Recommended Reads
 Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration
by Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman. (1997, 1998) NY: Basic Books
“There are groups, and there are GREAT groups.” To turn the first into the second is every leader’s dream. This book provides the clues, provokes some questions, and leaves some mystery remaining on which the reader may reflect. "Organizing genius" should be an oxymoron, a contradiction; however, Bennis and Biederman give fifteen clues to how to do it.
1. Greatness starts with superb people.
2. Great Groups and great leaders create each other.
3. Every Great Group has a strong leader.
4. The leaders of Great Groups love talent and know where to find it.
5. Great Groups are full of talented people who can work together.
6. Great Groups think they are on a mission from God.
7. Every Great Group is an island--but an island with a bridge to the mainland.
8. Great Groups see themselves as winning underdogs.
9. Great Groups always have an enemy.
10. People in Great Groups have blinders on.
11. Great Groups are optimistic, not realistic.
12. In Great Groups the right person has the right job.
13. The leaders of Great Groups give them what they need and free them from the rest.
14. Great Groups ship. Successful collaborations are dreams with deadlines.
15. Great work is its own reward.
 The Leadership Challenge, Fourth Edition
by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner.
(2007) San Francisco, CA: John Riley & Sons, Inc.
The authors outline the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. These are:
a. Model the Way -- clarify your values and set the example
b. Inspire a Shared Vision -- envision the "future-imagining" and believing in an exciting future, and enlist others in a common vision
c. Challenge the Process -- search for opportunities to innovate, grow and "Improve-Listen," experiment, and take risks
d. Enable Others to Act -- foster collaboration, build trust, and strengthen others (Make it possible for others to do good work.)
e. Encourage the Heart -- recognize contributions, celebrate values and victories
In this text, Kouzes and Posner also highlight that Credibility is the Foundation of Leadership, and there are four attributes or qualities of leaders that compel people to follow them: 1) Honest; 2) Forward-looking; 3) Inspiring; and 4) Competent. There are extensive notes and resources section as well as a very useful index. If you can only have one book about leadership in your personal library, consider this as the one.
 Encouraging the Heart: A Leader's Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others
by James M. Kouzes and Barry Posner
(2003) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
This book might be summed up in four words: the best leaders care. From that seminal point the authors have designed a structure to show what the best leaders do, explain the principles underlying these practices, provide some examples of real leaders demonstrating these actions and then off suggestions on how the reader can get started putting them into practice. Pete Thigpen says, "Really believe in your heart of hearts that your fundamental purpose, the reason for being, is to enlarge the lives of others. Your life will be enlarged also. And all of he other things we have been taught to concentrate on will take care of themselves." There is much in this book about "telling the story." We are reminded that public relations are about telling the story to our members and our constituents as well as to the community at large.
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