2008 Book Review Jeff Henderson
(in no particular order)
1. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I think this is a must-read for any leader, particularly senior leaders. Lincoln’s magnanimous leadership style is stunning as he deals with rivals, arrogant and incompetent generals, and his own depression. Reading ‘Rivals’ reminded me of this great quote: “There’s not a limit to what a person can do when he or she doesn’t care who gets the credit.”
2. Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know
by Meg Meeker, M.D. If you are a Dad of a daughter, you MUST read this book. It frightened me and increased my prayers for my daughter immensely. A MUST read.
3. Judgment. How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls by Noel Tichy & Warren Bennis. Judgment was a good read but there are better Warren Bennis books if you haven’t read him before. A better book by Bennis is Organizing Genius. Judgment is about the need for leaders to create “Teachable Points of View” that can continue to highlight the vision. These storylines address three questions: 1. Where are we now?
2. Where are we going? 3. How are we going to get there?”
4. A Whole New Mind. Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink
Mr. Pink makes the point that we have moved from an economy & society built on the linear, logical, computer-like capabilities of the Information Age (left-brain) to the inventive, emphatic, big-picture capabilities of the Conceptual Age (right-brain.) The Conceptual Age is built upon six aptitudes: Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning.
One of the most important reminders I received from this book was about the power of Story. In the Church, we have the greatest story ever told and yet we often end up communicating information. In the Conceptual Age, information, while readily available, is less impactful. “When facts become so widely available and instantly accessible, each one becomes less valuable. What begins to matter more is the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact.”
* “Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” Roger C. Shank. Cognitive scientist.
5. Chasing Cool by Noah Kerner and Gene Pressman. Yep, you gotta read this one. There’s some language in it but you’ll survive. * ” It’s possible to be both mainstream and edgy. You can be Goliath but you always have to think and behave like David.”
* “Great brands are those that lead the market place, not those that chase after it.”
6. The 4:8 Principle by Tommy Newberry. This would be a great book to begin the New Year. *”Act in a manner consistent with your values not necessarily your feelings.” * “Emotions don’t reveal the quality of your life. Emotions reveal the quality of your thinking.”
7. Wikinomics by Don Tapscott & Anthony D. Williams This book gave me a great idea that I’m currently exploring. However, it had too much high-tech jargon that was difficult for me to decipher. I think a better book to read is Groundswell, which is on my ‘09 list.
8. Getting Things Done by David Allen. Another great way to begin the New Year. The book is based upon asking the question, “What’s the next action to take?” so as to avoid being overwhelmed with the entirety of a project. Sounds simple but it’s very helpful. There were some great quotes in this book, too.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” Mark Twain.
“A vision without a task is but a dream, a task without a vision is drudgery, a vision and a task is the hope of the world.” From a church in Sussex England, 1730.
9. 1776 by David McCullough. ‘John Adams’ and ‘Truman’ are much better McCullough books, in my opinion. Read those before this one.
10 The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy A fascinating look at how Dr. Graham managed the fine balance of being so close to power without compromising his spiritual leadership role. The greatest test of this came with his relationship with President Nixon. That chapter is worth the price of the book alone.
11. UnChristian. What a New Generation really thinks about Christianity…and why it matters by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons Good insights and research. I love how Gabe thinks and his heart for those far from God. ‘UnChristian’ wasn’t necessarily new information, but having it compacted into one resource was very helpful.
12. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Clayborne Carson This is an audiobook that has many of Dr. King’s recorded speeches and comments. That was worth the price alone.
13. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni. Didn’t see the movie but loved the book. Enjoyable read.
14. Your God is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan “How you spend your days is how you spend your life.” This quote reminded me of a John Maxwell quote who said, “Yesterday is often over exaggerated. Tomorrow is often over estimated. And Today is often under-estimated.” Mr. Buchanan also stresses that we have to train for the spiritual life. “We train for marathons and to play the violin. We also have to train for the spiritual life. That’s the most lost idea to the world and it requires whole books & sermon series to establish its value.”
15. Five Faces of Genius: Creative Thinking Styles to Succeed at Work
by Annette Moser-Wellman One of the most interesting books on creativity I’ve ever read. Not only will it help you understand your creativity bent, it will help you understand your team better. Five Faces discusses the five mental skills mastered by some of the most creative thinkers in history. The faces are Seer, Observer, Alchemist, Fool and Sage. You will take a test to discover which of these faces you use the most.
