I was at a YPO event yesterday morning.  The speaker was prolific author Richard Barrett.

He wrote a number of books including The New Leadership Paradigm - Leading Self, Leading Others, Leading an Organization and Leading in Society.

His company has done extensive research and come up with tools on how to measure individual values and beliefs and company values and beliefs.  He has impressive statistics on the success of companies that are high alignment compared to others.

He talks about a hierarchy - similar to Maslows from basic needs through goals.

One thing Barrett said that made sense to me "Company culture is to a company what character is to a person". 

Barrett is a passionate speaker.

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I read Leaders Ought to Know - 11 Ground Rules for Common Sense Leadership by Phillip Van Hooser.  I love books that distill everything down to a finite number of rules.

I have long thought that common sense is not very common.  So perhaps a book to lay it all out makes sense.

Each chapter covers one rule.  Explains why it is a rule and how to live and thrive with is.

For example, rule one.  "Leadership is a choice - reinforced by individual effort".  Essentially, anyone can be a leader, they just need to choose to do it and choose to do the work required to learn, grow, try, practice, study etc.  I know I believe anyone can be a leader and there are not born leaders.

Rule 7.  Leaders Can't Predict Followers Behavior - so they need to figure out what motivates and how to inspire that motivation that is within everyone.

I know one mistake novice leader make is to think everyone shares their motivation.  This is simply not true.  Everyone is unique.  

It is good, simple and inspirational and reinforces much of what I know about leadership.