What I am Reading - Books

(Note: This is a cross post from learnings.leadnet.org)

Yes, I am one of those people that has multiple books going at once. There are several scattered about the house at any given time and several in my bag at any time.

When I go to an appointment, I always carry a book along in case someone else is running late.

I don’t read while driving but I do while flying or in a hotel room or at home at night and at while eating lunch.

I love to read. I thank my mother for that.

While I love to read, I am not sure I really digest all the books properly. I scribble notes on margins, make comments in the back and often journal small things into my notebooks, but I usually skim and read and when something catches me, I camp there.

So here is where I am this week with a few books that I have along with me.

Tribes by Seth Godin – like all his books, fairly short, focused and a quick read. At its core it is leader as community organizer philosophy with internet enabled strategy. Be the leader by taking a distinct point of view and then gather a tribe of passionate followers around you.

In some ways it made me question my fairly neutral point of view. I would say that it did make me scribble a lot in margins and in the back which for me is the mark of a good read.

Blue Ocean Strategy – Kim and Maubourgne. I re-read this because our organization is considering some new program plans for the future. The second time through left me a little muddled. I get the point – create a product that redefines your market so you have no competition. But the 6 drivers of creating that get somewhat muddled.

 Love the idea. Think the book could be better organized. Some scribbles but not as much as the much shorter Tribes.

 Sticky Church – Larry Osborne. Full disclosure here – Larry is a personal friend and this is one of Leadership Network’s books, but I think this is best book on “assimilation” that is out there. It’s about more than that, but the need it meets for most readers is right there. Larry is one of the mentors to our next gen pastor groups and this topic is HUGE among those guys. I am so thankful we now have some of Larry’s excellent talks and thoughts in print form so they can be widely shared.

I didn’t scribble a lot because I agreed so much with what he was writing. I underlined. Probably due to be a classic.

Drucker Five Questions Updated version – I am going to a training in several weeks and this was required reading for the course. Interesting to see how Drucker’s classic five questions were reworked by some of his disciples.

I think Drucker is timeless (ok for at least 50 years) and that I continue to benefit from this thinking, work and mentorship. I could spend years just journaling on Drucker reflections. Perhaps I should.

It’s not a book yet but I did read the sample chapters from Lost and Found by Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes and found it to be a great book. Statistical oriented books can be boring but Ed and company have done a good job in finding ways to connect the stats to stories and make give them practical understandings about reaching younger unchurched adults. Can’t wait for the book release which I think is early 2009. Ed is one of the hosts for our innovations3gathering.com conference. Go sign up now for that. Perhaps the book will be out by then and he can sign it for me at the conference.

So – what books are you reading right now that you think I should read, or another one of our blog readers should read? I would like to know. Hit the comments button and let me know.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

Comments

[Raymond E. Foster]

Dave:
My latest book, Leadership: Texas Hold 'em Style has been adopted by the Anderson School of Management (UNM), the Illinois Executive Police Institute and the Union Institute and University. I hope it makes the list of leadership books you are reading. You can find out more information about the book at www.pokerleadership.com

[Richard H]

"In some ways it made me question my fairly neutral point of view."

I know where you're coming from. I constantly struggle with my calling to lead and my introverted academic personality. Too many leadership books sound exciting until I realize that I'd need a personality transplant to do what they say.

[Jenny Williams]

Dave, thought you and your readers might be interested in knowing about Threads. As a result of LifeWay research, such as what is featured in Lost and Found, Threads was created. Threads is a movement to help churches reach the young adult generation. Jason Hayes, co-author of Lost and Found, is the Threads Ministry Specialist. You can learn more about Threads, including Ed Stetzer's new small group study, titled Sent: Living the Missional Nature of the Church at http://www.threadsmedia.com/sent

[Dave Anthold]

Here are a few books I am reading or listening to right now:

- For Men Only - Jeff Feldahn & Shaunti Feldahn
- For Women Only - Shaunti Feldahn
- Mentoring 101 - John Maxwell
- The Gift of Work - Bill Heatley
- Groundswell - Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff
- The Truth About You - Marcus Buckingham

Some books are for pleasure & personal growth - others are to help with work or because a friend wrote it. All the books are great & offer a lot of insight.