A Fish Rots from the Head Down
When an organization starts to fail, it starts at the top.
We hear all kinds of supposed leadership talking hears, books, seminars, and podcasts in our project management world. But here are the actual leadership books we use:
- Don't Get Stuck on Stupid: Leadership in Action, Mark Robinson and Russel L. Honoré
- Leadership Strategy and Tactics, Jocko Willink
- The Dichotomy of Leadership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
- Leader Eat Last, Simon Sinek
- Value Focused Thinking, Ralph L. Keeney
- Red Team, Micah Zenko
These texts are from practitioners, not theorist. Theorist with degrees in Philosophy to boot.
You want practical advice on leading projects, look to those who have actually lead successful projects.
Not de minimis projects, but life and death projects, must succeed project, showing up on time, on budget (with the right margins to cover all the uncertainties to be encountered) and with the needed Capabilities to accomplish the mission or fulfill the business strategy. Not just talking about their theory of how you should lead.
