8 of the Best Leadership Books of 2015

Leadership

All successful leaders have one thing in common: they are naturally curious people who are lifelong learners and satisfy their need for knowledge through reading. Whether you read a book a month like Bill Gates, or take your time to savor the text, reading can help you sharpen your leadership skills and keep current in an ever-changing 21st century business environment.  Yet, from the 15,974 leadership books published in 2015 and offered on Amazon.com this year, what’s worth picking up?

We’ve gathered the most compelling titles from provocative thought leaders, and offer our top picks from 2015 that are well worth the turn of the page:

1. Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Chris Fussell, Tantum Collins, David Silverman

What it’s about: Gen. McChrystal parallels how the military adapted to fighting a decentralized terrorist network and simulates today’s fast-changing competitive threats in the business world.

Why pick it up:  If military leaders can drop their command-and-control leadership style, it’s time for business leaders to do the same.

2. Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, by Herminia Ibarra

What it’s about: Counted among the world’s top leadership thinkers, INSEAD Professor Herminia Ibarra helps you decide how to best invest your time and to value what she calls “outsight” — the critical perspective we gain from external experiences.

Why pick it up:  Self-reflection is important, but too much introspection anchors us in the past and amplifies our blinders.

3. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

What it’s about: Elon Musk has been described as Steve Jobs, John D. Rockefeller, and Howard Hughes rolled into one.  This biography offers compelling ideas about innovation, managing people, and taking risks from one of the most iconoclastic figures in business today.

Why pick it up:  To arouse your intellectual curiosity, gain insight from an innovative thinker, and keep an open mind when faced with new circumstances.

4. A Curious Mind by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman

What it’s about:  Brian Grazer, the producer behind “Apollo 13,” “Arrested Development” and “A Beautiful Mind,” schedules weekly curiosity conversations with big achievers: scientists, spies, CEOs and anyone else who sparks his interest and is willing to spend a few hours with him. In this book, Grazer and business journalist Charles Fishman explore the power of curiosity and its ability to inspire us.

Why pick it up:  It’s human nature to surround ourselves with people who think like we do.  Stepping outside of our circle expands our paradigm and illuminates our blind spots.

5. Yes, And by Kelly Leonard and Tom Yorton

What it’s about: The authors of Yes, And are executives at The Second City, the improv group where comedians like Tina Fey and Stephen Colbert got their start. This book offers techniques for in-the-moment acting that stimulates creativity and builds empathy.

Why pick it up: “But” stops the bus. “Yes, And” gives your team a safe space to generate unique ideas, then combine those ideas into the best result.

6. Work Rules! by Laszlo Bock

What it’s about: An exploration of new ways of thinking about and behaving at work from the longtime head of Google’s ‘People Operations.’ The result is a manifesto on how to approach work differently in order to attract and grow the best talent – and, in the process, for leaders to grow themselves.

Why pick it up: You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room any more.  Create a workplace that brings in amazing people, then give them the space to do awesome things that helps everyone grow.

 7. The Awakened Company by Catherine Bell

What it’s about: The bipolar boom-bust business model is failing. Leaders need to be mindful that business must exist to serve our inter-connectedness as much as to make a profit.

Why pick it up: It will remind you that work isn’t separate from life, and the metrics for success in business extend far beyond the balance sheet.

8. Team Genius by Rich Karlgaard and Michael Malone

What it’s about: Too much emphasis has been placed on individual performance. Team performance is fundamental to compete effectively in the global economy.

Why pick it up: Helps you tap into the collective intelligence of fluid teams to solve fluid challenges.

Some of these books are roadmaps. Others are toolkits. They’ll all help you shift your leadership paradigm. Enjoy!

Question: What was the last leadership book you read that challenged your thinking?

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Join me and Dr. Tony Baron at our next Re:Imagine Leadership Summit April 27 in San Diego! Success doesn’t happen by luck. It’s intentional. Without a leadership roadmap, your team will wander aimlessly through shifting priorities leaving them confused about the purpose of their jobs. Come to a one-day immersion in transformative leadership crafted to inspire and engage you.

My Takeaways from The Future of Work Conference

Leadership

Last week, I had the privilege of giving a keynote at The Future of Work Conference in Boston. It’s the ultimate conference for transforming the world of work through inspired leadership.

HR professionals and thought leaders at the forefront of transformation shared how to drive business forward in the 21st century.  It was a thought provoking and exhilarating two days.

