On Leading Change: Recommended Reading

By definition, leaders are agents of change. We are the catalysts that overcome the inertia of complacency, cast a bold vision, and change the trajectory of the organization.

 Here are some of the best books I have read on the subject of leading change. I highly recommend these books. In fact, I have used most of them in my graduate courses on Power, Influence and Leadership and Leading Change.

 Heifetz, Ronald. Leadership Without Easy Answers.  Cambridge:  Belknap Press, 1994.

Heifetz, Ronald and Martin Linsky. Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2002.

Kotter, John.  Leading Change.  Boston:  Harvard Business School Press, 1996.

Quinn, Robert E.  Deep Change:  Discovering the Leader Within. San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996.

Quinn, Robert E. Building the Bridge as You Walk On It: A Guide for Leading Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2004.

Stanley, Andy.  Visioneering. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 1999.

Willams, Dean. Real Leadership: Helping People and Organizations Face Their Toughest Challenges. San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2005.

Readings for Leading

Several weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting a man I think is one of the greatest communicators and leaders I have ever known. Getting to meet him personally was a great honor. And his personal humility was refreshing. During our brief conversation, he asked me “What leadership books should I be reading that I haven’t read yet?”

I didn't give a very good answer at the moment, but I thought about it for a couple of days and then sent an email to a member of his leadership team.

It’s a pretty good list for all of us who are interested in leadership, so I thought I would share it with you as well.

One of the best "spiritual" leadership books I have ever read is J.I. Packer's book on Nehemiah, Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom from the Book of Nehemiah. The intro was challenging, but when he gets into the book of Nehemiah it is great!

Other "spiritual" leadership book recommendations:

Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership

Reggie McNeal, A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders

One of the best leadership books ever is Ron Heifetz and Martin Linsky, Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading. He has an interesting framework based on a distinction between technical problems and adaptive challenges. A technical problem exists where the problem is identified, the solution is known, and the leader provides the answer. An adaptive challenge exists when we have to learn our way to understanding the problem, learn our way to the solution, and the locus of the solution is the people with the problem. The leader's job is to facilitate the adaptive work. The last part of this book is the best treatment I have seen on what leader's need to do to guard their hearts and stay in the game.

Finally, if y'all haven't read The Arbinger Group's Leadership and Self-Deception, I highly recommend it as well. It's a fable, like Lencioni's stuff. Really good.

That was the original list I sent. With several weeks of additional thought I would also add:

Bill Hybels, The Courageous Leader
Andy Stanley, Visioneering and The Next Generation Leader
Craig Groeschel, It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It

Let me know when you finish this list and I will give you some additional recommendations.

As I tell my students: Read Early; Read Often!
(kind of like voting in Chicago!)

Mentored ... From a Distance

One of the books I finally got around to reading this summer was Howard Gardner's Leading Minds. It had been in my library for a while, but I hadn't read it. (There are several books in that category. Its the consequence of a book fetish!)

Gardner makes a distinction between leading directly and leading indirectly. I think we could also apply that distinction to mentoring. There have been several men who have mentored me directly. But there have also been several who mentored me indirectly.

This idea came to me this summer as I began arranging my books on the new bookshelves we added this summer. I have a section in the shelves for the books and authors who had made a significant impact on my spiritual life.

Here are the books that inhabit that special section in my library:

Joe Aldrich, Life-Style Evangelism. This says more about what the church and believers should be, than what we should do.

Gary Friesen, Decision-Making and the Will of God.

Jerry Bridges, The Practice of Godliness and The Pursuit of Holiness.

John MacArthur, The Ultimate Priority. In case your wondering, the ultimate priority is worship. Between this book and Doug Sherman's book, I learned that worship is a "whole-life" concept and that everything we do is to be lived out as an act of worship.

Doug Sherman, Your Work Matters to God; How to Balance Competing Time Demands; and How to Succeed Where it Really Counts. Doug's books helped me to develop my whole-life view of success based on his idea of the pentathlon.

Lewis Sperry Chafer, He That is Spiritual. The best book on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and what it means to "walk in the spirit."

Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God and The Jesus I Never Knew.

Chuck Swindoll, Strike the Original Match. Still my go-to book on marriage. This is the foundational text for the Legacy Marriage course I developed.

Gene Getz, Sharpening the Focus of the Church. Ahead of his time in calling for a church that is relevant to the culture in which it operates.

Richard Foster, Prayer. The introduction alone is powerful.

Gordon McDonald, Ordering Your Private World; Restoring Your Spiritual Passion; Rebuilding Your Broken World; The Life God Blesses; Mid-Course Correction; A Resilient Life; and Building Below the Water Line.

