Can anyone recommend a book with practical leadership tasks?

Submitted by Jamie Queen
in
Our (and Your) Favorite Books
I'm doing some leadership sessions with groups of young people mainly problem solving and communication exercises. I'm looking for a book with some simple and effective exercises to promote communication, leadership, facilitation and interaction. Does anyone have any suggestions on books which might contain a ideas for exercises? Many thanks, Jamie
Submitted by Terrence Randell on Wednesday January 17th, 2007 11:27 pm

Hmmmm... I need to know a little more about you want to accomplish, but I think several of John C. Maxwell's books would do the trick for you. Titles such as Developing The Leader Within You and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership have accompanying workbooks. John's company, InJoy, offers a lot of training packages for self-led training too. Check it out at http://www.maximumimpact.com.

Submitted by Mark Horstman on Thursday January 18th, 2007 12:18 am

I'm not such a big fan of Maxwell... I think he's the master of the aphorism. I've not seen the workbooks, though.

If you're really looking for exercises, and younger folks are involved, here are some books I've used. They are page after page after page of nothing but games and energizers. Some are lame, some might be just right. We're talking HUNDREDS. Lots of duplication, too.

The Big Book of Icebreakers: Quick, Fun Activities for Energizing Meetings and Workshops by Edie West (Paperback - Oct 1, 1999)

201 Icebreakers Pb by Edie West (Paperback - Oct 1, 1996)

The Big Book of Business Games: Icebreakers, Creativity Exercises and Meeting

Mark

Submitted by Jamie Queen on Thursday January 18th, 2007 10:12 am

Thank you both, after reading the synopsis of the books suggested, I’ve chosen to order "The Big Book of Icebreakers" hopefully it'll be a great start.

I'll update you on how I get on.

Thank you - your input is invaluable.

Submitted by Tony Padgett on Tuesday January 23rd, 2007 11:43 pm

The book we used for my PM class for Team Dynamics was "The Team Handbook". Some exercises/suggestions are a bit corny, but there is some good stuff as well.

Somewhat related, you may also want to look at "People Skills for Project Managers".