The 5 Best Leadership Books Ever
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"All leaders are readers but not all readers are leaders." (Harry S. Truman) - Leadership Books for the True Leader
It's not easy to become a better leader, mostly because the first step is to want to change yourself. Leaders know that they can't change other people but they can change how other people react by changing their own actions. Leaders also know that you can't teach yourself everything; you have to be willing to learn from people who have more experience than yourself. But you know that, because you're here.
Below are what I consider the 5 Best Leadership Books Ever. Read my reviews, tell us if you've read them, and then add your own favorites. If readers like another book in particular I'll write a review and expand the Top 5 list. I've included the blogs of three of my favorite leadership gurus, too.
1. How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
2. How To Have Confidence and Power in Dealing With People by Les Giblin
3. Personality Plus by Florence Littauer
4. The Ant and The Elephant: Leadership for The Self by Vince Poscente
5. The Greatest Salesman in The World by Og Mandino
(Plus YOUR Leadership Book List!)
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Contents at a Glance
How To Win Friends and Influence People
How To Win Friends And Influence People, Revised Edition
Amazon Price: $15.98 (as of 05/30/2012)
How To Win Friend explains the timeless principles of human relations, and as we know effectively communicating with people is the foundation of leadership as people voluntarily follow a good leader. It's written to help professionals but it also directly helps people in their personal lives life more effectively and happily by teaching the psychology of human relations and helping people make social contacts and friends and further improve their speaking skills. How To Win Friends is based on sincerity and stresses that acting earnest without being earnest may produce short term results but only produces long term harm.
The Top Five Reasons "How To Win Friends And Influence People" is a Best Leadership Book Ever
- Stresses sincerity
- Written for the professional, helps the professional and the non-professional
- Explains how to use the psychology of human relations to get what you want by giving people what they want
- Includes a section about communicating effectively through writing
- Illustrates points with interesting and entertaining stories
More Editions of "How To Win Friends"
Must-Visit Links: Dale Carnegie and "How To Win Friends"
- How To Win Friends and Influence People on Wikipedia
- A history and outline of the book including a list and short explanation of Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends And Influence People principles
- Dale Carnegie Training
- Founded in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has evolved from one man's belief in the power of self-improvement to a performance-based training company with offices worldwide. They focus on giving people in business the opportunity to sharpen their skills and improve their performance in order to build positive, steady, and profitable results.
- Dale Carnegie Quotes
- A list of quotes by How To Win Friends And Influence People author Dale Carnegie
Reader Poll
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How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing With People
Top 5 Reasons "How to Have Confidence and Power" is a Best Leadership Book Ever
- The book, unlike many others, includes tips for speaking to strangers and developing your small talk
- Based in sincerity and servant leadership
- It's easy to understand and thought-provoking
- Giblin teaches the effects of an individual's attitude on how others treat them
- Principles of human nature such as those included in this book do not change so their lessons will never be outdated
More Editions of "How to Have Confidence and Power"
Must-Visit Links: Les Giblin and "How to Have Confidence and Power"
- Amazon Customer Review
- A great customer review containing a summary of the contents of the book in list form
- Les Giblin's Skill With People
- a brief bio and a list of some of his books
- Satisfy the Hunger
- One author's thoughts on three of the core principles of How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People
Reader Poll
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Personality Plus
![Personality Plus [PERSONALITY PLUS REVISED EXPAN]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419n1vlBZBL._SL160_.jpg)
Personality Plus [PERSONALITY PLUS REVISED EXPAN]
Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 05/30/2012)
by: Florence Littauer
You can't be a leader without first understanding other people. You can't understand others without first understanding yourself. If you want to be a great leader it's extremely important to understand how people think. Littauer uses an ancient personality profile system, which I find very true to life, to explain why people naturally want to act the way they do. She explains the positive and negative points of acting in each way and helps the reader understand how to cater to the various personality types in order to provide more effective leadership.
