Stronger Leaders, Stronger Teachers, Stronger Schools

Effective Leadership

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen Covey, 2004
A classic book and a must-read for anyone interested in reflecting on and committed to improving their behaviours and personal effectiveness.
Unpacking seven habits common to effective people, the author takes the reader through dependence, independence and interdependence to gain both private and public success.
Useful for school leaders in providing reflection material on personal effectiveness. In improving ones' own effectiveness, the effectiveness of the school is improved.

Persuasion (4th Edition)
James Borg, 2013
A rich feast of tips and techniques, verbal and non-verbal to help you get the best from others. Pearls of wisdom are presented in sections making it user-friendly and easy to dip in to and out of the relevant sections.
Useful for school leaders in providing what might be considered the ”magic formula” that makes the difference between people not going with you and people going with you.

The 12 Week Year
Brian P. Moran, 2013
Excellent book for people needing to improve their time management. The book throws out the rule about thinking in “years” and offers a smaller, more concentrated time frame, which suits school leaders very well, 12 weeks.
The book provides tips and techniques that enable the reader to focus more effectively, stay on track and achieve their goals.

The Chimp Paradox
Steve Peters, 2012
A great book helping everyone better understand how their mind works.
With visuals and clear explanations, the book helps the reader better understand and better manage their mind, their emotions and their barriers to success.
Useful in helping leaders develop their confidence, success and happiness.

Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential
Carol S. Dweck, 2017
An updated version of this hugely influential work.
This book is about growth. Personal growth.
As such, there are fewer more pertinent books from the field of psychology for schools.
Unpacking the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset, this book is useful for leaders for their own personal development - and there's a whole chapter on mindset and leadership.
Useful for all in revisiting how we and the people we lead, perceive ourselves, our world and how we might move a step closer to realising our own potential in whatever we do.

Leadership Teams: developing and sustaining high performance
Geoff Sheard and Professor Andrew Kakabadse, 2009
More of a leadership handbook, the book details a step-wise and practical approach to leading teams that leaders can pick up and apply. Six stages of team development are outlined: Mobilizing, Confrontation, coming together, one step forward two steps back, Behaving as one, facing the future. Each chapter then has key learning points to summarise each stage. Useful for leaders who lead teams (and which leader doesn’t?) and want to do something to help develop their effectiveness.

Spectacular Teamwork: How to develop the Leadership Skills for Team Success
Robert R. Blake, James H. Moulton, R. Allen, 1987
Excellent book on teamwork offering 12 characteristics of teams. Uses lots of descriptive dialogues to unpack what each one means to get spectacular teamwork.
Useful for leaders at any level to consider how well their team matches the outlined profile and clarify what needs to be done next.

Managing the Mist: How to develop winning mind-sets and create high performing teams
Excellent book on leadership, coaching and teamwork, offering a wealth of information and tips around having a winning mind-set, as well as 5 golden rules to setting up a high performing team.
Useful for leaders at any level to consider how well you manage yourself as much as managing the team.
He uses inspiring leadership stories, original frameworks and an innovative road map to success to put his points across in a highly engaging way.

Senior Leadership Teams: What it takes to make them great
Ruth Wageman et al., 2008
In today's world of neck-snapping change, demands on senior leaders in schools are rapidly outdistancing the capabilities of any one person - no matter how talented. Result? Headteachers are relying more and more on their senior leaders for help.
In this book, the authors draw on their study of 100+ top teams from around the world, they explain how to create a clear and compelling purpose for your team, get the right people on it, provide structure and support, and sharpen team members' competencies - and your own. Timely and practical, this book enables you to create and sustain a leadership team whose members learn from one another while collaborating to pursue your school's objectives.
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