Three Star Leadership

General Leadership Resources

These resources cover the big picture. They're divided into Books, Web Sites and Blogs, and Periodicals.

Books

There are two general books about leadership and effectiveness that should be in your library. They have both been around for decades and keep giving value to readers.

Peter Drucker's Effective Executive has been a handbook for folks responsible for a group for decades. The language in this book may be a bit dated, along with some of the examples, but the content is rock-solid and practical and the writing is as good as it gets. This is a true classic.

The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner has been around in various editions for almost twenty years now. One reason for that is that it is an excellent overview of leadership in organizations and how you can do it yourself.

The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson was the first book to put the findings of decades of behavioral science research into a usable form for managers. It was one of the first business books ever to make the New York Times best seller list and it's still a top seller today. However, you should pick up a copy of the book in a physical book store to see if you think you'll get value from it. Many of my clients and trainees have told me that the fable format with lots of white space bothers them while others find the book amazingly helpful.

For centuries, the US Marine Corps has been known as an organization that produces leaders. The Marines taught me that if I wanted to be a leader, I would have two jobs: accomplish the mission and care for the people.

If you want to learn more about how some Marine principles apply outside that organization, read Corps Business: the 30 Management Principles of the U.S. Marines by David H. Freedman will give you a good list of techniques. Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way by Dan Carrison and Rod Walsh will put those techniques into the context of Marine history, traditions and culture.

Probably the most effective CEO in my lifetime was Jack Welch. In his book, Winning, Jack shares wisdom learned in his years at the helm of GE. This book is especially valuable for two reasons. First, it's based on the answers Welch has given to questions during countless public programs. Second, the prose benefits from the wisdom and editorial hand of Jack's wife, Suzy.

There's a lot of opinion out there that masquerades as wisdom. To gain some perspective on management fads, trends and truth, check out Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense by Robert Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer.

If you like books with little bits of wisdom and inspiration that you can dip into for a couple of minutes at a time, you'll love Common Sense Supervision: a Handbook for Success as a Supervisor by Roger Fulton. Keep it nearby to browse when you have a spare moment.

Web Sites and Blogs

If blogs strike your fancy, check out the Three Star Leadership Blog. You can find lots of quality blogs on our blogroll.

If you want to keep up with business books, check out Biz Book Talk, a site with reviews of the latest and greatest business books.

Secrets of Success web site on leadership and management style. Lots of stories about individual business leaders are here.

Tom Peters. You know who he is. This site offers lots of materials, links and an interesting blog.

CEO Refresher has lots of good articles. I've skipped you past the stupid splash page.

You may know the folks at Gallup from their famous poll, but they have a wealth of knowledge about leadership and productivity on their site.

HBS Working Knowledge is the online presence of the Harvard Business School's newsletter. You can read it on the site, get it by email, or view the Working Knowledge blog.

Management-Issues is a UK-based online resource which focuses on the leadership, management and people issues that are at the heart of the changing workplace. They produce an excellent blog.

It's not on a business or leadership web site, but if you really want to find business-related information online, check out the Business Navigator developed and maintained by Rich Meislin of the New York Times.

There are several online resources that will give you an overview of supervision, including the people issues.

The Basic Overview of Supervision is a good, quick online resource on a number of supervision-related topics. The strength is the hyperlink structure that lets you get to what you want quickly. This is part of The Free Management Library and is written by Carter McNamara.

Another hyperlink book on supervision that you may find helpful is authored by Gemmy Allen. She teaches management and supervision at a college in Texas. She has also trained for several corporations. You may also buy a printed version of her book.

Periodicals

Although "periodical" implies a paper product, we've given you the online connections below.

The best overall business magazine (despite the fact that it calls itself a newspaper) is the Economist. It's especially valuable for US leaders because of the British perspective.

Business Week is great source of both news and features. The web site also offers you newsletters, blogs and podcast opportunities to get your information.

Fortune is great for more in-depth stories. It's published bi-weekly, but the web site is there all the time.

Forbes is, and always has been, "The Capitalist Tool."