“Genius is at first the ability to receive the discipline,” GeorgeEliot
16. Me, Myself & Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables by Phil Vischer This was a sobering reminder of the danger of replacing God’s vision for your life with your vision for your life. This is an honest retelling of the rise and fall of Veggie Tales. It was one of most personally challenging books I read all year. I highly recommend this book, particularly for visionary leaders.
17. The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm by Thomas Kelley, Jonathan Littman I would recommend you get a hold of the Nightline special on IDEO from a few years ago. Watching that will give you a quicker insight of IDEO’s innovation process than reading this book will.
18. Red Letter Christians. A Guide to Faith and Politics by Tony Campolo I’m a long-time fan of Dr. Campolo’s because he shakes me out of my comfort zone. This book will probably do the same for you. You won’t agree with everything he writes, but you will definitely respect his rationale and passion for the Gospel of Jesus.
19. First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James Hansen. If you’re an Apollo space fan like I am, this is a MUST read. If not, I’d pass on it.
20. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this because it gets bogged down into lots of details but there were some really good insights on creativity. The author makes the point that creative people are often thought of as spontaneous, disorganized, even “hurting people.” He makes the point that creativity is not reserved for a certain type of person, and is available to everyone at some level.
21. A Failure of Nerve. Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix by Edwin Friedman Great read. If you need some courage for a decision you need to make, this is your book.
22. The Faith by Charles Colson. If you’ve never read a Charles Colson book, start first with ‘Loving God.’ That booked had a dramatic impact on me.
23. the dip by Seth Godin. “Quit the wrong stuff. Stick with the right stuff. Have the guts to do one or the other.” There, you’ve read this book. You’re welcome.
24. Small is the New Big by Seth Godin I like Seth Godin. He’s great at taking complex matters and turning them into something simple. His book, “Tribes” is on my ‘09 list. This blog entry from Seth on “Small” is a quick read: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/06/small_is_the_ne.html
25. The Dynamic Path by James Citrin This book was okay. I did get a great quote from this book by Lance Armstrong. “Before cancer, I used to have good days and bad days. After cancer, I only have good days or great days.”
26. Becoming a Coaching Leader by Daniel Harkavy. Good read on developing leaders. * “People won’t change until they’ve hurt enough, heard enough or had enough. All heart-level experiences.” * “Use the keep-start-stop communication with your teams. ‘What do you need to keep, start or stop?’” * “Excellent leaders have deep convictions about serving their teams and clients in uncommon ways.”
27. The Year of Living Biblically by Al Jacobs This was an amusing read about a guy who lives according to the Old Testament customs for 7 months and the New Testament for 5 months. He begins agnostic. It’s interesting to follow his journey.
28. Authentic Leadership by Bill George This book came recommended by a friend I greatly respect. I was a little disappointed. I would suggest Integrity by Henry Cloud instead of this one.
29. The Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni This would be a good book for your team to read and discuss regarding creating a great staff culture. Mr. Lencioni suggests that anonymity, irrelevance and immeasurement are the three signs. If no one knows you, your job seems irrelevant and no one is measuring your success, you’re going to loathe your job. Fairly intuitive but he does bring out some further good points.
30. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers I might lose my “man-card” for admitting this, but I really liked this book. It does a great job portraying God’s redemptive love for us.
31. Fit to Lead by the Cooper Wellness Clinic. I wish I could go to Cooper to get a physical. These folks do it right. I try to read a fitness book each year. I still think Body for Life is the best.
32. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama Regardless of how you voted, I think you owe it to yourself to get to know our next President in his own words.
33. Nurturing the Leader within your Child by Tim Elmore Tim knows all about developing leaders, especially the next generation. A great parenting book.
34. Rich Kid. Smart Kid by Robert Kiyosaki. A great read about how to prepare your children for their financial future. The chapter about ‘Allowance’ is great. Mr. Kiyosaki has an interesting perspective that we are making a mistake by preparing our children more as students than as entrepreneurs. I think he has a point.
35. Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore You’ll never see the homeless the same after reading this book.
36. Schulz and Peanuts. A Biography by David Michaels I enjoyed this book about the greatest cartoonist of the last century. The chapter about the creation of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was fascinating. Schulz was a complex man who battled inner demons. He was both ambitious and insecure. I’ll never see Charlie Brown quite the same ever again.
37. The Shack by William P. Young. You need to read this book if for no other reason so you won’t be the last person in America who hasn’t.
