Recommended Reading

I highly recommend the following list of leadership books.  I have read them all and, in my opinion, they are excellent resources.  I have included a brief note about each resource that highlights what I liked about the book.  If you don't find what you are looking for or have any questions, please send us a note and we will do our best to help! - Merle

Leadership

Courageous Leadership (Hardcover)
	by Bill Hybels This book was written by a highly successful pastor who shares some great insights. One concept I liked the best was “vision leakage”. I found some parts incredibly funny and other parts brought tears.

Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence (Paperback)
	by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee I believe emotional intelligence is one of the best concepts to surface in recent years. I really enjoyed the background, studies and other information presented in the book.  I can see how my growth in emotional intelligence has positively impacted my development as a leader.

The Leadership Challenge Workbook (Paperback)
	by James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner This is a very good resource to use along with the book.  I encourage the use of resources like this for people who work together, especially leadership teams.  The old adage, “Iron sharpens iron”, comes to mind.  There is much to gain when leaders in an organization practice solid leadership principles.

The Leadership Challenge, 3rd Edition (Paperback)
	by James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner If I could only read one book on leadership, this would be it.  I think this is a great book.  As a leader, I read this book with my leadership team and it helped give us a common perspective about characteristics that contribute to leadership success.

Leading Change

Enlightened Leadership (Paperback)
	by Ed Oakley This book makes some very good points about change. The analogies are very good, like water flowing down a river flows around rocks that are obstacles in the path. I often quote the statistics pertaining to the percentage of people who are proactive and change friendly.

Lightning in a Bottle (Paperback)
	by David Baum In terms of leading change, this is my favorite book. Each chapter is short and a quick read. However, it is packed with excellent stories and great points. The author consults in change management internationally and has a wealth of experience to draw upon. This was another book that my leadership team I and read together.

Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change (Paperback)
	by William Bridges This is one of the classics on change management. I really like his perspective on the people side of change. The three phases of change has important points to consider when leading change.

Taking Charge of Change: 10 Principles for Managing People and Performance (Paperback)
	by Douglas K. Smith I like the change model depicted in this book. It’s practical and makes sense, especially for people who have to do tasks differently. It addresses the people side of change, which is critical in my opinion.

Building Teams

Championship Team Building: What Every Coach Needs to Know to Build a Motivated, Committed & Cohesive Team (Paperback)
	by Jeff Janssen, J Janssen This was an excellent resource on developing teams based on the author’s success in helping teams win national softball championships. While it is focused on a team sport, he draws important points out that are applicable to businesses. I like the team building activities at the end of the chapters too.

Leading Self-Directed Work Teams (Hardcover)
	by Kimball Fisher This is the best book on leading self-directed work teams I have seen. After I finished the book, I had a much better understanding of what a self-directed work team is and how they grow. A critical part of this is the team leader’s understanding of how their role changes.

The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team (Hardcover)
	by John C. Maxwell John Maxwell identifies 17 laws about teamwork. Some of them are ones that you might not have thought about before. I liked the Law of the Niche, which says that team members have different skills and abilities. As a result, getting team members in the right place is important in developing a high performing team.

The Performance Factor: Unlocking the Secrets of Teamwork (Hardcover)
	by Pat MacMillan This is the best resource I found on teams in general. It has so much information about teams and is well supported. The case studies add a lot and help the reader understand how to develop teams.

The Team Handbook Third Edition (Spiral-bound)
	by Barbara J. Streibel, Brian L. Joiner, Peter R. Scholtes) This book is an excellent source of information about teams and team life. I liked the information about tools teams need to be productive. Each tool is explained with information about how to implement that tool in your team. The book covers so much. It’s one of my favorite all around books on teams.

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