Lift Ed
Broaden your horizons… check out these linked websites to learn more about leadership:
Books
Book Reviews
The Mindful Brain
– Daniel J Siegel
This is a fascinating book that discusses the theory of integrating mindfulness meditation and brain science. Daniel Siegel is a guest speaker on the conference Mind and It's Potential to be held in Sydney in Dec 09. His leading edge thinking gives the scientific research behind the power and importance of mindfulness. It's a robust and rich read!
Your Brain at Work
– David Rock
This is an easily digestable read. David manages to take a very heavy neuro science research and turn it into really useful and pragmatic help for leaders. The book looks at the four domains of Neuro Leadership : decision making and problem solving, staying cool under pressure, collaboration and managing change. It is a well researched book and if you want to know how to use your brain more effectively and also to help those around you then this will be a good read.
Blink
– Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell has written a number of fascinating books – some of his other titles includes Tipping Point and Outliers - in Blink he tackles intuitive decision making. He recounts numbers of stories about people who have lessened to gut feel and made decisions that have saved their lives and others around them. Fascinating read.
The Decisive Moment
– Jonas Lehrer
This book is fascinating if you are interested in how we make decisions. The book is full of stories about what decisions people have made under immense pressure and explores how some people can think effectively when faced with, in some cases, certain death. Lehrer writes about how our emotions and rational thoughts work together to make decisions. A really interesting read.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
– Patrick Lencioni
A lovely read, this book unearths some of the myths around excellent teams. The book is written in story form and takes you through what enables effective teams and what is it that we see in all organisations that get in the way. For facilitators or leaders who wish to practically apply Lencioni's work then there is a workbook that accompanies this book.
The Happiness Trap
– Dr Russ Harris MD.
This book jumped out at me at the Happiness Conference last year in Sydney but with my arms full of other books I only got around to buying it and reading it this month, and what a great book.
The Happiness Trap is an excellent book for those who want practical help in managing habitual negative thoughts. Its one of the best I've read, if you want real pragmatic exercises to help you let go of negative thinking. Dr Harris bases the book on Acceptance Commitment Therapy but he carefully blends neuroscience, Buddhism and psychology.
Learned Optimism
– Dr Martin Seligman PHD.
This isn't a new release but a book I read a few years ago and had the opportunity to review again recently. This book is ground breaking in its definition of optimism and carefully crafted exercises to increase your levels of optimism. There is an online learned optimism on www.authentichappiness.com.au – its free and it will help you to identify just how optimistic you are. Seligman talks about Learned Optimism being how we explain upsets. We all experience upsets in our lives and Seligman has research what we tell ourselves – internal dialogue and what we tell others – external dialogue. Do we explain set backs as being specific and temporary or do we habitually see set backs as permanent and general?
This book goes some way to explain this area of habitual thinking and gives some strategies to build strength, but if you add in some of the exercises from the Happiness Trap then you are onto a winner formula!
Know Thyself
– Dr Craig Hassed.
I first came into contact with Dr Hassed at the Neuro Leadership conference in Sept 08 and after hearing him speak tracked down his books. Know thyself, is a short but powerful book introducing the notion of the mind – body connection. Craig highlights the impact of stress on our physiology and gives the reader a clear program to decrease stress. Its well written and I have used it extensively with Corporate clients with great success.
Happier
– Tal Ben Shahar
This book is based on Dr Ben Shahar's Harvard course on Positive Leadership. This book is based on Positive Psychology and it is peppered with useful activities to boost your happiness. What I love about this book is that it is based on science and it is highly pragmatic. I’m keen to bring more positive psychology into organisations and Tal shows us how it can be done.
The Knowing - Doing Gap
– Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton
I was lucky to see Professor Pfeffer in a recent conference. An entertaining speaker with vast experience, he talks about Evidence based management. What I believe this to mean is that many decisions are made in organisations without the evidence to support them, he is an advocate for challenging the existing thinking of what we are doing by really questioning why?
This book focuses on doing – or what is normally known as execution. If you really want to focus the exiting thinking in your organisation and 'do more' then this is a book for you. In the current economic crisis this will be a book that can help you think and act differently. Check it out.
The places that scare you
- Pema Chodron
This is a great series of discussions between the Dalai Lama and some of the leader scientists exploring emotions. It offers the latest research interlaced with Eastern philosophy. It shows that the two disciplines are not that far apart. This book is great if you want a more scientific approach to understanding Emotional Intelligence.
Spiritual Capital – Wealth We Can Live By
– Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall.
I started reading this book and just couldn't put it down. It's a fascinating look at the fundamental drivers and motives behind business and challenges us to think about how we could do business differently and build healthier organisations that are... sustainable. What I really enjoyed in this book was the chapters on individual and organizational motivations. Using a simple framework Zohar and Marshall highlight that most organisational cultures and individuals are still driven by those Maslow lower order needs. The book suggests ways in which we could approach businsess differently – creating sustainable capitalism – wealth that enriches the deeper aspects of our lives.
This book is suitable for anyone who would like to be challenged to think differently!
Other interesting reads:
The Mindful Leader
– Michael Carroll
A practicing Buddhist and businessman, Carroll brings the best of Buddhism into the workplace and shows how leadership can be enriched by using Buddhist philosophy.
Resonant Leadership
– Richard Boyatis and Anne McKee
Great book written by a great author. This is a great book to read if you are struggling with maintaining your resilience at work as a leader. They offer a simple framework of how you can build your resilience as a leader. There are practical tools at the end of the book that will help you to work towards better balance. The book is based in a deep understanding in the science around resilience and has a pragmatic approach that makes it easy for the reader to leap into action.
Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama (from the 2001 Mind & Life Conference)
- Daniel Goleman (Narrator), Dalai Lama
This is a great series of discussions between the Dalai Lama and some of the leader scientists exploring emotions. It offers the latest research interlaced with Eastern philosophy. It shows that the two disciplines are not that far apart. This book is great if you want a more scientific approach to understanding Emotional Intelligence.
Quiet Leadership
– David Rock
This book is pragmatic and an easy read. It explores Neuro Leadership giving the reader easy to follow steps to make changes and increase performance. The book offers many activities and exercises that the reader can practice.
Explore these websites...
Here are some great websites that look at leadership in many different ways. Its' good to share… and would love to get your ideas of others sites that we could include.
Neuro Science and Leadership
Perhaps the person making the most noise in this area is David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz. David has recently written a book called “Quiet Leadership' that introduces this new aspect of leadership - Neuro Leadership – the blend of leadership and neuro science. David explains the concept in this fascinating article….
http://www.strategy-business.com/press/freearticle/06207
And of course, if you want a way to immerse yourself in this blossoming area then why not attend the Neuro Leadership Summit due to take place in Sydney Australia in Sept '08 and New York later in the Year. We will be attending, watch out on Lift Ed for the review of the Conference. Click on the link if you are interested in joining us…
http://www.neuroleadership.org/
If you want to know more about Neuro Science Joe Dispenza offers a a really digestible explanation in his recent book ‘Evolve you Brain'. Joe featured heavily in the recent movie ‘What the Bleep do we know” and has recently been on a tour of US and Australia. An excellent speaker her de-mystifies Neuro Science and offers great strategies for how we can, quite literally, change our minds! His website is….
http://www.drjoedispenza.com/
Positive Psychology
The International Positive Psychology Association is a fast growing Positive Psychology community. There are over 3,000 members worldwide and they are dedicated to promoting Positive Psychology. A great resources site website and as an Associate Member the Lift Effect has access to excellent speakers online and conferences. Check it out if you're serious about Positive Psychology…
http://www.ippanetwork.org/
The father of Positive Psychology, Dr Martin Seligman has a rich website full of useful questionnaires and resources. Click on the link and take the tests to see what you signature strengths or maybe see just how optimistic you are... learn more about yourself from this fabulous website.
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu
The most popular class at Harvard is ‘Positive Leadership' taught by Tal Ben Shahar. An excellent lecturer Shahar links positive psychology with leadership to create ‘Positive Leadership'. Click on the link to check out his website or on the YouTube links to see Tal in action…..
http://www.talbenshahar.com/
Tal Ben-Shahar interview on The Daily Show
Happiness at Harvard: Positive Psychology by Tal Ben-Shahar
Stephen Post is the author of "Why good things happen to good people". Stephen G. Post is Director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics in the School of Medicine, Stony Brook University (SUNY). Stephen believes that altruism has a direct link to an individual's wellbeing and happiness. He believes that by thinking and doing for others we can improve our own wellbeing. An interesting man, with a different approach to living your life. Check out the website and see what you think?
http://www.stephengpost.com/
Mindful Leaders
There is a growing trend of bringing some of core Buddhist philosophies into organisations. And why not, the Buddhist approach to life can add value to the way in which we lead. It can help how we see reality, and how we deal with stress, how we react and manage our resilience. Here are a few links to great websites that have a Buddhist foundation.
The Mind and Life Institute brings together Buddhism with the latest research and science. The Dalai Lama is a keen to see how science can link to Buddhism. In particular research is progressing on the impact on meditation on the cognitive functions of the brain.
http://www.mindandlife.org
B. Alan Wallace is both a scholar and Buddhist practitioner who has spent his life developing ways of link Buddhism with Western Science. He is now a lecturer sith the Santa Barbara Centre for Consciousness Studies, a profilic writer and speaker.
http://www.alanwallace.org/
Paul Wilson has written many books that focus on how to bring more peace and calm into your life. Paul teaches a simple meditation process – he has worked with many organisations bringing this form of mind training into the workplace.
http://www.calmcentre.com
Eric Harrison operates the Perth Meditation Centre. Eric leads and delivers a number of meditation classes – giving you a taste of many different forms of meditation. Eric has developed a methodology for short meditation – meditation practice that takes just 30 secs!! Check out the link below….
http://www.perthmeditationcentre.com.au/
Leadership Courses
If you want a more hands on approach to developing yourself as a leader then try the Authentic Leadership course brought to you by the UWA AIM Business School Alliance in Perth. As a presenter and facilitator on the program, I have seen how leaders emerge over this 3 day master class. It's highly experiential, and involves in the moment coaching so that leaders can get feedback on behaviours and practice a different way of being. If you are based in Perth and want to take your leadership that step further, then try this course….
http://www.aimuwaalliance.com/
Business sites
You can't ignore the wealth of knowledge at Harvard, which makes the Harvard Business Review a must read! Their articles are wide ranging and deal with main stream business issues. If you join up you have access to the archive material which is really worth while. As an active member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council I know they are working hard to make HBR more interactive and create a number of products. Worth a quick look…
http://www.hbr.org/
For broader business discussions strategy+business offers some great interviews and articles covering a variety of hot topics. strategy+business is now published by Booz & Company, the global commercial consulting business of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
http://www.strategy-business.com/
The McKinsey Quaterly offers some free of charge articles that look at global problems and issues. Its worth checking out …..
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com
For home-grown business news Australian Financial Review is the best site – however there are very few free articles so be prepared to part with your money if you want access to any significant data.
http://www.afr.com
