Review of DIE EMPTY by Todd Henry

I loved Todd Henry's ACCIDENTAL CREATIVE, and it's a book I return to again and again. His latest book DIE EMPTY is about living the kind of life that, when we finally leave this world, we'll know we poured out our best. It's about getting the ideas we have out of our heads and make them a reality.  Dying empty is about not hanging onto our ideas and waiting for perfection before we execute.

Henry's book is great because he seems to genuinely live out the principles he lays out in the book. He talks about the three kinds of work we should be doing to be continually productice, and he gives practical tips for overcoming the natural tendency toward procrastination that many creatives experience.

Like THE ACCIDENTAL CREATIVE, DIE EMPTY is designed to encourage productivity, and it does a great job.

Review copy provided by Portfolio Hardcover

Photo Credit: Portfolio Hardcover

Review of INNOVATION'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET by Larry Osborne

INNOVATION'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET by Larry Osborne is all about uncovering the reality that innovations usually fail. This is important to know because innovators need to be ready to abandon an innovation if it's a failure to move on to another innovation. 

Osborne seeks to show leaders and innovators what to do in the midst of and after an innovation fails. The book also seeks to show some characteristics of people who are serial innovators. These are the people that are strategic and flexible, and who know where to apply themselves when it comes to innovation. The book is about how to grow as an innovator, embrace the dirty little secret of innovation, and get on the path toward your next innovation. 

The book is relatively short, which is good if you don't have a lot of time to focus on reading about innovation when you want to be doing the work of innovation.

Review copy provided by the publisher through Cross Focused Reviews

Review of BOUNDARIES FOR LEADERS by Dr. Henry Cloud

Dr. Henry Cloud is one of my favorite writers when it comes to leadership. His insights are incredible. In his newest book BOUNDARIES FOR LEADERS, Dr. Cloud draws from some important insights in neuroscience. Cloud seeks to help leaders be great leaders of people and be intentional about tapping into what drives people to do things.

Cloud talks a lot about the responsibility of leaders to shape the culture of the organizations they lead, and this requires interacting with people in our organizations in ways that drive them to give their best. Leaders need to foster unity among their people and inspire people to action. If leaders want results, they must do what it takes to drive healthy environments that produce results.

BOUNDARIES FOR LEADERS is another great leadership book from Dr. Henry Cloud. It is one that anyone who sees themselves as a leader of people should work their way through.

Review copy provided by HarperBusiness through BookSneeze

Photo Credit: HarperBusiness

Review of THE CATALYST LEADER by Brad Lomenick

I've been a follower of the Catalyst movement for some time, though I've never been to one of their conferences. Brad Lomenick is clearly a capable and competent leader, and he distills much of the principles that have lead to his success as a Christian leader and developer of leaders in his new book THE CATALYST LEADER. I was excited about this book when I first heard about it, and I couldn't wait to dive into it.

Lomenick shares his beginnings and the journey that led him to becoming the leader of Catalyst. I didn't even know that Catalyst started out of John Maxwell's leadership group. Lomenick begins to break down the qualities that really effective Christian leaders have in common, and these are qualities based on research. The qualities of effective leaders are:

Called
Authentic
Passionate
Capable
Courageous
Principled
Hopeful
Collaborative

Really, I get the sense throughout the book that being an effective leader is about being a person of strength of character. Lomenick gives plenty of personal examples that illustrate the qualities he's proposing throughout. The only negative I found with the book is that with all the personal examples Lomenick gives, it often felt a little like he was putting his own back for his accomplishments. I suppose that's the nature of sharing your story though if you've been successful, and I should say that he did share plenty of personal leaderships failures as well.

Overall, I believe this is an excellent leadership book designed to equip leaders to be change-makers. Lomenick clearly knows what he's talking about, and I'm grateful he's taken the time to put his leadership insights into this book.

Review copy provided by Thomas Nelson

Photo Credit: Thomas Nelson

Review of THE REAL WIN by Matt Carter & Colt McCoy

THE REAL WIN by pastor Matt Carter and NFL quarterback Colt McCoy is a call for men to be leaders in the areas of their lives where it matters most. Both men share some personal struggles as well as practical ways they've pursued in trying to be the men that God has called them to be. The authors establish what genuine success looks like for a man from a biblical perspective after looking at some of the common goals that men try to find their gratification from.

Many people will probably pick up this book because of Colt McCoy. I've never been a big football fan, but I have been listening to Matt Carter on podcast for several years. However, it was interesting to see the struggles that McCoy deals with and see the pursuit of biblical manhood from that perspective.

This book is a serious challenge to men. I wish that many of the things communicated in the book were things that I didn't need to hear because I was already doing them. That just wasn't the case. I appreciated the call the authors present for men to lead their families well and to love their wives first. This is a great book for men, and its message is one that needs to be pursued by all men.

Review copy provided by Waterbrook-Multnomah as part of their Blogging for Books program

Photo Credit: Waterbrook-Multnomah

Review of the Audiobook of THE NEXT GENERATION by Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley is one the most well-known and respected church leaders in America, and he's known specifically for his leadership capabilities. In his book THE NEXT GENERATION LEADER, Stanley outlines the characteristics he believes that emerging leaders need in order to be most effective. He outlines five key characteristics:

Competence
Clarity
Courage
Character
Coaching

Personally, I think that his section on Competence is the most helpful part of the book. Stanley believes that for leaders to be their most effective selves, they need to be focused on the things for which they are most competent. People are wired differently. Some people are better at some things and terrible at others. Next Generation Leaders delegate the things for which they are not competent. This not only frees them to do the things they are good at; it gives other people the opportunity to do things they are competent at.

The other characteristics are important as well. It's important to communicate clarity in the midst of uncertainty. We have to have courage to do the things we are called to do as leaders. We need people wiser than us helping us to develop further. And we need to live lives of character.

I listened to the Christian Audio audiobook version of this book, and I had hoped that Andy Stanley was the one reading it, but he's not. Having listened to Andy Stanley many times, I didn't feel like the reader of the book quite matched the voice of the book, but it was still good. Stanley is a great thinker and a great leader, so I would recommend this to anyone who serves in a leadership capacity.

Review copy provided by Christian Audio

Photo Credit: Christian Audio

Review of LEAD WITH A STORY by Paul Smith

Rating: 5 out of 5

LEAD WITH A STORY by Paul Smith is a book about using storytelling in a leadership context. Smith explores the role of storytelling as it has become a viable leadership method in the business world after a time of being a method people commonly avoided as out of place. Smith shows how storytelling works for a leader by helping those being led with understanding and creating motivation to take action.

Each chapter looks at a specific leadership challenge (21 in all) and illustrates how storytelling is used to navigate those challenges. Each chapter was good because uses actual stories to make his point. I especially appreciated the chapters on creating courage and shaping culture. In addition to the leadership challenges, Smith intersperses some chapters on story theory specifically suited to creating leadership narratives.

I've read a lot of leadership books, but because of my love of story, this has to be one of the best I've read. I can't wait to put some of this into practice.

Review copy provided by AMACOM