I’ve always been fascinated with leadership and the skills required to be a great leader. This fascination also indirectly drew my attention to the sheer volume of bad bosses in the workplace. For nearly three decades, I was fortunate enough to amass an impressive track record of delivering great business results while leading tens of thousands of employees at some of America’s largest corporations. However in spite of those results, I still found myself unfilled and apathetic toward the environments I actually helped to create. I knew there had to be a better way and the books on my list helped me find the energy and passion I entered the workforce with so long ago.
I wrote
Begin With WE: 10 Principles for Building and Sustaining a Culture of Excellence
From Values to Action is a blueprint for leaders of any tenure.
Written by a former Fortune 500 CEO turned business school professor, the book masterfully outlines the importance of being a Values-based leader.
Kraemer’s four principles, self-reflection, balance and perspective, true self-confidence, and genuine humility, are stalwart characteristics of the world’s most successful leaders.
Silver Medal Winner, Business and Leadership, 2012 Nautilus Book Awards
Respected former CEO, professor, and speaker examines what it takes to become a values-based leader
In this highly-anticipated book, Harry Kraemer argues that today's business environment demands values-based leaders who, in "doing the right thing," deliver outstanding and lasting results. The journey to becoming a values-based leader starts with self-reflection. He asks, "If you are not self-reflective, how can you know yourself? If you do not know yourself, how can you lead yourself? If you cannot lead yourself, how can you lead others?" Kraemer identifies self-reflection as the first of…
Written nearly 2k years ago, Meditations was never intended for public consumption.
However Marcus’ profound understanding of human behavior, the importance of operating selflessly within a bigger context, and the importance of supporting others makes this an important read for just about everyone.
Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.
Few ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. 161–180). A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus’s insights and advice—on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others—have made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations…
The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.
The biggest obstacle standing in the way to becoming a great leader is ego.
The Power of Now is a masterpiece, helping the reader identify the pitfalls of being a victim of ego and also provides healthy insight into overcoming the ego.
When the leader is able to think clearly, without bias, and without ego, they are better equipped to make more impactful decisions.
**CHOSEN BY OPRAH AS ONE OF HER 'BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH'**
The international bestselling spiritual book, now with a new look for its 20th anniversary. Eckhart Tolle demonstrates how to live a healthier, happier, mindful life by living in the present moment.
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'I keep Eckhart's book at my bedside. I think it's essential spiritual teaching. It's one of the most valuable books I've ever read.' Oprah Winfrey
To make the journey into The Power of Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart…
Dare to Lead gives honest, straightforward, and actionable tools for ditching the old leadership playbook.
It takes a hell of a lot of courage to lead authentically and with empathy. Two traits that have long been absent in the leadership ranks for far too long. Brown does a masterful job mixing anecdotes with data-backed science to challenge a lot of leadership sacred cows.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead.
Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart!
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG
Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and…
Ava Winston likes her life of routine in Lexington, Kentucky. Then a tornado blows it away. Ava is safe in the basement, but when she emerges, only one corner of her home stands. Rather than crumbling under the loss, she feels a load lifted. Maybe something beyond the familiar is…
One of the most successful hedge fund investors of all time, Dalio just gets it.
In a world where cookie cutter, how-to-lead books could be stacked as high as the world’s tallest skyscraper, Dalio’s unconventional approach to leadership is refreshing – and simplistic. The book details a set of well-defined principles, which are effectively decision-rules for getting what you want out of life and work.
It has helped me immeasurably in both my professional and personal lives.
"Significant...The book is both instructive and surprisingly moving." -The New York Times
Ray Dalio, one of the world's most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he's developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business-and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.
In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in…
In the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling book, Begin With WE: 10 Principles for Building and Sustaining a Culture of Excellence, senior executive turned author, Kyle McDowell examines the root causes of dysfunction in the workplace, highlighting the plague of a “me-oriented” paradigm, while providing the remedy with his framework, The 10 WEs. Serving as the cornerstone of McDowell’s philosophy, these guiding principles establish the foundation required for building and sustaining a culture of excellence.
To create innovative, collaborative, and high-performing organizations, we need a new leadership model.
Speaker, consultant, and former Silicon Valley executive Minette Norman is committed to inspiring leaders by sharing some of the most important things she learned over the decades she spent in the corporate world, such as: every human…
Reduce stress, ease anxiety, and increase inner peace—one day at a time—with a year of easy-to-follow mindfulness meditation techniques. Certified mindfulness teacher, bestselling author, ultramarathoner, wife, and dog-mom Nita Sweeney shares mindfulness meditation practices to help anyone break free from worry and self-judgment.
