Twice recently, I have presented my synopsis of Leadership Lessons of the U.S. Navy SEALS : Battle-Tested Strategies for Creating Successful Organizations and Inspiring Extraordinary Results by Jeff Cannon and Lieutenant Commander Jon Cannon. I was struck with how practical, how timely, and how needed these lessons are. We have a new and deeper appreciation… Read More Three Crucial Leadership Lessons from the U.S. Navy SEALs
Our mattresses were made of corn shucks and soft gray Spanish moss that hung from the trees…. From the swamps we got soup turtles and baby alligators And from the woods we got raccoon, rabbit and possum. • Mahalia Jackson, Movin’ On Up Richard Wright, the bard of the Great Migration, defected to the receiving station… Read More The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson – A Big Book
The business world has increasingly become a world of individuals. Corporate teams that once banded together to push forward are now like mercenary gangs… Corporate culture has often become little more than a sea of managerial nomads, loyal to no one and motivated overwhelmingly by salary, convenience, and the size of the corporate gym… This… Read More Honoring our Military with a special Book Synopsis Presentation/Gathering – The Leadership Secrets of the Navy SEALs
I have oft quoted, on this blog, and in countless presentations, from The Looming Tower: Al-Queda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright (winner of the Pulitzer Prize, 2007). And Inside the Kingdom by Carmen Bin Laden. Here is s link to a reading list, all books that were highlighted on PBS, with links to… Read More A Reading List – Post 9/11 (A Good List to check out After the Death of Bin Laden)
Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington D.C., August 28, 1963: But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand… Read More “The Security of Justice” – Thoughts on the Death of Bin Laden
Here’s some serious background reading to recommend. Shortly after it came out, I read the book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright. He won the Pulitzer Prize for this book (for General Nonfiction – 2007). As the Egypt situation unfolds, this might be a good book to put in… Read More The Muslim Brotherhood – The Hostility Goes Way Back (with insight from The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright)
Today at noon, I will present my reflections on The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright. It won the Pulitzer, and is the definitive work on the birth and work of Al-Queda (leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks). As I revisited the book preparing for this presentation, I was reminded again of this simple… Read More Knowing What Is Coming, and Preparing For It – It May Be Leadership’s Most Important Task
I don’t know how to decide which are the most important books. But I think this may be one of them. I read the Pulitzer Prize winning The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright just days after it was published. I could not put it down. I have read two of… Read More Lawrence Wright’s Trip to Al-Qaeda
So, here’s the request that came in an e-mail: We are going on a cruise in September and I want to load my Kindle with three books. What are the three best books you would recommend for my reading? The request came from a very sharp, keen-minded, successful, independent business consultant. He attends one of… Read More “What Three Books Should I Load On My Kindle For My Cruise?” – w/update
I have written often about the two main worlds I live in (professionally): the world of business books, especially with the books I present at the First Friday Book Synopsis, and the world of nonprofits and social justice, especially with the books I present at the Urban Engagement Book Club. These two events are back… Read More Just Like Us — a book to do your soul good
First Friday Book Synopsis 