Llama Leaders are Readers Series Vol. 4
For this week’s article, we continue our Leaders are Readers Series and share some of our top reads with a quick synopsis and our thoughts on each book. Click on the book image to read for yourself.
Enjoy!
General McChrystal and team provide amazing insight on leadership in a world which requires adaptable leaders that can effectively operate in an interdependent environment. I must admit, when I first got this book, I expected it to be extremely “military.” However, it absolutely was not. Although McChrystal leverages his military experience and provides analogies to prove his points, he does a very good job of connecting principles of leadership in either the battlefield or the boardroom without overwhelming the reader with war stories.
Explaining how the traditional hierarchal leadership model fails us in today’s environment, how “silo” leadership sets out teams back, and how risk-averse leaders cause organizations to become irrelevant, McChrystal provides insight that leaders at every level can gain from. I finished this book in record time because I was simply unable to put it down.
- Joe
Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones – James Clear
“Standardize before you optimize. You can’t improve a habit that doesn’t exist”
In Atomic Habits, James Clear delivers the actionable and foundational principles of self-improvement in all facets of our lives by diverting the focus from the goals we wish to achieve, to the processes that we live by each and every day. The book is broken down to the Four Laws of Behavior Change, (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying. Something I truly loved about this book is that it gives us ways to improve by making minor and tangible adjustments versus monumental shifts in our behavior, which results in increased likelihood of success. I highly recommend this book to everyone, even those who seem to have it “all together.”
- Joe
The Paperback Mentor: Inspiring Others Through New Perspectives-Robert Rogers
“The worst thing you can do is let someone drag the morale and the performance of your team down because you refuse to hold everyone to the same standard”
Robert Rogers is a Christian, husband, father of three, and a Veteran. While Rogers proudly wears each of these titles, one that can easily be added is that Rogers is also very down to Earth. I received my copy (signed by the way…thanks Robert!) after he appeared as a guest on the Llama Lounge Podcast. I believe it’s his down to Earth writing style that makes this book so exceptionally easy to read, thought provoking, and edifying. The Paperback Mentor touches on a wide array of topics, all important to a person at any stage in their career. Whether you are the new guy in the organization, a middle manager, or even a senior leader, Rogers provides solid and sound advice on how to navigate various seasons of one’s career and personal life. The mentorship advice provided throughout this book all comes from personal, lived experiences. Rogers’ writing feels like the big brother you never had, or that supervisor that cares just as much for your personal growth as he does your professional contributions. In less than 200 pages, the book covers a lot of ground, on a lot of topics, by sharing his guidance in a matter of fact, and to the point manner. I highly recommend the Paperback Mentor to be read, discussed, and shared amongst teams, regardless of the organization or industry.
- Scott
Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose Between Right and Right – Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr.
“At the core of a right-versus-right dilemma are personal values, choices, commitments, and risks”
Badaracco prefaces his book with an explanation for the theme. “I was teaching courses on leadership, management, and business ethics. Several standard answers were available—follow the law, serve the shareholders, consult the company credo, do the right thing—but these, I found, had limited practical value”. You see it turns out, that leadership challenges, especially in the realm of ethics, isn’t always as cut and dry as they seem. As the title indicates, often ethical decisions are made by choosing between right and right.
Badaracco outlines scenarios faced by three managers who operate at very different levels within their organization. The purpose of the book is to help readers understand that solutions to ethical challenges aren’t as easy as they seem. Ethical challenges may not always be clearly defined and may consist of layers upon layers of concerns. This book was written to allow leaders to understand that the toughest decisions they make may be their defining moments. These are moments when they must choose right over right. With each scenario, any choice made by the leader would have some benefit to it. Someone will have success, but depending on the outlook of others, someone may also suffer. The determination of what’s truly the most beneficial to the case depends on the views of everyone involved. I enjoyed this book for a couple of different reasons; 1. It opens the readers’ eyes to the realities of what they may experience as they navigate ethical dilemmas, and 2. it challenges the reader to look inward at their own moral compass and evaluate their own sets of standards and values. I recommend this book to any emerging leader moving up in responsibility.
- Scott