Alain Hunkins is a leadership expert and author of Cracking The Leadership Code. He’s a sought-after speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach. His clients include Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Citigroup, General Electric, State Farm Insurance, and IBM.
He helps leaders understand how to create a culture that leads to increased productivity and profitability. He talks about the three secrets of building strong leaders: connection, communication, and collaboration.
Connection
A good leadership book will make a connection with its reader. You can gauge the strength of that connection by asking yourself: “Do I feel understood?” and “Do I understand others?” New leaders may need a quick, easy read to help them establish that connection. A classic, such as Good to Great, can offer new leaders a long-term perspective on their organizations and the management practices that make a difference. Leaders of diverse teams will find value in Berta’s guide, based on her own experience, to helping employees reach their full potential. She guides her readers through effective communication and cultural awareness.
Communication
A great leadership book helps you learn how to communicate ideas and vision in different formats, settings and audiences. The best leadership books also teach you how to communicate your message strategically.
Leaders need to be able to manage difficult conversations with their team members. The leadership books on this list will help you understand how to identify destructive communication patterns and give you practical solutions to switch negative habits for more constructive ones.
As a leader, you are responsible for building the trust and safety that your team needs to thrive. You need to know how to listen to your team members and be a compassionate advocate for them. The best leadership books on this list will show you how to build a high-performing and resilient team that can weather any challenge. Whether you are looking for a leadership book for beginners or seasoned leaders, these titles will provide the tools and insights you need to lead your team through tough times. the four agreement summary
The 2nd edition of Collaboration builds on the original by drawing on additional research and interviews. It also adds more examples and leadership challenges that professional teams are facing including; dealing with the financial consequences of a potential Eurozone contagion, dealing with pandemic holdovers and changing customer demand for global supply chains. This is a must read for leaders who need to work effectively with other parts of the organization or other business partners. One interesting and heretical discussion in the book is Hansen's assertion that there can be too much collaboration. He uses a specific large organization definition of collaboration which makes the book less directly useful for smaller organizations.
Context
Author Alain Hunkins is a highly sought-after leadership speaker, consultant, trainer and coach. In his twenty-year career, he has worked with more than 2,000 groups of leaders in 25 countries. He has designed and facilitated seminars on various leadership topics for clients such as Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Citigroup, General Electric, State Farm Insurance, IBM and General Motors. He is a faculty member of Duke Corporate Education and has written over 400 articles on leadership. Cracking The Leadership Code shares the valuable principles and practices that Hunkins has developed and refined during his 20+ years of working with leaders. These three interconnected elements—Connection, Communication, and Collaboration—can help you establish proactive leader-follower relationships and build high performing teams in today’s challenging business environment. This book will help you become the leader that people want to follow.