38. One Christmas in Washington. Roosevelt and Churchill forge the Grand Alliance by David J. Bercuson and Holger H. Herwig My fascination with the Roosevelt/Churchill relationship and leadership styles only increased after this book. If you are a history buff of WW II, you need to read this.
39. The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly. I think I’m officially tired of the books that provide a fictional story at the beginning and then tell you the primary insights at the end. Just go ahead and tell me. Anyway, the premise is to hire a Dream Manager who helps the staff with their dreams and goals. If you do this, you create greater loyalty and performance according to the author. Makes sense, but I do wonder about its practicality in today’s budget-tightening climate.
40. Jesus wants to save Christians by Rob Bell and Don Golden The chapter on the book of Revelation is worth the price alone. Also, this book reminds us of the forgotten power of the Church being an “underground” movement. Rob’s a great thinker, pastor and communicator. He’s not a great World War II historian though. I’ll let you figure that out by reading the book.
41. Prayer. Does it really matter? By Phillip Yancey. I don’t think this is Yancey’s best book but it did inspire me to spend most of my devotional time this year in the book of Psalms.
42. Failing Amercia’s Faithful by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Mrs. Kennedy Townsend takes critical aim at the Catholic Church but in a very respectful tone. She’s more hopeful than bitter. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book, but she did give some interesting insights about her father, Robert Kennedy, that was a surprising bonus to the read.
thanks for sharing your 08 list and your reviews. i added a couple off of your 08 list to my 09 list.
2 quick questions: when do you read? do you set aside time during the work day, the evenings, read when you can…etc? i’m just curious. and, do you keep a catalog/journal of insights, quotes, etc to recall/review key ideas?
thanks for your example in always remaining the students!
Jeff,
Thank you so much for this list. You can’t imagine how valuable it is to me. I am a pastor of God’s Design Church in Chisinau, Moldova (Eastern Europe). We don’t have access to many good books here and I do feel a great need to continue to learn. So, your list is a great help to know what to look for.
I already started listening to Getting Things Done and plan to get to other books soon. That is when I learn to plan and get all that done
Thanks again. This was VERY helpful.
Andre.
Recommend books I read in 2008 on effects of leadership decisions by those in political power, especially appropriate now. Try American Rifle - A Biography by Alexander Rose (not a shooting book but a story of manufacturing history), Retribution by Max Hastings, best book I’ve ever read about conclusion of WWII in Pacific, Depression Economics by Paul Krugman, very current. Our new administration has a very difficult task ahead. Studying some history illuminates that difficulty (and I’m an engineer by training and not an historian.)
Jay, great to hear from you. I try each week to have a weekly reading goal such as four or five chapters per week of the book I’m reading. I usually find some time throughout the week to reach that goal and sometimes more. Having the goal really helps keep me on track.
I track my main insights my writing them on the inside cover of the books, so that I can go back to them as a reference.
Thanks for asking, Jay. Keep up the great work!
Jeff
Ben, great suggestions. Thanks!
Jeff
Thanks for sharing Jeff. You have inspired me to read more in 09. Happy reading in the New Year!
Wow! Jeff thats alot of books in one year! do you have an Kindle or what? haha…
The Billy Graham book was fascinating…
I agree…I read anything by Charles Colson or Phillip Yancy
Team of Rivals looks very interesting…
Rick
“Fiction is not fact, but fiction is fact selected and understood, fiction is fact arranged and charged with purpose.” –Thomas Wolfe
Read more fiction, Jeff. It will do you good
Andre, thank you for leading so well in Moldova. It’s inspiring to know what you are striving to do in a place of so many people who don’t know Jesus. Please keep it up!!
Jeff
Thanks for letting me know, Frances.
Adam, good point. There’s some fiction on there but probably not as much as there needs to be. Still waiting on my favorite fiction writer, Pat Conroy, to come out with his latest.
I’m confused about the review on this book: “Nurturing the Leader within your Child by Tim Elmore Tim knows all about developing leaders, especially the next generation. A great parenting book.”
What confuses me is why a pastor would be promoting a parenting book that has no Biblical instruction at all? So, is it important to raise leaders, or Godly sons and daughters? Confused.
Karen, the reason I recommend this book is because I know Tim personally through his service with our church. If our nation had more fathers like Tim, we’d be in much better shape. His point isn’t to focus exclusively on raising children as leaders but instead to nurture the leadership gifts our children have. Parents taking the time to nurture these God given gifts in their children is at its core a Biblical principle. Thanks, Jeff