The 360 Degree Leader - John C. Maxwell

Leaders are everywhere. They're people we look up to and who we aspire to be. This book talks about the importance of leaders, how leaders lead in every direction and bring value to the people around them. 

Content: Maxwell wrote about how leaders are important for any organisation, and how anybody can be a leader. The focus isn't about being a positional leader, leading the people under you. Rather, it is about how you can influence the people under, above and beside you - the true hallmark of a leader is influence. Would people follow you?

Estimated reading time needed: 10h

Key takeaways: 

1) Strive to be the top of your game, not the top of the organisation. People have this misconception that becoming the CEO, president or "top-dog" at the organisation is the essence of leadership. However, Maxwell recognises the importance of leadership from every position in the organisation, and people should focus on what they do best to bring the greatest value. 

2) If we focus on being somewhere else because we think it's better, we will neither enjoy where we are nor do what we must to succeed. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side. Rather than jumping to the other side, water your own side and flourish, because if you don't know how to water the greens on your end, the greens will fade even if you jump to the other side. Focus on where you are, do what you must, and succeed.

3) To be a leader, first lead yourself - if you wouldn't follow yourself, why would others? This is perhaps my favourite takeaway from this book. Whatever outcome you wish to achieve starts from within. Imagine the perfect leader. Now imagine you're the perfect leader. Be that person!

4) Value yourself and value your time. Time is the only thing we can never get back once it's spent. 

5) Do not get sucked into busyness without thinking. We need to stop here and there to take a step back, make sure we're on the right track, and prepare and plan for the future. 

6) As Zig Ziglar said, there are no jams on the extra mile. Many people get motivated to start working hard, but fall through because of a lack of discipline or commitment. Go the distance, do more than what is needed.

7) The key to personal development is to be more growth-oriented than goal-oriented. As someone who enjoys growth, I think this might be the key to sustainable development, as it allows us to go for goal after goal.

8) As Ben Franklin said, do not be afraid of moving too slowly. Be afraid of standing still. Sometimes when we stand still, we're actually going backwards. However, we do need to take a break here and there!

9) Focus on current responsibilities rather than the ones you wish to have. As Maxwell wrote, "I've never known someone focused on yesterday for a better tomorrow". 

Recommendation: This book is chock full of great information and key takeaways. One point to note is that Maxwell highlighted multiple times in the book to lift people up and you'll be recognised. However, I'm not sure if this entirely reflects the current state of organisations, and hoped that he would've addressed it in more detail. Nevertheless, it's still a great book on leadership, not just value-adding to the people around you, but leading yourself to becoming someone of value to yourself.  

Who Moved My Cheese - Dr Spencer Johnson

Change. A word that people either dread or look forward to. Most people probably know that change is necessary and constant. So how do people react to change?

Content: This short story is basically talking about 4 mice trapped in a maze and look for cheese to make them happy. This mirrors the nature of humans as well - when faced with uncertainty, people are afraid of what's "out there". Read this book to  learn more about how some mice successfully navigate change and how some didn't.

Estimated reading time needed: <1h

Key takeaways: 
1) When going through change and uncertainty, we should think about what we could gain and not what we were losing. Who knows, things might turn out for the better.

2) "What you're afraid of is never as bad as you imagine", which reminds me of the saying that nothing is as bad as it seems. 

3) Nothing gets better until we change - we are our own limits of change. We need to get out there, past our fears which could be irrational. 

4) Recognise that change happens whether we like it or not, so we should anticipate change, prepare for it, and adapt quickly.

Recommendation: As a change management consultant, I was amazed at how such a simple story (of mice chasing cheese) could reflect the interactions between people and their environment. The cheese could be anything we deem it to be - money, fame, career, relationships etc. We need to understand that change is inevitable. The kind of change that happens could be different  as well. For example, when we say we want our relationships to change, it doesn't mean we want to change the person - it could mean we want to change who we are in that relationship. Change comes from within. Which mice do you want to be? Less than an hour of reading for so many insights. Loved it, and do give it a read!

Atomic Habits - James Clear

Amazing. If I had to choose only 1 book to read for the summer, it would be this one. I've never read a book where I literally wanted to bookmark almost every page. 

Content: This book talks about habits - how we can start good habits and kick bad ones. For example, to build better habits, Clear talked about making it obvious so that we can remember to do it, making it attractive to make us want to do it, make it easy to lower the resistance/procrastination, and to make it satisfying so that we want to do it again. Conversely, by flipping it around, we find that it helps us to stop bad habits - by making them obscure, unattractive, difficult to do and unsatisfying.

Estimated reading time needed: 5h

Key takeaways: 
1) The power of compounding doesn't apply only to finance. It applies to everything we do. By repeating 1% errors day after day, making poor decisions, duplicating mistakes, rationalising excuses, it compounds into toxic results. On the other hand, if we improve 1% each day, we will get a significant increase when we put them together.

2) Progress is not linear. We may think that we should be getting better at what we do each day, and habits may seem to make no difference until we cross "a critical threshold and unlock a new level of performance". We will encounter many "Valley of Disappointments". However, progress is a long-term thing, and we should always "zoom out" to look at our progress and push on.

3) "Goals are good for setting direction, but systems are best for making progress". A peculiar statement Clear made was that winners and losers have the same goals. We need to change our system, our processes that can enable us to get to the results we want. We need to fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves. 

4) The 3 levels of change we need to unravel as we think about our habits. Once we've decided about the habits we want to build/stop, we need to change our outcomes - what do we want to achieve at the end of the day? Second, change our process - what in our daily lives should we change, or what am I doing that could better help me attain the goals I want? Third, change our identity - our beliefs, assumptions and biases. This is the core and possibly the hardest level. However, once we can achieve this, the habits we set out to do for reasons we have are now a part of us. To help visualise this, let's say you want to be good at playing the piano. You start to practice everyday (habit), tweak your methods of practising (process), and ultimately you start to become a pianist (identity). 

5) The costs of your good habits are paid now. But the costs of your bad habits are paid in the future.

6) This process is continuous. We never stop creating who we are - we never stop making decisions that shape our identity. There is no end and no permanent solution. 

Recommendation: Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will definitely be reading it once a year as a reminder to making sure that my daily habits are true to my identity. Clear and concise - this book spares no extra words. If you truly want to change yourself, read this book and start changing yourself through small wins. A must-read for everybody!