our CIO purchased copies for his staff to read and discuss! The author, Patrick Lencioni, has developed Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team : A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators to help in this process. Warning: I have not read this guide so I cannot comment on it.

For articles, we mostly used articles from the Harvard Business Review. The organization had a corporate license through our library group, so it was easy to have people obtain the articles. While it was assumed we would get more participation since the articles are much shorter than books (typically 8-9 pages), the number of participants stayed about the same.

Recently, we started using peers in our staff to conduct the discussions, rather than having me do them. This proved very popular, as employees could attend and hear their boss discuss a leadership concept presented in the book or article, hear his/her opinion on it, and be able to openly discuss it.

So, the article club was key in increasing leadership development awareness. Many other activities also took place (newsletters, classes, presentations, customized services) which I'll discuss in future blogs. I'll also talk about other books that we've found to be very relevant, in particular Thomas Friedman's
The World is Flat. Notice that this link is to the new and expanded edition. The previous edition is still available. If you haven't read this book, you must do it. Friedman's classification of workers in the developed world (read US) is worth the price.

Friedman's previous book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization is also an excellent read.

So tell me which are your favorite books? How about leadership movies? I look forward to your comments!

The buck stops here (with the leader)

I just came back from a cruise and was unimpressed with some of the gaffes that occurred during it: at the first port, there were not enough launches to get the passengers to land, making people wait hours; the newsletter had a number of errors, including telling passengers the wrong date when to change dates; one of our cabins had the luggage and clothing from the previous passengers...they were continuing it on the same ship but in a different cabin. It led me to think: why so many issues?

I sincerely think it starts and stops with the captain and the senior leadership. If gaffes like these are acceptable, they will occur. If the expectations and support are for exceptional execution, that is what will happen.

Don't believe me? Read CPT Michael Abrashoff's It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy on how he turned one of the worse destroyers in the US Navy to one of the best in about 18 months! You can find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, as well as many other bookstores. I highly recommend this book as a way of introducing the importance of leadership and how to apply it in your organization.

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What is Leadership?

I've been trying to address and get others to understand this question for the last few years. We all know it when we see it, but it doesn't mean we know how to do it or what it entails. How do you figure out how to build your leadeership skills?

The typical answer: come to my class and I'll teach you. Not quite. A lot more is needed. Things such as practicing leadership (leadership is like swimming or driving. Are you ready just by sitting in a class and hearing about it? No!). And then you have to get some feedback.

I've found a number of excellent sources of information, some good books, etc. I'll be sharing some of these, as well as other things, as time goes on.

Let me know your thoughts on leadership?

BTW, a typical answer to what is leadership is "the ability to get other(s) to do something willingly." The last part is key, as we are all familiar with the drill sergeant style of leadership (or lack thereoff!)