Leaders Eat Last
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek is an exploration of leadership and a call for the urgency of more leaders being needed in the world.
I found the title of the book confusing because even though Sinek briefly refers to how some leaders in the army eat after their subordinates, the book seemed to be more about the neurochemistry of human interaction and examples of good and bad leadership. I guess that means the title still works in the sense of eating last being one of the principles of leadership but it still confused me throughout listening to the audiobook.
Not a bad book about leadership but not great either.
Dichotomy of Leadership
Jocko and Leif are back at it with a follow-up book to Extreme Ownership, which still stands as one of my favourite business books of all time because of the real-world parallels they were able to draw between leadership on the battlefields of Iraq and leadership in the office of corporate America.
After four or more years since the release of Extreme Ownership, Dichotomy begins where it left off and reigns in some of the extremes from the previous book as the authors found business owners struggling when taking the concepts of the first book far too literally.
Dichotomy sets to soften some of the blows by being “in control, but not rigid” and helping readers see the gray area that is often where true leadership lies.
I liked this book but not as much as how fresh the idea was when I read Extreme Ownership. While the business principles are still solid, many of the stories from Iraq that Jocko and Leif tell sound familiar and rehashed to me. Some of them are from the previous book and it could just be that I’ve recalled them from some of the Jocko Podcast episodes but I think that it is more so from the previous book. Sure, they’ve retold the stories from the dichotomous perspective but I’d still have liked to get more fresh stories from the book than feeling so much like a repeat of Extreme Ownership.
The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People
The Seven Habits by Stephen Covey is a perennial seller in the management and personal improvement realm for good reasons. This book is the grandfather of most of the concepts you will read in self-help and management books that line the shelves today.
Whether you are trying to improve upon yourself, build a better business, or become a stronger leader, this book outlines the seven habits that a lifetime of research and reflection has led Covey to identify as the core to effectiveness and living a good life.
You’ve certainly heard of this book before and probably even seen the pages and concepts laid out within it a time or two before and I was surprised after reading it that it took me so long to actually sit down and read this book. Stephen Covey is a great storyteller and writer so this only furthers the support that this great book should line everybody’s bookshelf.
The book is longer than I think it needs to be but it makes more sense considering the number of stories and examples that Covey packs into each chapter from a lifelong pursuit of experience and reading on the subjects he expounds upon.
Life Value: 5/5
Entertainment Value 4/5
Managing Oneself
Managing Oneself - Peter Drucker
This little book is a quick read with many great take-home points for anyone struggling to manage themselves or others.
It breaks down a few key points from which all things surrounding managing yourself exist.
Know your values
Know how you learn/perform best
Know your strengths and weaknesses
In work you should find a company that resonates with your values
In relationships of the work of the personal kind, you should know the strength and values of the other person and respect them.
I think everyone can value from considering the points in this book if they struggle to have an answer to any of the above points and it takes less than an hour to read. Pretty good for people who are already busy.
Start With Why
Start With Why - Simon Sinek
Life Value 4/5
Entertainment Value 4/5
“There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or influences. Those who lead inspire us.”
Start With Why by Simon Sinek is a book for leaders who are taking over or starting up a company. The thesis of the book is that a company and its leaders must start with why - the belief and cause of the company in order to become successful. The WHY lies at the centre of WHAT your company does and HOW it does it.
To fully embody the why of a company means to hire around others who also believe the same thing that you do. By having the company culture embody the core belief, others will come to understand your WHY and follow you as well.
This book is pretty interesting and Sinek has a few good case studies that he develops his thesis around but he does stick to the same companies as examples throughout the entire book - he is clearly an Apple fan - and could have benefitted from branching out to a wider range of industries.
I’ve listened to Sinek speak in podcasts and on videos before and I believe that he is better suited to delivering his message through audio. I think that this book is more of a dictation of him talking than a great written work.
Principles
Principles - Ray Dalio
“Problems are like coal thrown into a locomotive engine because burning them up - inventing and implementing solutions for them - propels us forward. Every problem you find is an opportunity to improve your machine."
Principles is one of the best practical guides on life and management that I've read and one of my favourites in recent memory because of the extreme effort that went into making it as readable as possible.
This feels very much like a modern-day take of Stoic philosophy. Ray's own approach to business and life clearly has been influenced heavily by the Stoics.
The best part of the book is how each principle is clearly displayed as a chapter heading followed by each sub-principle or example subdivided even further to make it simple to pick out whatever information you need to apply in a given moment. This comes into play even more importantly in the second half of the book that's designed to be used as a business and management reference guide for how to handle different situations that are another "one of those."