Recommended Reads for Leadership
In our recent Leadership for the Future breakfast panel in Edmonton, our audience were keen to know what leadership books our panelists recommend.
So, without further ado, here is the leadership reading list recommended by our panel of experts: Monica Norminton, Lori Schmidt, Robert Huizinga, Chris Hayman and Stephen Race.
Monica Norminton
Monica is the former President and CEO of Alberta Pensions Services Corporation (APS); during her tenure with APS, employee engagement improved from the low 20s to 60%. Monica shared her top leadership reads and why:
- Matthew Lieberman – Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect
Matthew talks about the importance of social connections. I was fortunate to have Mathew as one of my advisors for my masters program – before he was famous – and he just makes sense. - George Kohlrieser’s book Hostage at the Table is older but his new book Care to Dare speaks to the value of caring leadership and how to inspire people. It’s a little bit Oprah Winfrey-ish in style, but it has value I think.
- David Rock is the founder of Results-based coaching and has a number of books on leadership available – all really easy reads and grounded in neuroscience – he is also the creator of the SCARF model I discussed. Highly recommended.
Lori Schmidt
Lori is CEO of Productivity Alberta, a private not-for-profit corporation working to improve the productivity, innovation, and competitiveness performance of Alberta industry. Here are Lori’s recommended reads:
- The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
- Leading With Character: Stories of Valor and Virtue by John Sosik
- Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification by Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman
- Peter Drucker on Leadership
- Leading Change by John P. Kotter
Robert Huizinga
Robert is Vice President, Clinical Affairs for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc.; he is also a skilled leadership trainer and speaker. Luckily for us, Robert has a comprehensive reading list already on-hand that he shared with us:
Reading to Start Your Leadership Journey
- Maxwell, J. C. (2007). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You (10th Anniv.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc.
- George, B. (2003). Authentic Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Collins, J. (2001). Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t. Harper Business.
- Lencioni P (2002) The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Reading To Continue Your Leadership Journey
- Maxwell, J. C. (2005). The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc.
- Collins, J. (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve. Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Review, 83(7/8), 136–146.
- Collins, J. (2006). Good To Great And The Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great (1st ed.). Harper Business.
- Collins, J. (2009). How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In.
- Li, C. (2010). Open Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
- Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2003). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
- Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Boston: Little, Brown.
- Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little Brown and Company.
- Drucker P. (2002). The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
Extra Reading
- Garlow, J. L. (2002). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Tested by Time. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc.
- George, B., & Sims, P. (2007). True North. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
Chris Hayman
Chris is the President of Emeco Canada Limited, Emeco Canada is a major part of Emeco Holdings a publically traded Australian company that is the world’s largest, independent mining equipment rental business.
Chris was travelling and didn’t have full access to his library but he also recommends the work of Peter Drucker.
Stephen Race
Stephen is a noted Occupational Psychologist specialized in engaging a multi-generational workforce. He recommends two books in particular:
- Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
- Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose (2nd Edition) by Rajendra S. Sisodia, Jagdish N. Sheth and David B. Wolfe