Over the weekend, I selected one quote or concept from my fellow speakers to share with you.

If you’d like to see a collection of all tweets under the #FutureWork2015, you can find them here.

• Gloria Burke, Senior Director of Enterprise Strategies: “Some CEOs say smart phones are a distraction. 30 years ago, CEOs also said the internet was a distraction.”

• Andy Jankowski, Founder and Managing Director of Enterprise Strategies: “The agony of change is the start of something good.”

• Mark Edgar, HR Director of RSA Canada: “In 75% of organizations, HR is responsible for the future of work strategy, but it can only play this critical role if it has credibility.”

• Jonathan Kroll, Co-founder and Executive Director of The Institute for Leadership and Training: “Relationships are the currency of power. They exist at the deepest levels when we know a person’s name.”

• David Tunnah, Director of Growth Leaders Network: “Change the question from ‘How are you doing today?’ to ‘How are you growing today?”’

• Santiago Jaramillo, CEO and Founder of Bluebridge: “The annual employee survey is dead. If you’re still polling your employees once a year just to check a box, you’re missing out on what true feedback is all about.”

• Gary Keil, Director of Growth Leaders Network: “Talk about being blissfully unaware. Humans have access to a total sensory input of 13,000,000 bits per second. Yet, we are aware of only 15-20 bits per second.”

• Kerry Brown, Evangelist and Thought Leader at SAP: “Cutting organizational complexity in half would free up 447 million hours per year in US alone. Complexity drives resources – search for simplicity.”

• Ashley Czubak, Program Manager at Whirlpool Corporation Sales Academy: “91% of millennials expect to stay in a job less than 3 years. Our Real Whirled training program has graduated 430 sales team members and a pipeline of future leaders.”

The Future of Work conference was one of the top five events I have ever attended. I think this tweet from Kerry Brown put it best, “Why I love my job – wicked smart people and fascinating conversations.” If you’re interested in staying on top of the conversation, you might want to join the Future of Work Community.  Check it out here.

Question:  Who is responsible for the future of work in your organization?

CEE News is designed to help you with the challenges you face every day by sharing infographics, white papers, best practices, and spotlighting businesses that are getting it right. I hope you’ll subscribe to CEE News and it becomes a resource that continually adds value to your walk as a leader. 

Is Your Culture Future Proof?

Leadership

Today, I am speaking at The Future of Work Conference in Boston. It’s a conference that I first attended in February in Las Vegas, where author and futurist Jacob Morgan opened his keynote with this story of Sissa and exponential change.

Once upon a time, there was a mathematician and inventor named Sissa who created chess. The ruler at the time was so impressed that he decided to reward Sissa with anything he wanted. Instead of money or land, Sissa asked for rice. He asked that the amount of rice be calculated by placing a single grain on the first square of the chessboard, and then to double the amount of rice for every square through the final, 64th square. The ruler was puzzled by the request but agreed. He ordered his servants to figure how much rice was owed, and to pay Sissa his reward.

As it turns out, Sissa’s request could not be filled because there was not enough rice in the kingdom. In fact, the amount rice needed would tower over Mt. Everest. The total was 1,000 times the present day global production of rice. That’s the power of exponential change.

“I tell you that story,” Morgan said, “because of the prediction by Ray Kuzweil, that today we are standing on the 32nd square of the chessboard in terms of technological change.” Because the world is now hyper-connected, the speed of change has exponential power. Morgan closed with this challenge, “At the end of the day, if your organization doesn’t think about and plan for the future of work, then your organization will have no future.”

Fortunately, that challenge is being met by some of the country’s leading businesses. Companies like Herman Miller, The Motley Fool, and SAP understand that the today’s hierarchical cultures are incapable of shifting fast enough to keep pace with change. These companies are creating transformational cultures that are not just more adaptable to change, but better for the people who work in them. Transformational cultures require transformational leadership – or leaders who can align people, purpose, and performance.

Here are some examples of how these companies are future-proofing their cultures:

1. People – It’s no accident that The Motley Fool is No. 1 for the second year in a row on Glassdoor’s list of small and medium Best Places to Work (2015). The Motley’s Fool’s 77% employee engagement rate has been won over time as the company has tested trust-based policies like Open PTO and Pick Your Own Device. Simply put, they treat people like adults who can be responsible for their choices. According to Kara Chambers, VP of Talent Strategy, their secret is “recruit people you trust and then assume they want to do great work. If our people are aligned with purpose the rest falls into place. ” The company is proving that treating people as human beings instead of human resources is a successful business model.

