Great Bosses

GREAT BOSSES


Top books on Leadership The following books have been most influential on my thinking about leadership.
Book Title		Review

The Seven Cultures of Capitalism: Value Systems for Creating Wealth in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands, Hampden-Turner, Charles and Trompenaars, Alfons, Doubleday, 1993		A captivating discussion on research into differences across cultures, and the implications on values and motivations. For readers who live and work outside the seven cultures, the lessons are still profound and you can not help but consider the culture into which you were born and now live and work.



Cultures and Organisations, Software of the Mind, Intercultural Cooperation and its Importance for Survival Hofstede, Geert, HarperCollins, UK, 1991		Hofstede's model for explaining the dimensions of organisation behaviour cover three elements: human nature, country cultures and the culture of the specific organisation. He then discusses at length his research into country cultures and the implications for organisational policies and leadership behaviour in different countries. His messages explain why leadership styles from one culture do not necessarily work in another country, and the tailoring that needs to occur for leaders to be effective in specific cultures.



The Last Place on Earth, Scott and Amundsen's Race to the South Pole. Huntford, Roland Abacus, UK, 2000		Why did one leader reach the South Pole first and lead his group back safely, while the other reached the pole second and perished on return? While this book might not have been written as a leadership book, it provides an absorbing study of leadership where life depended on effective leadership.



Why Don't People Listen? Mackay, Hugh Pan Macmillan, Sydney, 1994 (later titled The Good Listener)		A great read! Mackay's point is that if people do not listen, it is most likely due to the failing of the talker. If the talker is insensitive to the frame of reference of the listener, then the talker will fail in their objective of being heard. And for listener, a key skill is to suspend judgement when they are listening, to provide the talker an opportunity to be understood. Only then, should a listener form a judgement on what the have heard. For a summary of Mackay's book, refer to Effective Communication.



Intelligent Leadership Mant, Alistair Allen & Unwin, Australia, 1997		Alistair Mant is an astute observer of leaders and organisations and communicates his messages effectively. Mant believes that effective leaders have two key attributes: intellectual fire power (so they can handle the complexity of their role and the decisions they need to make), and an absence of psychological damage.



The Naked Ape Morris, Desmond Vintage, UK, 1994		A compelling insight into the nature of the human species. Designers of organisational systems and policies are well-advised to consider the nature of the human species, and what is likely to work, and what's likely not to work in the way we design and manage organisations.



Managing the Human Animal Nicholson, Nigel Texere, UK, 2000		An outstanding book for leaders and designers of management systems. Humans have been evolving for 40,000 years, but only in the last 250 years have we moved from hunter gatherer and village communities to work in large complex organisations. We are hardwired for a different environment. Nicholson covers the hardwiring instincts of our species and discusses the implications of this hardwired behaviour for organisations.



Learned Optimism Seligman, Martin Random House, Australia, 1992		Seligman's discovery and development of our ability to learn an optimistic outlook is an excellent reminder to leaders that leaders can help their people believe in themselves and achieve outstanding results. The alternative is "learned helplessness".