Last year I listed out the books I read in 2007. It was fun to look back over the year and see what books influenced me and shaped my thinking. You can see the list for 2007 here.  So, without further waiting, here are the books that I read in 2007 along with my response to each one.  This first section is on General Leadership.  A follow-up post with books on Theology will be coming soon.

A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quickfix – Edwin Freiedman
This might be the most helpful book I read this year. As you can tell from the list, I ended up reading a lot of leadership type books. I’ll confess that I am kind of a leadership book junkie and this one was on the top of the list. This book takes a look at how leadership in our culture has been fairly neutered and we need leaders who are willing to take risks and lead with some “nerve.”

Tribes – Seth Godin
I’ve grown to really appreciate the “no-brainer” way in which Seth Godin thinks. He somehow manages to write in his books (and his blog) about issues that should be common sense but somehow have become uncommon sense. This book was inspiring and was full of really, really good thoughts. I’d recommend it to anyone.

The Five Dysfunctions of Team – Patrick Lencioni
I heart Patrick Lencioni. He’s kinda like Seth Godin in that he typically writes fairly uncomplicated, simple things that just make sense. This book has some great insights for those who lead in teams. In fact, I’d argue that this is one of the more important and helpful books that I’ve read in the last few years. He writes in a narrative form and I actually enjoy that part. But, this parts of this book on building trust in a team were completely invaluable.

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive – Patrick Lencioni
Another great book from the Patmeister. This was helpful for me as it helped me begin to think carefully about the things that I need to focus on as lead pastor at The Well. I am not a big fan of seeing the Pastor as CEO but there were some valuable things for me to pull from this book. Very glad I read it.

Death by Meeting – Patrick Lencioni
Meetings generally suck. Ours have sucked. But they are getting better. This book helped me think through some of the reasons why they sucked and how we can make them suck less. In fact, I am beginning to enjoy our meetings more and more.

Six Thinking Hats – Edward DeBono
I paid 69 cents for this one used on Amazon. It was worth every penny. If you work in teams, this is a helpful book as it helps us see how we all think through issues differently.

Books on Theology up next….