I consider these books mentors- although from a distance through the written word - just as much as I do those who mentored me directly.

They aren't substitutes for the direct mentors, but they are strong complements.

We need both.

Read Early, Read Often

I hated reading when I was a kid. My mother would take me to the public library in Odessa and I would check out books based on the number of pictures. I just didn't like to read.

When I went to Austin College, something happened. I became enamored with the world of ideas, and started to read. I became obsessed with reading. That obsession continues to grow. Some would even say I have a book fetish! There are books everywhere in my house and my office.

I really love to read. And I read a lot - as you probably know by now. I am not a fast reader; but, I am a diligent reader. I read every morning during my "quiet time." ( I really don't like that phrase, but I don't know what else to call it.) I read while riding the stationary bike at the gym, and I read every night before I fall asleep. I read early and often.

The pace of my reading is off some this year. I am reading some really long books, so the quantity isn't at the same pace as the last few years. But so far, I think the quality is up. Here's the list so far - a kind of first quarter report (for those of you who are conditioned to think in terms of quarterly reviews):

1. An Object of Beauty, Steve Martin

2. House Rules, Jodi Picoult

3. What I Didn't Learn in Business School: How Strategy Works in the Real World, Jay Barney & Trish Gorman Clifford

4. South of Broad, Pat Conroy

5. Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, Ree Drummond

6. 1776, David McCullough

7. Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese

8. Happy to Do It: Get Your Snap On, Randy Draper

9. Heaven is for Real, Todd Burpo

10. Beach Music, Pat Conroy

The Books of Summer

One of my favorite movies of all time is For Love of the Game.

There's a line in the movie when Billy Chapel meets Jane. Her car has broken down on the highway as she was trying to get out of town. He asks her why she's getting out of town and she responds, "Because summer's over and I missed it."

I have had several summers in the past that I could describe with that quote. Not so this summer. It has been an easy and relaxing summer. We took several mini-vacations and even the pace at the university was less intense than summers past.

So, there has been an expanded opportunity to read. Here's the book list for the summer (Boldfaced titles are highly recommended!):

Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls, Noel Tichy & Warren Bennis

Miles From Nowhere, Nami Mun

David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, Chuck Swindoll

Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How to Keep it From Happening to You, Sydney Finkelstein, Jo Whitehead, & Andrew Campbell

Rescuing Ambition, David Harvey

Beach House, Jane Green

Raising Cole: A Father’s Story, Marc Pittman

Heart of the Matter, Emily Giffin

Losing the Promised Land: Elisha and the Kings of Judah, John MacArthur

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

What is God Really Like? Craig Groeschel, Editor

Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters, Timothy Keller

The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larsson

Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, Reggie McNeal

Leaders Who Last, Dave Kraft

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Stieg Larsson

Yep. I read the Stieg Larsson trilogy. Perhaps the best thriller/spy novel books I have read in a long time.

Books of April

April was a good month for reading.

Of course, that long flight to and from Maui helped. Thank you Justin and Shannon!

The Blessed Life, Robert Morris
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Jamie Ford
The Christian Atheist, Craig Groeschel
A House Divided, John MacArthur
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski
The Priesthood of Every Believer, David Dawson

Planning on a lot of novels this summer.

The stack has been created and is waiting!

The Books of March

The reading pace has slowed significantly. I haven't found anything really exciting in a while. This is the list from March:

• Roses, Leila Meachum
• Credibility: How Leaders Gain it and Lose It and Why People Demand It, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner
• The End of an Era, John MacArthur
• Leading When it Hurts, Jeff Iorg

The new book from Craig Groeschel came Friday - The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as if He Didn't Exist. I am excited about that one. Groeschel is a very authentic speaker and author.

I am close to finishing a good novel, On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

Reading 2010 So Far

It’s been a while since I posted a list of the books I have read.

In fact, it's been a while since I have posted anything. The situation that prompted my Amen or Oh Me post has been dominating my thoughts for several weeks. On that situation I have finally settled on Oh Me!

Now for books. As you know, I read a variety of books. I am not a speed reader, but I am a persistent reader. I read every weekday morning during my quiet time. I read on the "cardio days" at the gym while riding the stationary bike. And, I read every night before I go to sleep.

I wasn’t always a reader. I think I caught the reading bug as a student at Austin College. There was a ton of required reading, but I also found myself wanting to dig deeper into the subjects and began reading beyond the requirements. And of course now, I read for a living!

Here’s what I have read so far.

More accurately, this is what I have finished so far this year. In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, I only record a book as read when it is completed. Some books, like Theodore Rex are multiple month endeavors. Some are multiple year endeavors!

