A New Chapter

“Life is not a dress rehearsal. Stop practicing what you're going to do and just go do it. In one bold stroke you can transform today.”  Marilyn Grey

 Hello world! I am back from a brief hiatus and excited to start the new chapter in my life. December marked the end of my two year graduate program and endless hours of school work. I completed my internship, which was incredibly educating, and graduated with my Master’s degree.

It’s taken me a couple of weeks back in the saddle to get into the swing of things, and so I thought I would begin by sharing some great books on leadership that I have read, am reading currently, and have marked on my “to read” list.

Probably my all-time favorite writer is John Maxwell. I have read several of his books and they are all great. The one I recommend to start with is The 360 Degree Leader. This book talks about how you can be a leader no matter what your position or level at your job. It really helps to shift your perspective about the power of influence and how you can use it to impact your role for the better.

A book that I'm currently reading is The  Leader's Guide: 101 Indispensable Tools, Tips, and Techniques for Any Situation by John Baldoni. This book is full of great nuggets of wisdom that apply to any situation. For example, in chapter one Baldoni writes, "yes it does matter what people think of you. Since leaders accomplish very little by themselves, they need to bring others together for common purpose. How others perceive the leader is important to encouraging followership. Followership, which is based upon trust, is a reciprocal act" (Baldoni, 9).


Last, a book on my "to read" list is Michale Feiner's The Feiner Points of Leadership. My husband (who's working on his MBA) was assigned to read this book in one of his classes and quickly became a Feiner fan. As we would discuss the day or situations at work, he would mention something he read in the Feiner's book that applied to the situation and shined a crystal clear light on things. The more I heard about Feiner's "laws" the more I bugged my husband to hurry up and finish the book so I could read it. Finally, he gave me a copy for my Kindle for Christmas. I plan to starting this book within a couple of weeks. The thing that makes Feiner's book unique is that he has personal real-world experience in managing people and explains and relates his principal in ways that can apply to anyone in any type of work environment.

So there you have it. These books are the way I plan to keep educating myself as I begin this new chapter of my life. Even though I'm not in school anymore, books are a wonderful way that I can keep my mind learning and growing. What are some good books on self-improvement or leadership that have impacted you?