Leadership Thinking

  • Drucker, Peter, The Effective Executive, Harper and Row, New York, 1966.
    A classic text on what is actually entailed in being an effective executive in almost any type of organization.
  • Wooden, John, The Essential John Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership, McGraw-Hill, 2007. One of the greatest coaches of all time imparts the principles of leadership he used to achieve success for the players he coached. "There is nothing stronger than gentleness", is one of the quotes in this great book.
  • Newport, Calvin, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, Penguin Random House, 2019. Excellent discussion of the invasive nature of social media websites and the relatively unexamined invasive nature of new technologies.
  • Wooden, John & Jamison, Steve, Wooden on Leadership, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2005.
  • Stein, Ben, How Successful People Win: Using 'Bunkhouse Logic' to Get What You Want in Life, Hay House, Inc., 1981.
  • Dible, Donald, ed., Build A Better You - Starting Now!, Showcase Publlishing, California, 1980.
  • Hayek, F. A., The Road to Serfdom, University of Chicago Press, 1944.
    One of the greatest books on economics ever written. Thoroughly debunks the ideas of socialism.
  • DePree, Max, Leadership is an Art, Dell Publishing, New York, 1989.
  • DePree, Max, Leadership Jazz, Doubleday, New York, 1992.
  • DePree, Max, Leading Without Power, Jossey-Bass, San Fransisco, 1997.
  • Never Give In! The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches, Selected by his grandson, Winston S. Churchill, Hyperion, New York, 2003.
  • Waitley, Denis, Seeds of Greatness, Pocket Books, New York, 1983
  • Stein, Ben, How Successful People Win, Hay House Publishing, Calsbad, California, 2005. Using "Bunkhouse Logic" to get what you want in life. Short, easy reading, humorous and makes excellent points about developing a leadership philosophy.
  • Noe, John, Peak Performance Principles for High Achievers, Berkley Books, New York, 1984.
  • Bennis, W., Nanus, B., Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge, Harper & Row, New York, 1985.
  • Bennis, W., On Becoming a Leader, Addison-Wesley, New York, 1989.
  • Blanchard, Ken, Leading at a Higher Level, Prentice Hall, 2007.
  • Tracy, Brian, Goals!, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Fransisco, 2003.
  • Tracy, Brian, Flight Plan: The Real Secret of Success, Berrett-Koehler, San Fransisco, 2008.
  • Garfield, C., Peak Performances: The New Heroes of American Business, Avon Books, New York, 1986.
  • Ash, Mary Kay, Mary Kay on People Management, Warner Books, 1984.
  • Waitley, Denis, The Joy of Working, Ballantine Books, 1986
  • LeBoeuf, Michael, Working Smart: How to Accomplish More in Half the Time, Warner Books, New York, 1979.
  • Covey, S., The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1989.
  • Schwartz, David J., The Magic of Thinking Big, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1959.
    I cannot count the number of times I've re-read this book always getting new insights and reminding myself of better ways to relate to others.
  • Schwartz, David J., The Magic of Thinking Success: Your Personal Financial Guide to Financial Independence, Wilshire Books, 1987.
  • Maxwell, John C., Real Leadership: The 101 Collection: Relationships, Equipping, Attitude, and Leadership, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.
  • Maxwell, John C., Winning with People, Thomas Nelson, 2004.
  • Waitley, Denis, The New Dynamics of Winning: Gain the Mindset of a Champion for Unlimited Success in Business and Life, W. Marrow & Co., New York, 1993.
  • Gray, A.M., Warfighting: The United States Marine Corps, Doubleday, New York, 1989.
    "Positions are seldom lost because they have been destroyed, but almost invariably because the leader has decided in his own mind that the position cannot be held." -- A. A. Vandegrift
  • Ziglar, Zig, Top Performance: How to Develop Excellence in Yourself & Others, Berkley Books, New York, 1986.
    Zig Ziglar is an excellent speaker and writer. His words are thought provoking and inspirational.
  • Levine, Stuart, The Six Fundamentals of Success, Doubleday, 2004.
  • Nair, Keshavan, Beyond Winning, The Handbook for the Leadership Revolution, Paradox Press, 1990.
  • Eliot, John, Ph.D., Overachievement: The New Model for Exceptional Performance, Penguin Group, 2004.
  • Gitomer, Jeffrey, Little Green Book of Getting Your Own Way: How to Speak, Write, Present, Persuade, Influence, and Sell Your Point of View to Others, Financial Times Press, 2007.
  • Franklin, Benjamin, Poor Richard's Almanac, Peter and Pauper Press, Mount Vernon, New York.  This author's advice is as relevant today as it was 200 years ago.
  • Lakein, Alan, How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life, New American Library, 1973.
  • Risher, Roger, and Ury, William, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, Penguin Books, 1983.
  • Peters, T., Austin, N., A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Difference, Random House, New York, 1985.