2. Purpose – “Herman Miller invented the cubicle,” confesses Tracy Brower, Director of Human Dynamics. “But what was meant to create free-flowing, autonomous environments was Dilbertized in the name of efficiency,” Brower says. The company has come a long way in redeeming itself by researching and testing ways to restore the human spirit that cubicle farms Among their findings is that employees need to connect with purpose; to be a part of something greater. Purpose engages the heart and fulfills the desire to make a meaningful difference. Herman Miller employees have evolved past the mindset of simply going to work to make a living – they work to make a difference.

“For responsible and motivated people today, work is merely a side effect of having real purpose.” -Herman Miller Industrial Facility Designer Kim Colin

3. Performance – Over 70% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP system. That kind of reach gives SAP the big data to understand the drivers of performance. Their findings show that the traditional employment model, which slots people in defined jobs and assigns managers to monitor them, leads to disengagement. High performance organizations are shifting toward a flexible model of teamwork and collaboration. While most organizations are not ready for Zappos’ free-styling holacracy model, they can begin by looking at employee incentives. If employees are rewarded for individual performance alone, teamwork and collaboration are not likely to thrive. Considering SAP’s findings that “companies with a highly engaged workforce experience a 19% growth in operating income over a 12-month period,” collaboration and teamwork are worth trying.

Organizations were not created with the idea of change and adaptability in mind. But in a world of accelerated change, we are at an inflection point. The good news is, you don’t need big business resources to treat employees with trust, engage their hearts as well as their minds, and reward them for teamwork. These are things you can start doing today.

Watch the replay from my FREE leadership webcast. I talk more about what it means to be a transformative leader in the 21st century; one that makes their teams better, stronger, and more agile in the face of change.

Question: What hierarchical practices have been grandfathered into your business? Please leave a comment below.

Funny Business: 3 Reasons Why Humor Should Be Part of Your Leadership Toolkit

Leadership

Businessman and author Paul Hawken said it best,

“We lead by being human. We do not lead by being corporate, by being professional or by being institutional.”

That may be why leadership experts like John Maxwell understand the value of a good laugh at their expense.

Fake Interview of John Maxwell

The best leaders know that humor and humility go hand in hand. They act to keep their feet on the ground and their egos in check. The timely and appropriate use of humor is an asset to any leader.

Assuming your sense of humor passes the timely and appropriate test, here are 3 reasons why you should ensure humor is part of your leadership toolkit:

1. Humor fosters creativity. When you’re the leader, everyone is watching you for problem solving cues. If you approach business problems with furrowed brows and rapid-fire questions, you set the tone for a culture of fear. Cut down on the intimidation factor by using humor. “Humor is a key ingredient in creative thinking,” says Michael Kerr, President of Humor at Work. “It helps people play with ideas, lower their internal critic, and see things in new ways.” You’ll can find Kerr’s formula for how HA + HA = AHA! in this short clip.

2. Humor improves health. Today’s business challenges require executives to face tough situations with greater frequency than ever. When stress becomes a part of your routine for an extended period, it can lead to illness and chronic disease. In fact, research by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that up to 90 percent of all illness and disease is stress related. The good news is, humor is the physiological opposite of stress. It lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation, reduces muscle tension, and boosts your immune system. Find out more about the short- and long-term benefits of humor here.

3. Humor improves retention. When a team laughs together, it facilitates a sense of community and helps to create a positive corporate culture. It also helps to create a shared history. In an interview with Businessweek, University of Missouri-Columbia professor Chris Robert says that humor “enhances the degree to which you feel bonded and part of the group in the workplace.” When employees have positive emotions about their job, they’re more likely to stay. As Robert states, “You might get a better job offer, but it will take more to draw you away when you like where you work and the people you work with.”

Things will go wrong. The best leaders find the humor in the situation to keep things light and moving forward. Browbeating others is not as powerful as helping them have a good attitude and a little levity.

Question: Have you used humor to diffuse a stressful situation at work? What were the results?

CEE News is designed to help you with the challenges you face every day by sharing infographics, white papers, best practices, and spotlighting businesses that are getting it right. I hope you’ll subscribe to CEE News and it becomes a resource that continually adds value to your walk as a leader.