Stephen King says that if you want to be a writer, there are two things you must do: read a lot and write a lot. This is about the “read a lot” part. I include reading lists and book reviews that will help you do business more effectively and write better for business.
In this post, I point you to books about Julius Caesar, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, and a decade-old leadership book.
From Kevin Eikenberry: The Leadership Genius of Julius Caesar: Modern Lessons From the Man Who Built An Empire
“Julius Caesar was a leader for the ages. And while much has been written about him, it is mostly all written from the perspective of his life while he was alive. This book is a biography, of sorts, but it is much more that that because the author takes Caesar’s actions and looks at them in the context of today’s world of teams and organizations and helps us answer this question – What can we learn from Caesar about leadership? Quite a lot it turns out.”
From the Economist: Thinking about thinking
“DURING the second world war a young Jewish boy was caught after curfew on the streets of Nazi-occupied Paris by an SS soldier. The soldier picked him up, hugged him, showed him a photograph of another boy and gave him money. The young Daniel Kahneman left more certain than ever that his mother was right: ‘People were endlessly complicated and interesting.’ His curiosity about human thinking would lead him to a pioneering career in psychology, exploring the systematic flaws of decision-making, in a remarkable partnership with his collaborator, Amos Tversky. In 2002 Mr Kahneman (pictured) won a Nobel prize in economics, for work on how people overvalue losses relative to gains. Tversky would have shared it had he not died in 1996.”
From Ed Batista: Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?
“Before 2016 concludes I want to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, which grew out of their classic HBR article of the same title. Subtitled What it Takes to be an Authentic Leader (and published with a new preface in 2015), this book had a substantial impact on my approach to coaching when I encountered it just as I was launching my practice, and I continue to find it a valuable resource today.”
Reading recommendations are a regular feature of this blog. Want more recommendations about what to read? Check out my Three Star Leadership blog, Michael McKinney’s LeadingBlog, and Bob Morris’ Blogging on Business.