Best Leadership Books of 2011

WE HAVE more recorded information about leadership now than at any other time in history. Most of it deals with the surface turbulence, which is important but not complete. In all of this information there is the sense too, that perhaps we have lost the wisdom we need and that maybe some new thing will help us to avoid what we already know and don’t want to do.

For the most part, it’s still business-as-usual within the same framework—control. It’s hard to give up fundamental beliefs even though they really aren’t working for us anymore. These books speak to our need to rethink our core thinking, beliefs and motivations—to do the uncomfortable.

We could all benefit from daily reflection. Reflecting on what we believe, who we are in relation to those we serve, and what it means to do what we do. It’s time to rediscover true leadership—to rethink our fundamental assumptions. Leadership matters now more than ever.

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Consider: Harnessing the Power of Reflective Thinking In Your Organization by Daniel Patrick Forrester

From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Values-Based Leadership by Harry M. Kraemer

Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen

Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt

Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril by Margaret Heffernan

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Take the Lead: Motivate, Inspire, and Bring Out the Best in Yourself and Everyone Around You by Betsy Myers

Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself by William C. Taylor

Better Under Pressure: How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in Themselves and Others by Justin Menkes

What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential by Robert Steven Kaplan

From Bud to Boss: Transition to Remarkable Leadership by Kevin Eikenberry and Guy Harris

Advocacy: Championing Ideas and Influencing Others: Championing Ideas and Influencing Others by John A. Daly

Lead with Purpose: Giving Your Organization a Reason to Believe in Itself by John Baldoni

If You Will Lead: Enduring Wisdom for 21st-Century Leaders by Doug Moran



Biographies:

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz with Joanne Gordon

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Decision Points by George W. Bush

My Life in Leadership: The Journey and Lessons Learned Along the Way by Frances Hesselbein

Related Interest:
Best Leadership Books of 2010
Best Leadership Books of 2009