The abilities and characteristics of a great leader

The following acronym details concisely the abilities and characteristics of a great leader:

L=Look and listen. Creating a vision based on the needs and responses of your group.
E=Empowerment. Motivating yourself and your team.
A=Awareness. Knowing what you want out of a situation as well as what others want.
D=Doing. Being action-oriented as a role model.
E=Emotional freedom and empathy. Understanding the deeper needs of the team, and seeing beyond competitiveness, fear and emotional toxicity.
R=Responsibility. Showing initiative, taking mature risks and living up to your inner values.
S=Synchronicity. Connecting any need with an answer from the soul.

Thanks to Deepak Shopra and his new book The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness

My Reading List from 2009: Ranging From: The Only Sustainable Edge to The Master and Margarita

In concert with the practice of yearly goal setting, at the beginning and end of each year, I try to take a step back and reevaluate my reading and learning aspirations. Inspired by my cousin and brother-in-law who are avid readers, I have compiled my 2009 reading list and posted it here. Soon to be published will be my reading list for 2010, based on my books I've read, am reading or will read, albeit belated ....

With life's increasing demands and busyness, recently I have had a tough time getting through books in their entirety, reading every single page from cover to cover. So, to start from a more reasonable place, last year I set a goal of reading two books a month; one book business-related, the other social, global, or religious. Going forward in 2010 however, I want to do a better job of recording what I learn from my readings, so I am going to start using a mind map to outline and collaborate with other readers. Let me know if you're interested in joining the fun.

I've included the Amazon links for each book for your convenience and hope you check some of them out. If you've read any of these books before, I'd be interested in your thoughts. If you have any favorite reads you might recommend, please share.

I'd say my top two of all 24 listed below would have to be: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Economics in One Lesson, in no particular order. That said, I enjoyed them all. Stay tuned for more ... I can't wait to share more good reads with you!

January
- Crucial Conversations
- The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid

February
- The Only Sustainable Edge
- High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them

March
- Outliers
- Three Cups of Tea

April
- The Big Switch
- Man's Search for Meaning

May
- Reality Check
- Mere Christianity

June
- The Long Tail
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

July
- Yes!
- The Master and Margarita

August
- Economics in One Lesson
- Strengths Finder 2.0

September
- Open Business Models
- Saving the World at Work

October
- 10 Rules for Strategic Innovators
- How to Change the World

November
- Future of Management
- 1776

December
- The Rise of the Creative Class
- Joseph Smith Rough Stone Rolling

Dan Pink on the surprise science of motivation

Recently, here in Seattle, I had the opportunity to sit and listen to Dan Pink in person talk about his new book Drive. Key takeaway? There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does:
- Incentives work but only in a narrow slice of circumstances (motor work)
- "If then" rewards, destroy creativity
- The secret to high performance is tapping into the intrinsic drive - to do things better because they matter
- Science confirms what we know in our hearts
- Compare what science knows and what business does
- Bring notions of motivation into the 21st century
- Get beyond lazy ideology of carrots and sticks
- Strengthen businesses and empower people to solve more complex problems ... and maybe, maybe change the world

Dan's excellent TED talk elaborates further:

How can we make this look good? Books on design: the written word, presentations, data and more

Over the years, I have come upon several books that do a great job of teaching the elegance of good visual display or just good design. There are multiple purposes to design - for example, you could be trying to design a compelling website, express quantitative data in easy to understand graphs or to design a logo or PowerPoint presentation or design a blog post. While I in no way have figured it out myself, I have come across some great resources.

Web Copy That Sells
We all write online and publish in some way whether for work or for pleasure and this book talks about the right way to design web content. A must have for online publishing.

Presentation Zen
Simple ideas on presentation design and delivery. Presentation is about the transfer of emotion and this book walks the reader through preparation, design and delivery. Backed by Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin, Presentation Zen is a good guide to PowerPoint / Keynote.

Slide:ology
Another great book on presentations only this one is by the Duarte team - a prestigious design agency in Silicon Valley - and reviews comprehensively visual story development. From animation, to picture taking to text on slides.


The Minto Pyramid Principle
For THE guide to logic in writing, thinking and problem solving, I highly recommend this classic. Coming from a management consulting background, this was our bible. Every presentation, every problem was structured in the Minto way.

Say it with Charts
An easy-to-read guide to creating simple, compelling charts. Also includes worksheets and exercises to practice.

Don't Make Me Think
One of our favorite books at Fresh Consulting. This is the guide to common sense web usability. A must read for all web designers.


Universal Principles of Design
One of the best books out there on design. It's tagline says it all: "100 ways to enhance usability, influence perception, increase appeal, make better design decisions, and teach through design. This is the first one-stop reference and resource for designers of all disciplines - from graphic design to architecture to user-interface design. This is one of my favorites.


The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
The seminal book on displaying complex quantitative information by Edward Tufte. He has written several other books, but this one in my opinion really is the most powerful and applicable for my profession (business consulting). The Strunk and White of visual design.

Information Dashboard Design
All about information technology or business intelligence, this book is a must read for anyone who has ever worked on or developed a dashboard. This book gets to the core of building a quality dashboard that communicates complex information clearly and easily. This is an art and Stephen Few is one of the best.

So that is quite the large range of design-oriented books - from web copy, to website, to graphs to architecture. I would love to learn of any design books that you love.

Free Download of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - audiobook

Download this timeless classic here.