Top 5 Reasons "Personality Plus" is a Best Leadership Book Ever
- An entertaining quiz gives insight on yourself and others
- It's easy to read and includes entertaining personality examples
- Littauer teaches that personality differences are not necessarily personality flaws
- Knowing how others' minds work helps you lead them more efficiently by allowing you to give them what they individually need and want to do a job at their best
- The book is just as valuable for personal relationships as it is for business relationships
More Editions of "Personality Plus"
Must-Visit Links: Florence Littauer and "Personality Plus"
- Personality Plus on Wikipedia
- Describes the personality types and compares the Personality Plus profiles to other popular personality profiles
- International Speaker's Bureau Bio
- A brief bio of Florence Littauer
- Personality Plus Test Online
- Take the Personality Plus test online; if you're not sure of an answer think of your personality as a child
Reader Poll
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The Ant and The Elephant
The Ant and the Elephant: Leadership For the Self
Amazon Price: $7.25 (as of 05/30/2012)
"The Ant and the Elephant: Leadership for the Self" is a short parable of a little ant living on the back of a very large elephant. When the ant wants to reach his goal of finding the Oasis, he must learn to conquer his thoughts and lead himself and his elephant on a long journey. In the same way, great leaders must reprogram and conquer their emotional subconscious if they want their logical conscious mind to truly be effective. The conscious mind is ruled by 2,000 neurons; the subconscious, 2 billion. In order to cast a vision and lead a team you must tame your subconscious, your elephant, and get it going in the same direction as your ant. The book is "a parable and 5-step action plan to transform workplace performance," and I've found this invaluable to my life.
5 Reasons "The Ant and The Elephant" is a Best Leadership Book Ever
- The author teaches leadership principles in an easy-to-understand story
- A summary of the lessons is in the back of the book
- While written for adults, children would also understand and benefit from the story
- It's a quick read for the time-pressed leader
- It focuses on reprogramming your subconscious, the subject of the sentence "The only thing in your way is you."
Must-Visit Links: Vince Poscente and "The Ant and The Elephant"
- VincePoscente.com
- Vince Poscente's leadership website
- Vince Poscente Full Speed Ahead
- Poscente's blog
- Vince Poscente Bio
- A short bio of Vince Poscente
Reader Poll
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The Greatest Salesman In the World
The Greatest Salesman in the World
Amazon Price: $7.28 (as of 05/30/2012)
The Greatest Salesman In the World is about empowering yourself to be successful. Mandino uses a parable to teach a different way of thinking, the type of thinking required not only by salesmen but also by anyone who wants to be successful through their own endeavors (rather than feigning success through someone else's endeavors). This, of course, is part of the essence of leadership, as you have to use your own endeavors to influence and lead people.
Top 5 Reasons "The Greatest Salesman in the World" is a Best Leadership Book Ever
- The book is written as an entertaining parable
- The book includes 10 lessons separated in daily readings for easy mental reprogramming
- The lessons are universal and timeless
- The book gives directions for how often and when to read the "scrolls" after you're finished with the book
- A second book is available containing only the lessons in the ancient scrolls
Other Editions of "The Greatest Salesman in the World"
Must-Visit Links: Og Mandino and "The Greatest Salesman in the World"
- Og Mandino Website
- The Official Og Mandino Website
- The Greatest Salesman in the World on Wikipedia
- A but about the book including a list of the 10 scrolls (lessons)
- Og Mandino on Wikipedia
- A short bio of Mandino's life, a list of books by Mandino, and more.
Reader Poll
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Another Leadership Book List
Want more great leadership books? Check out Leadership Must-Reads from Bill Hybels.
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Your Turn: What Do You Think of These Books?
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3levels
Apr 5, 2012 @ 2:20 pm | delete
- Am I allowed to be a bit immodest by including my own book on the list? It's titled The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill.
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aruraza
Mar 10, 2012 @ 7:37 am | delete
- Thanks this is a useful lens.
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mdeakub
Feb 7, 2012 @ 11:31 pm | delete
- Highly helpful lens. I hope these books will help me when I will read all. But one thought, leadership cannot be developed/created in a human, rather it can be enhanced/improved. Reading books will help all but I am sure not for great leaders. Because great leaders in work-pad takes decision from judgement, learning from reading is a minor part of it.
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COUNTRYLUTHIER
Feb 4, 2012 @ 11:30 pm | delete
- Great books that I started reading in my twenties and have continued into my fif...... ies. Great lense
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waldenthree.net
Jan 4, 2012 @ 9:31 pm | delete
- Valuable topic that I share common/complimentary interest for many many years ! Knowledge Doing gap and going beyond is the challange ahead ! Congrads on reaching Squidoo Level 55. Going for 56 now. Will visit with you soon again ! Thanks.
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Chris Brady's Leadership Blog
He's a businessman, speaker, humorist, father, mentor, and author of Launching a Leadership Revolution, a Wall Street Journal, Business Week, New York Times, and USA Today bestseller. His most recent book, Rascal: Making a Difference by Becoming an Original Character, published in 2010.
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