Best Leadership Books of 2007

Originally posted in Leading Blog on December 25, 2007.

Learning for the successful person, is a lifelong journey. No book or conference is an end in itself. They should encourage you to dig deeper and more often.

These titles do not necessarily represent popularity in terms of numbers of books sold. In a few cases they did not get the recognition they deserved. But all of the titles selected will contain ideas relevant and compelling to leaders at all levels and contexts.

The authors all addressed the question, “How can I create the environment and perform in a way that leads to consistently successful outcomes?” But more than that, they deal with the real success of a leader: the creating of a leadership economy if you will—a place where leaders are developed at all levels and in all areas of life. These books will help you on your journey.

True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George and Peter Sims

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith with Mark Reiter

How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything…in Business (and in Life) by Dov L. Seidman

Measure of a Leader by Aubrey C. Daniels and James E. Daniels

Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls by Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis

The Leaders We Need: And What Makes Us Follow by Michael Maccoby

The Future of Management by Gary Hamel

egonomics: What Makes Ego Our Greatest Asset (or Most Expensive Liability) by David Marcum and Steven Smith

Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner

Leaders at All Levels: Deepening Your Talent Pool to Solve the Succession Crisis by Ram Charan

Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time by Kevin Eikenberry

The Halo Effect … and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers by Phil Rosenzweig

Again, we have selected a few biographies. As a category, they shape minds and ideas in ways that no other type of business book can. It’s a good idea to always be working through a biography of some kind. It gives motivation for much needed self-reflection. To learn vicariously, is perhaps the best way to learn most things.

The Education of an Accidental CEO: Lessons Learned from the Trailer Park to the Corner Office by David Novak with John Boswell

Bo’s Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership by Bo Schembechler and John U. Bacon

The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World by Randall E. Stross