It's Our Ship: The No-Nonsense Guide to Leadership
by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff
Comments: "Highly recommend this book with its straightforward no-nonsense guide to leadership. The bottom line is collaborative leadership makes an organization unbeatable."

 

 

 

Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman
Comments: "This is an eye opening read about the choices we make."

 

 

 

The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything
by Stephen M.R. Covey
Comments: "This book is full of resources that can be implemented into any group to build or repair trust. I believe the 4 Cores of Credibility is an excellent self-gauging chapter covering Integrity, Intent, Capabilities, and Results. A must have in your resource library."

 

 

Checklist Manifesto
by Atul Gawande
Comments: "This is a must read for anyone wanting to implement a checklist for results.
The origin of the checklist is reviewed and why it works. Gawande, a top rated surgeon, focuses on the medical industry and how he helped the World Health Organization to design, develop and implement a checklist to create lasting results during surgery. The impact from the simple checklist were astounding. Gawande goes on to show similar results in other professional industries including: aviation, finance, construction and venture capitalism. Even with overwhelmingly positive results, few are willing to incorporate a checklist."

 

 

The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and for Life
by Laurie Beth Jones
Comments: "Need to write your Mission Statement? How about your Client Value Proposition? What are you all about? Can a twelve year old repeat it... Forget the elevator speech; show your personality and your abilities. This author gives some excellent case studies and exercises to help to move through this process."

 

 

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book
by Don Miguel Ruiz
Comments: "This is a great roadmap for interacting with another human being and being your best.
-Be Impeccable with Your Words
-Don't Take Anything Personally
-Don't Make Assumptions
-Always Do Your Best"

 

Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It
by Peggy Klaus
Comments: "This is a fun read with lots of Ah-Ha opportunities. Klaus refers to her "bragologue" as the listing of all her personal and professional accomplishments and then weaving them into the Peggy Klaus story. I personally liked her #7 Myth that BRAG is a four-letter word. She states, "bragging is not becoming something you aren't or trying to put something over on someone...but the art of becoming more of who you are and bringing forward your best parts with authenticity, pride and enthusiasm." I particularly like the "Take 12" - Self Evaluation to identify all your great brag bites."

 

Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
by Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz
Comments: "Why would you want to eat alone? This fun read has some great ways to think about building quality business relationships and not just being a "business card dispenser". The "Blue Flame" that Ferrazzi talks about is your passion and ability coming together and igniting your natural force within you that gets you to where you want to go. It gives you lots of ideas beyond the typical - where and how to network. Not to mention the always-needed call to action at the end of the chapters. "

 

 

Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell
Comments: "This is a very interesting read in that it highlights the unique circumstances that area big part of the formula for becoming successful. Gladwell states, "It's not enough to ask what successful people are like...it is only by aksing where they are from that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn't." One area that that I think is amazing is the fact that children born towards the end of the calendar year tend to be less successful than those born earlier in the calendar year. He states that this can "lock in" a child to patterns of encouragement and discouragement for years. More opportunities are given to the older child only because maturity and ability are confused. Therefore the older student is put into more advanced groups, better sports teams and with the additional learning they will be better. If you are an educator this is a must read as you may be overlooking a very able learner that is merely disguised. "

 

The Power of Focus: What the Worlds Greatest Achievers Know about The Secret of Financial Freedom and Success
by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Les Hewitt
Comments: "This is an excellent resource that's an easy read. Each chapter has action steps to support your struggles around focusing on achievement in life. One of the interesting statistics mentioned is 90% of people who attend workshop/seminars see no improvement because of the lack of implementation. Does this sound like you? I know I've had the "gung-ho" attitude and then a week later it's a dust collector. Whether it's financial or anything you want to have better focus on in life this is a excellent way to "eat the elephant..."