While Hollywood portrays the rogue who can party all weekend, arrive ill-prepared, and still defeat the enemy. That’s not real life for Waldo, and certainly not for the Air Force. Waldo explains the importance of a wingman and how the lessons he learned on active duty translate into the business world. He tells his stories of failure and success, and how he’s learned from both.

I talk with Waldo about why partners are so important, how he overcame claustrophobia, and what a good debriefing does.

More about the book at YourWingman.com

In our complex business world, Spence wants you to be Awesomely Simple. That means examining your business in six areas and learning how to excel at the fundamentals:

Vivid Vision
Best People
A Performance-Oriented Culture
Robust Communication
A Sense of Urgency
Extreme Customer Focus

I talk with John about creating a mission statement, listening, hiring and more.

More about the book at AwesomelySimple.com

Want to scale Everest? It takes 2: Tenzing and Hillary. There are many sports examples like Malone and Stockton, Jordan and Pippen. These are the legendary ones, but many never go anywhere. What do the great examples teach us? That’s where Rodd and Gale and Gallup research come in. They look at the traits that successful partnerships have so we can work them into the partnerships we have.

More about the book at gmj.gallup.com.com

Bob has had a 40-year long, successful career. He’s been CEO of 5 companies in three different industries. From those experiences he has seen patterns of what works and what doesn’t work, and has compiled his insights for all of us. He dives into eight aspects of leadership—preparation, building and managing a career, business strategy, business operations, finance and economics, leadership, culture and communication, and personal spirit and style. Start with the Answer provides critical insight any aspiring leader can use to succeed in any industry.

I talk with Bob about mergers, following up great idea with execution, and more.

More about the book at StartWithTheAnswer.com

Debra’s back and this time she’s compiled decades of experience, mentoring, and talks with CEOs and Executives on what it takes to be a leader. Whether you want to make a difference where you work, or in you community, this book has what you’ll need to get noticed and be effective. There’s a leader at every table, and it might as well be you.

More about Debra at DebraBenton.com

Whether your a CEO, or in a new or established leadership role, this book looks at what the top, new CEOs of this decade did it. How did they figure out what to do, get the company leadership in sync, and execute? Jason asked the same thing and details what he uncovered. Yes, Golden Rule still rules, and making things simpler are on the list (along with others). How they carry it out will give you insight into how to impact your teams.

I talk with Jason about where these CEOs come from, the importance of communication, and what he unexpectedly found while he was putting it all together.

Playing to your strengths has many advantages, with the first in my mind being it definitely more fun! And in fact, trying to be good at everything makes you least effective. Continuing in the footsteps of Now, Discover Your Strengths and StrengthsFinder 2.0, this book looks at Leaders, Teams and Followers. All leaders have strengths, but not all the same strength.  What they are good at is assembling a team that have all the necessary strengths covered. With the book comes a code for an assessment to discover your strengths. After you take the assessment, if you’d send me an email with some of your strengths, I’d be curious to know what my audience is strong at.

I talk with Barry about the foundation laid in the previous books, how leaders are not exceptional at everything, what a team needs to be good at and more. More on the book at Gallup.com. Buy it at Amazon.com

I talk with Kevin about how to learn, how to be relational, and how to own your stuff. The book website has a free chapter and other goodies.

I talk with Holly about what kinds of conversations turn heated, how to deal with crying and more.

More about Holly at HollyWeeks.com.

I talk with Russ about what a ‘Nice Guy’ is, how nice is mistaken for weak, and what to do once you realize you’ve been getting run over.

More at the book website.

I talk with David about this nasty little word “apathy”, what it takes to cure it and how long it takes to leave it behind.

Links:
www.TheTrippingPointInLeadership.com
www.lmi-usa.com

Sales are down, morale has tanked, management is clueless but not to worry – you know what to do. However, how do you convince the boss that your idea has merit? How do you position yourself as someone who’s advice is worth hearing? Jim details the steps that his longstanding career in “crisis PR” has shown him that you’ll need to take to become a trusted strategic advisor.

Link:
www.e911.com

The people that rise through the ranks to the corner office come from all walks of life. They have different economic and educational backgrounds, and yet they find themselves running some of the largest and most challenging companies. Jack Welch was an ‘ordinary guy’ when he joined the ranks of GE and wasn’t eying the C-suite the first day on the job. Stephen interviewed dozens of executives and reveals the patterns and experiences that are the foundation of extraordinary leaders.

I talk with Stephen about what some of those common elements are, gauging when it’s “your moment” and dealing with crisis.

Link:
www.stephenhbaumleadership.com

The qualities of a leader have changed along with everything else over the past 30 years. Integrity and trust are still essential, but not enough for leaders today. Investigating the psychology behind why people follow will allow you to be the right kind of leader because you must lead from not only your head but also your heart. The book looks at the leaders we need for knowledge work, health care, education and government. It considers the relationship between the leader and follower and how to understand the people you work with.

I talk with Michael about what followers look for in a leader, what a knowledge worker needs to know, and what leaders should be doing to improve themselves.

Link:
www.Maccoby.com

It’s the edge that makes you personally effective. Yes, you have to be skilled, hard-working, full of integrity and intelligent. That’s substance. Executive Charisma is how you package it. That’s style. Add the two together and you create a winning combination that sets you apart as a leader and allows you to stride past the competition.

Links:
Website – CEO Whisperer

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Or how about just the fear of speaking up? It doesn’t have to be the masses that get our hearts racing. The Confident Speaker tackles the gamut of situations and shows you the practical steps to handle and present yourself. Whether you have high, medium or low anxiety, Harrison and Larina want to improve your skills and develop a stronger belief that you can communicate and engage others confidently.

Links:
Website – The Confident Speaker
Blog – Larina Kase

You may be hired for your technical ability, but your ability to communicate effectively is what will allow you to climb higher. When it comes to information it seems that your options are: information overload, buzzwords, and spin. But none of those options are for you. Dianna has dissected the building blocks of communication to ensure what you say is understood, trustworthy and compels people to action.

Links:
Website – Dianna Booher
Book – Voice of Authority

A company who has employees who show up and do their job and go home is no where near as effective as a company whose employees are connected to each other. From your perspective you may see that gap but you might not know how to change the culture to get your team fired up. This book isn’t about getting people hyped-up or about turning everyone into a lemming. It is about the nuts and bolts of having people work together and be engaged. And the stories about real-life leaders at the end of the book are fantastic.

Links:
Website – www.FiredUpOrBurnedOut.com
Blog – MichaelLeeStallard.com
www.EPluribusPartners.com

What do you do when things don’t go your way? And what do you do if you’re not exactly happy with what the answer to that question is? John’s got a plan that start and ends with each of us individually and it all starts with learning to ask better questions.

Links:
Website – www.QBQ.com
Newsletter – http://qbq.com/features/subscribe.php