TOP three books for the TOP Leaders!
Great leaders are great readers! This is so very true! If you want to be an effective leader that truly serves your team, you have to continuously grow and learn every day. There are three books that I believe will have a lasting impact on the way you lead. These three books will empower you to serve your team as a more effective leader that is encouraged to lead a passionate team.
“Mindset” by Carol Dweck, is one of the most thought provoking and inspiring psychology/leadership books ever written! Mark Sanborn, is a motivational speaker and author of the book “Fred Factor” a book that challenges us to live and serve our customers in an extraordinary way. The world’s bestselling book since the day of its creation, that has over 5 billion copies printed, and I believe is still the most influential book in the leadership world is the “Holy Bible”.
Carol Dweck simply explains two concepts; that we either live with a fixed mindset that is limiting or we live with a growth mindset where we can achieve the unachievable. A simple way of knowing if you live with a fixed mindset is to simply ask yourself: Do you say to yourself that you don’t have time to set goals? Are you afraid of failure? Do you always strive to be better than someone else? If you answered yes to one of these questions you live with a fixed mindset. Living with this type of mindset you believe that your basic abilities, your intelligence, and your talents are just fixed traits. You have a certain amount and that's it. Your goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb. If you live with this mindset it will be challenging to lead others and truly serve them to your fullest potential. Dweck, describes in detail another way to look at life’s challenges that is by having what is called a growth mindset. Living with a growth mindset you understand that your talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching, and persistence. You believe you can challenge yourself daily to advance yourself to the next level by working and growing your talents and abilities.
Fred Factor by Mark Sanborn is one of the most impactful books when exploring what genuine customer service looks like. Throughout the book Sanborn describes the story of how he met his mailman named Fred and the impact Fred had on all of the customers that he served on his mail route. Fred took his ordinary job and made it extraordinary. Fred was passionate about his job and treated all the people on his daily mail route as his friend. Sanborn asks the question: “How can we get more “Freds” in the world? How can we get more “Freds” to work for our company!?” The simply answer to that question is to be a “Fred” yourself. The book ends by describing the simple steps that each of us can take to transform our lives from ordinary to extraordinary!
The Bible is by far one of the most impactful leadership books of all time! Even if you don’t consider yourself a Christian, I encourage you to read the whole Bible to get a better understanding of how Jesus Christ led. He made an impact on the world and all throughout the New Testament (this is the second part of the bible) Jesus served as a servant leader. He led in a way that encouraged twelve men to leave everything they owned and follow him to learn how to lead others. In Mark, chapter 10, verses 42-45, Jesus describes one of the most influential qualities of a servant leader. He says; “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”
All three of these books have had a lasting impact on the way I lead and I hope they have the same impact on you as well! We, as leaders, have the opportunity to learn and grow in a way that can positively impact the people we lead. We need to take what we learn and share that knowledge and expertise with others. I encourage you to completely read one of these three books and let me know how it has impacted both you and your team!
I wish you the very best!
Ben Nicholas