Leadership and Development Books Everyone Should Read
All businesses are aware that to thrive in today’s unstable and complex environment, they need management leadership skills and organisational capabilities that are different from those that allowed them to perhaps prosper in the recent past.
Employees are expected to make significant decisions that are consistent with company strategy and business culture. Thus, it is essential that they possess the required technical, interpersonal, and communication skills to lead a team and develop.
Our team of experts at The Oxford Group has compiled a list of some of our “must-read” page-turners in leadership and development which every manager should read, whether they currently oversee a team or are just starting to commence managerial leadership.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits–whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organisation hoping to redefine an industry/company, or an individual who wishes to lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.
Counselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure by Robert de Board
Explained through the classic story of Wind in the Willows, best-selling author, Robert de Board explains: ‘Toad’s experiences are based on my own experiences of counselling people over a period of twenty years. Counselling for Toads is really an amalgamation of the many counselling sessions I have held and contains a distillation of the truths I have learnt from practice.’ Appropriate for anyone dealing with change, engaging with others and adopting basic skills of coaching.
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts by Brené Brown
When given the position of manager, are people innately good at inspiring their teams, exhibiting empathy toward team members, seeing potential in others, and having the courage to help those others reach that potential?
In Dare To Lead, Brown demonstrates how more courageous, daring managers who are willing to share their power rather than hoard can create successful organisations through research, good narrative, case studies, and other examples.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Introverts and extroverts are discussed in Susan Cain’s book, along with how frequently one trait is valued more highly than the other. By examining some examples of each attribute, you can see that the spectrum is more complex than an either/or classification would imply. It is interesting to realise where you may sit and how to utilise your own skills and attributes to benefit yourself and the organisation you may work for.
5 Conversations: How to Transform Trust, Engagement and Performance at Work (2nd edition) by Nick Cowley and Nigel Purse
This book, now in its 2nd edition, comes from over 35 years of learning from world-class organisations, tried-and-tested leadership coaching techniques and emergent thinking on neuroscience and employee behaviour. The result is a simple guide to why, when and how to hold five critical conversations with people you manage, which have been proven to dramatically improve trust, relationships, motivation and performance at work.
“The saying goes ‘you come into the world alone, you leave this world alone’, but in between, 5 Conversations can help you build great relationships in work and life”.
Rupert Hodges, Director of Leadership Development, BP plc
To find out more information about how we develop the skills, behaviours and mindsets of managers and leaders worldwide request a call back from our team of experts.