I highly recommend the books that are italicized and bold-faced. Beware: Theodore Rex will require a long march, but it is well worth it. Theodore Roosevelt emerged from that book as my favorite presidential leader!

Books 2010

January
1. Crazy Love, Frances Chan
2. Derailed, Tim Irwin
3. Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, Mark Batterson
4. Just Walk Across the Room, Bill Hybels
5. Finally in the Land, John MacArthur
6. Lifetime Guarantee, Bill Gillham

February
1. Fascinating Lives of Forgotten Saints, Chuck Swindoll
2. Prophets, Priests, and Kings: The Lives of Samuel and Saul, John MacArthur
3. Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris
4. Holy Ambition, Chip Ingrum
5. Leadership: Influence that Inspires, Chuck Swindoll

Reading Material

I haven't posted my reading list since July. I didn't stop reading, I just didn't post the lists ... another symptom of "the fall" I experienced when the wheels came off during the autumn season.

So, here's the update/catch-up list of readings from August through December (so far):

August:

Oxygen, Carol Cassella

Shelter Me, Juliette Fay

The Tenth Circle, Jodi Picoult

A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom from the Book of Nehemiah, J.I. Packer

The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Tinkers, Paul Harding (count =57)

September:

Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back, Charles R. Swindoll

Becoming a Resonant Leader: Develop Your Emotional Intelligence, Renew Your Relationships, Sustain Your Effectiveness

Richard E. Boyatzis, Fran Johnston, Annie McKee

Hedgehogs and Foxes: Character, Leadership, and Command in Organizations, Abraham Zaleznik

Await Your Reply, Dan Chaon

Before Abraham: Creation, Sin, and the Character of God, John MacArthur

October:

Laugh Again, Charles R. Swindoll

Mentoring Like Jesus, Regi Campbell

Have a Little Faith, Mitch Albom

November:

The Father of Israel: Trusting God’s Promises, John MacArthur

Everything They Had: Sports Writing from David Halberstam

Mercy, Jodi Picoult

The Time It Never Rained, Elmer Kelton

December:

Jacob and Egypt: The Sovereignty of God, John MacArthur

Icy Sparks, Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Vanishing Acts, Jody Picoult


Those in bold faced type are highly recommended.

The Books of July

Just in case you're keeping score, the 2009 book list now has 51 completed books.

The most pleasant surprise this month was The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes. I rate that one a close second to The Help as the best summer reading so far.

I don't have a reading agenda for August.

Do you have any suggestions?

Here's the list from July:

Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years, Haynes Johnson

Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn from America’s Largest Churches, Scott Thuman and Dave Travis

The Perfect Leader: Practicing the Leadership Traits of God, Kenneth Boa

Handle With Care, Jody Picoult

When Men Think Private Thoughts, Gordon MacDonald

The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes, Bryan Burrough

Creative Suffering, Paul Tournier

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, Diane Chamberlain

The Other Books in June

Of course, The Help wasn't the only book I read in June.

In fact, June may have been one of the best reading months in a while. There were several recommnedation-worthy reads in June. The best of the June list are bolded and italicized:

The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley

Certain Trumpets, Garry Wills

Elijah: A Man of Heroism and Humility, Charles R. Swindoll

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

Excellence in Leadership, John White

Leading on Empty, Wayne Cordeiro

Sabbath, Dan B. Allender

A Resilient Life, Gordon MacDonald

Savor This Book

I know...


Usually we think about savoring a good meal - like Justin's birthday dinner or that Father's Day feast on steroids - or maybe even an ice cold Dublin Dr. Pepper, but you must read ... and savor this book: The Help by Kathryn Stockett.


It's been a while since I was so captivated by a book. I read this one slowly, I didn't want it to end, and I was sorry when it was over.


The setting is early-sixties Mississippi and the story centers around an aspiring writer who solicits the assistance of the town's African-American maids to tell their story about what it's like working for the wealthy white families.


"Working for" is really not the best way to describe these arrangements - the Help actually ran the household and did more to raise the children than the children's parents did. The bond between the Help and the children was so special and so strong - you could feel the love they had for one another.


The characters were so well developed I felt like I knew them personally. I became so emotionally involved I wanted to punch some of those junior-league, sorority exes for their snobby, elitist attitudes. (In fact, if that describes you, you should probably lay low for a while!)


Well, enough preview... go read this book!

Binge Reading

I don't know about y'all, but I get hooked on a topic or an author and I want to grab everything I can and read it all at once.

I did that in April. I got on a Gordon MacDonald kick and started re-reading his books.

