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7 Books for Millennial Leader Greatness

Seven Books That Get You Inspired, Grow You as a Leader, and Shortens the Life Learning Curve

By TJ NealPublished 5 years ago 5 min read
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Rob Walsh, Unsplash

I applaud all the millennial leaders, who are defying the rumors about how we are spoiled, entitled, and behind other generations. I respect you for leading in spite of the noise and being inspiration for our generation. In my article Six Leadership Tips for Millennials I tell of how age doesn't determine your leadership ability, but your resolve does. Nine years into my leadership career, this is how I am honing my resolve. I am hoping you will share some great reads with me too, because we all know it's not cool to grow and not bring others along, right.

Digging Into the 7 Reads:

1. 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' by Dale Carnegie

There isn’t much we can do in life without engaging others. Even animals act in social systems. So why not learn how to genuinely take an interest in others, positively influence the greater cause of why a person does what they do, and become the genuinely well-liked person in the room. I’ve read this book twice, and each time I grow in my understanding of how to be more selfless and passionately interested in others. This book will help you create new loyalty and garner people who are willing to be warriors for you. You want to be an authentic leader, this is your book.

2. 'Fire Starter Sessions'  by Danielle Laporte

Who doesn’t want to find themselves and locate their purpose along the way? Why not stoke the fire and passion that burns in you? This is what Fire Starter Sessions is all about. In the only true workbook on the list, an interactive walk-through of your life, values, and goals presents a personal think tank. If you take finding your passion seriously and want purpose in your works. This is without a doubt the workbook for you.

Working through the sessions helped me break down walls that I unintentionally put up that were killing progress towards my goals. Danielle also exposed my unnecessary fears about entrepreneurship and being a leader.

3. 'Start With Why ' by Simon Sinek

Listen Up! Your “why” matters so much. With confidence it separates you from other leaders because it’s intrinsic to the special things that get you going. In the simplest of human behavior, it is your reason to get up in the morning. In Start With Why, Sinek lays the foundation for leaders who are less transactional and inspire others based on values and not through manipulation techniques.

Surely the “what” you do and “how” you do it matters, but the “why” is the genesis and the end. After Sinek gets you to your Why, everything in the middle is your action. This book takes the daily leadership of what you are doing when you hit the office and turns it upside down, so you can look at why you even step foot in the office in the first place.

4. 'Tribes' by Seth Godin

We can’t lead anyone unless we inspire others to follow-us. When I read Tribes, I realized I am only as strong as the positive benefits I create for my followers. Godin teaches that everyone has to lead in his or her own way and great leaders don’t deal in the status quo, but in positive risk taking. Creating a tribe isn’t only the amount of followers, it’s the movement you are creating with your followers — the movement paired with the people working towards a common cause and having a method to communicate sets the stage for a successful tribe.

Picking up this book is the baseline for creating a brand or a philosophy people will get behind to help lead it to success. Your tribe is all about the people and how you inspire them to create phenomenal impact.

5. 'Grit' by Angela Duckworth

Ohhhh, the best book ever. I can’t even explain what it means when you realize that your perseverance, not just talent determines your success. Not just counting the wins; in Grit, Duckworth talks of failures in business and life, and how your response to keep going, scientifically creates success. The moment before you give up and you choose to persevere is the moment your life gives you what you dreamed of and not just average being. Grit, not just one of my favorite reads, but the road-map for unlocking inner potential from your setbacks and not believing talent is the only way you can make it.

6. 'EMyth' by  Michael Gerber

The life of an entrepreneur can be exciting when you set out to make your dream become a reality and then “it” happens. That “it” is when you go from working on your business to feeling like your business is owning you and your time. In E-Myth, Gerber introduces why many entrepreneur leaders fail because they stop being the visionary and become the employee.

From visionary, to manager, to technician…these three people have great probability of existing in your business. The one the leader (you) becomes, either keeps the creative juices flowing or sets you up for a lot of work and marginal gains. E-Myth, is the entrepreneur leader’s tour guide through their organization and a wake-up call to ask are you leading or are you just working your business?

7. 'Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence' by Vicki Robin & Joe Dominguez

We couldn’t have an awesome list of books for millennial leaders, without one that addresses finances. I want us to become better money managers, because the way we treat money, can be an uplifter or burden. This book opened my eyes to how a consumption mindset is driving us deeper into working to spend and then working even harder to keep up with the spending. With that recipe, we are all going to be working until we are 80.

This book forces us to take a hard look at our monetary pictures, define whether our wants are needs, or maybe we are just chasing more things with the trade-off for more work. Yes, go read this book now!

Hitting New Levels

Thanks for spending a few minutes reading up and I can't wait to get your help on adding more books to this list. I am loving life as a millennial leader and hope these reads will catapult your know-how and confidence. Connecting and working with others is my thing, so shoot me an email or hit the follow button on Instagram and let’s grow together.

[email protected]

www.instagram.com/tj_possible

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About the Creator

TJ Neal

-Living life one blog piece at a time👨🏾‍💻

-Creative with a mix of corporate professional

-Millennial leadership developer

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