    The first in a series of thought provoking books on business quality, innovation and leadership.
  • Levering, R., Moskowitz, M, Katz, M., The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America, Signet Books, New York, 1984.
  • Sternberg, Robert J., Successful Intelligence: How Practical and Creative Intelligence Determine Success in Life, Plume Book of Penguin Publishing, 1996.
  • Drucker, P., Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles, Harper and Row, New York, 1985.
  • Rodgers, Buck, Getting the Best Out of Yourself and Others, Harper & Row, New York, 1987.
  • Murphy, James D., Flawless Execution, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2005.
  • Maxwell, John C., The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1998.
  • Slater, Robert, 29 Leadership Secrets from Jack Welch, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2003.
  • Peale, Norman Vincent, The Power of Positive Thinking, Fawcett Crest, New York, 1952.
  • Carnegie, Dale, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Pocket Books, New York, 1944.
    When worries get you down, this is a good book to pick up.
  • Carnegie, Dale, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Pocket Books, New York, 1936.
    Great ideas on how to become a better person, a better friend and even help others in the process.
  • Carnegie, Dale, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Pocket Books, 1944.
  • Carnegie, Dale, Public Speaking for Success, Penguin Group, 2005 (revised from 1926).
  • Detz, Joan, It's Not What You Say, It's How You Say It, Ready-to-Use Advice for Presentations, Speeches and Other Speaking Occasions, Large and Small, Bristol Park Books, 2000.
  • Freeman, Douglas Southall, Lee, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1961. An abridgment in one volume of the four volume biography, R. E. Lee, by Douglas Southall Freeman.      Douglas Southall Freeman’s Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Robert E. Lee was greeted with critical acclaim when it was first published in 1935. This reissue chronicles all the major aspects and highlights of the general’s military career, from his stunning accomplishments in the Mexican War to the humbling surrender at Appomattox.
    More than just a military leader, Lee embodied all the conflicts of his time. The son of a Revolutionary War hero and related by marriage to George Washington, he was the product of young America’s elite. When Abraham Lincoln offered him command of the United States Army, however, he choose to lead the confederate ranks, convinced that his first loyalty lay with his native Virginia. Although a member of the planter class, he felt that slavery was “a moral and political evil.” Aloof and somber, he nevertheless continually inspired his men by his deep concern for their personal welfare.
  • Freeman, Douglas Southall, Washington, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1968. An abridment the seven volume biography, George Washington, by Douglas Southall Freeman.   Washington is the most complete, definitive one-volume biography of George Washington ever written. In 1948 renowned biographer and military historian Douglas Southall Freeman won his second Pulitzer Prize for his new and dramatic reexamination of George Washington. For years biographies had gone from idolatry to muckraking in their depictions of this somewhat marbleized Founding Father. Freeman’s new interpretation was a fresh step, making Washington a living, breathing individual, flawed but heroic. An able commander who defeated the British Empire against incredible odds, Washington proved to be just as adept at wielding political power, and adroitly steered our new loosely called nation through the first stormy years of our unproven federal stewardship and the first two presidential administrations.               
  • Gilbert, Martin, Churchill: A Life, Holt and Company, New York, 1991.
  • Ambrose, Stephen, Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1992.
  • Cohen, William, Ph.D., Secrets of Special Ops Leadership: Dare the Impossible - Achieve the Extraordinary, American Management Association, New York, 2006.
  • Hill, Napoleon, edited by Sartwell, Matthew, Napoleon Hill's Keys to Success: 17 Principles of Personal Achievement, Plume, a Penguin Group, 1997. 
  • Levine, Stuart, The Six Fundamentals of Success, Doubleday, 2004.
  • Maxwell, John C., Leadership 101, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 2002.
  • Nair, K., Beyond Winning : The Handbook for the Leadership Revolution, Paradox Press, 1990.
  • Snow, Patrick, Creating Your Own Destiny: How to Get Exactly What You Want Out of Life, Aviva Publishing, 2001. www.CreateYourOwnDestiny.com
  • Hansen, M. V., Batmen, The Master Motivator: Secrets of Inspiring Leadership, Fall River Press, 1995.
  • Staples, Walter, Think Like A Winner!, Wilshire Book Company, Chatsworth, CA, 1991. "Thinking is the highest form of activity humans are capable of performing, yet few people really think."
  • Tracy, Brian, Flight Plan: The Real Secret of Success, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Fransisco, 2008.
  • Peterson, David and Hicks, Mary Dee, Leader as Coach: Strategies For Coaching and Developing Others, Personnel Decisions International, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1996. "Our people are our most important asset is not a trite slogan: it is a fundamental truth."
  • Newport, Cal, So Good They Can't Ignore You, Grand Central Publishing, New York, 2012.
  • Newport, Cal, Deep Work, Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Grand Central Publishing, New York, 2016.
  • Newport, Cal, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, Penguin Random House, 2019.

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