I did it again in May. I decided I had ready too much serious stuff and needed to read some novels. So I grabbed a Jody Picoult novel. It was so good I read two more. Some good stuff.

So here's the list from May:

My Sisters Keeper, Jody Picoult

The Pact, Jody Picoult

The Glass Castle: A Memoir, Jeannette Walls

Songs of the Humpback Whale, Jody Picoult

The Legacy of Jesus, John MacArthur

The Killer Angels: A Novel of the Civil War, Michael Shaara

Home Repair, Liz Rosenberg

If I keep this up, Oprah will have to yield the floor!

April's Reading

During April, I went on a binge of sorts. I re-read Gordon MacDonald's classic Ordering Your Private World. I had planned to use that book in a class I was scheduled to teach this summer on "Spirituality and Leadership." When I finished that book, I decided to re-read some of his other stuff. All of which would have been very helpful in the Spirituality and Leadership course - but the course didn't make. So, now I am all prepped up and don't have a place to teach that stuff. Be careful - I might unload all of it on you if you ask the right (or wrong) question.

The binge of sorts was offset by a fast of sorts. As you have probably figured out by now, I have a book fetish. I buy books all the time. Last year I spent almost $200 a month on books. So, in March and April I went on a book-buying fast. I bought no books for two months! Serious withdrawals ensued; but, I am better now. Thanks for asking.

I also read some books in preparation for a class I will be team-teaching at Fellowship Church starting next week. Its a class on teaching. I have never taken a class on teaching, and now I am teaching a class on teaching. I am looking forward to what I will learn about teaching while teaching a class on teaching.

So here's the list of books that I read in April:

The Big Idea: Focus the Message, Multiply the Impact, Dave Ferguson

Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald

Restoring Your Spiritual Passion, Gordon MacDonald

Teaching to Change Lives, Howard Hendricks

Death by Love: Letters from the Cross, Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears

The Power of Multi-sensory Preaching and Teaching: Increase Attention, Comprehension, and Retention, Rick Blackwood

Mid-Course Correction, Gordon MacDonald

I read for a living

As you know by now, I read a lot. To me it's part of the calling of a teacher. I believe we have a moral obligation to be "current" when we step into the classroom - I want to be the running stream rather than the stagnant pond.

When I think about reading, I am reminded of a friend of mine who is an attorney. I was always getting excited about some book I was reading and telling him that he ought to read this book. He was always patient with my exuberance, but one day - in his deep, slow voice - he finally told me, "I read for a living, and the last thing I want to do when I come home is read a book." That was the last time I offered a book recommendation to him.

But I think about his phrase: "I read for a living." I think that's what I do.

I haven't updated the reading list for y'all in a while. I have bold-faced the ones that I highly recommend.

Here's the list from February:

A Voice in the Wind, Francine Rivers

How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture, Francis A. Schaeffer

The 4:8 Principle: The Secret of a Joy-filled Life, Tommy Newberry

The Dust Off Their Feet: Lessons from the First Church, Chris Seay and Friends

In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement, J.I Packer and Mark Dever

Lead to Succeed: New Testament Principles for Visionary Leadership, Stan Toler and Jerry Brecheisen

Killing Cockroaches and Other Scattered Musings on Leadership, Tony Morgan

And here's the list from March:

Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor, Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman, James O’Toole, Patricia Ward Biederman

LeadershipNext: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture, Eddie Gibbs

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Dorris Kearns Goodwin

A Sense of Urgency, John Kotter

That I May Know God: Pathways to Spiritual Formation, Kenneth Boa

Making Spiritual Sense: Christian Leaders As Spiritual Interpreters, Scott Cormode

Running Stream or Stagnant Pond?

Today marks the end of my first of 4 months on sabbatical.

It has been very refreshing to get away from the grind, to have time to think, write, reflect, and read. Here's the list of books I read this month:


Wild Goose Chase, Mark Batterson

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee (re-read)

I Do Again, Cheryl & Jeff Scruggs

Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs, Bill Hybels

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception, Scott McClennan

The Measure of a Man, Gene Getz

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, Andy Crouch

Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite, D. Michael Lindsay

Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation, Richard Foster


A pretty varied list: Novel, Politics, Biblical Spirituality, Sociology, Leadership, and Marriage. This is typical. I try to read a variety of genres. This helps me develop and maintaining what I call "critical multiplism." Critical multiplism is the idea of examining any topic from a variety of perspectives rather than through only one perspective.

I think reading comes with the calling of a teacher. In fact, I think those of us who teach have a moral obligation to be current. I agree with Howard Hendricks that I would rather my students drink from a running stream than a stagnant pond.