While there are many ways for leaders to grow and develop, one of the most impactful is reading leadership books. By reading about the experiences and lessons of other leaders, you can gain new insights and perspectives that can help you in your journey.
Leadership books provide…
A much-needed dose of motivation and inspiration. When you’re feeling burned out or stuck in a rut, reading about the accomplishments of other leaders can help you remember why you’re doing what you do.
Finally, leadership books can help you develop specific skills. If you’re looking to improve your communication or public speaking, for example, plenty of books can offer helpful advice.
Let us look in more detail at why leadership books are essential.
1. Leadership books share the experiences and lessons of other leaders.
One of the most valuable aspects of leadership books is that they provide a window into the experiences and lessons of other leaders. By reading about how others have navigated their way to success, you can gain new insights and perspectives that can help you in your journey.
Some leaders I have enjoyed having a little window into their leadership journey have been.
John Maxwell – Leadership Gold. Here is a book that showed me the importance of leadership is not a rank; it’s an approach! Another great lesson was leadership is doing what is right even when no one is watching. The actual test of leadership is not what happens when things are going well but how you respond during difficult times, to name a few.
Brian Tracy – The Power of Self-Discipline. This book helped me understand the value of delayed gratification and how self-discipline is the key to success in any area of life. If you want to achieve anything significant, you must be willing to put in the hard work and discipline required.
Lee Cockerell – Creativity, Inc. This book helped me understand that as a leader, you are only as good as the team around you. It takes a couple of creatives to develop and execute new ideas flawlessly. Leadership is not about having all the answers but building a group of people who can generate the best ideas and see them through to execution.
Bill George – True North. This book helped me understand the importance of staying true to yourself as a leader. It is easy to get caught up in the trappings of success and lose sight of what is important to you. True North is about finding your anchor and using it to navigate the challenges and opportunities of leadership.
Bill Hybels – Leadership Axioms. This book taught me that leadership is not a position or title but an approach! We all have the opportunity to do leadership regardless of our title or status.
These are just a few of the many leadership books available that can share with you the insights and lessons of some of today’s top leaders.
By reading a book for 3-6 hours, you gain a lifetime of that author’s good and bad experiences. These experiences could put you on an accelerated course for your personal growth. Save you years of fumbling around learning the same result that the author discovered. And while you may not agree with everything every leader has to say, you’re sure to find new insights and perspectives that can help you in your journey.
2. Leadership books provide motivation and inspiration.
When you’re feeling burned out or stuck in a rut, reading about the accomplishments of other leaders can help you remember why you’re doing what you do. Leadership books can be a great source of motivation and inspiration when needed.
Ways you can draw motivation and inspiration from leadership books.
- Finding a leadership role model: someone who has achieved what you want to achieve and reading about their journey. One of mine is John Maxwell. Here is a man who pastored churches and, toward the end of those years, dedicated himself to developing leaders worldwide. Leadership books provided me a front-row seat to observe how John thinks, what he says, and how he says it.
- Reading about other leaders who have faced and overcome challenges similar to ones you’re facing: Can help you remember that you’re not alone in your challenges and that others have faced and overcome them before. It can also give you a new perspective on approaching and overcoming your challenges.
- Learning from the mistakes of other leaders: Leadership books can also be a great source of learning from the mistakes of other leaders. Save the time, energy, and resources needed to make those same mistakes yourself.
- Reading stories of overcoming adversity: can help remind you that you can overcome any obstacle in your life.
3. Leadership books can help develop specific skills.
Here is the most significant and most used help I take from reading leadership books.
Some leadership skills that you can develop by reading Leadership books are:
Communication: Effective communication is one of the most important aspects of being a leader. Leadership books can help you communicate more effectively with your team, clients, and stakeholders.
Some recommended books for you on communication would be:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
The 5 Languages of Leadership, by John Maxwell
Decision-making: Another essential skill for leaders is the ability to make decisions. Leadership books can help you learn how to weigh different options and make decisions that are in the best interest of your team and your organization.
If this is an area you need to learn from some leadership books, check out:
The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries
The Outsiders, by William N. Thorndike
Decisive, by Chip and Dan Heath
Task management: Leaders must often juggle multiple tasks and responsibilities. Leadership books can help you learn how to manage your task more effectively to get more done in less time.
Some recommended books on task management would be:
The One Thing, by Gary Keller
Getting Things Done, by David Allen
Eat That Frog!, by Brian Tracy
Emotional intelligence: Leaders need to be able to understand and manage their own emotions as well as the emotions of others. Leadership books can help you learn how to develop your emotional intelligence so that you can be a more effective leader.
Some recommended books on emotional intelligence would be:
The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book, by Travis Bradberry
Working with Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman
EQ Applied, by Justin Bariso
Conflict resolution: Leaders must also be able to resolve conflicts effectively. Leadership books can help you learn how to identify and resolve conflict in a respectful and beneficial way to all parties involved.
Again allow me to share some potential books to start learning about conflict resolution.
The Leadership Challenge, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni
Crucial Conversations, by Kerry Patterson
There are many other skills that you can develop by reading leadership books. These are just a few examples to get you started.
4. Leadership books can help you understand yourself better.
One of the most important things a leader can do is to understand themselves. Leadership books can help you learn more about who you are as a leader and your strengths and weaknesses. This self-awareness is essential for effective leadership.
Some recommended books for this would be:
The Leadership Journey, by Bill George
True North, by Bill George
StrengthsFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath
So what?
Leadership books are essential for any leader who wants to continue developing their skills and abilities. Leadership books can provide you with the knowledge, tools, and inspiration you need to be the best leader you can be. So make sure to add some leadership books to your reading list!
Now What?
Feel free to share in the comments books that you will pick up or ones that you have already read and what you took from them.
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