I had the opportunity to attend the Global Leadership Summit during the past two days. The Summit takes place in Chicago, but is simulcast to regional broadcast locations around the world. My home church, Central Baptist Church, has the opportunity to serve as a satellite location each year. Last year, we had more than 420 leaders come to the Summit at Central from churches, businesses and non-profits from around the region.
One of the major goals of the Leadership Summit is to equip individuals with resources to help them become better leaders. The Summit only lasts two days each year, but leaders can be encouraged and equipped with resources from the Summit throughout the year. Typically attendees will get a book from a keynote speaker for free and have the opportunity to purchase additional books from speakers at the event.
2012 was the 3rd year that I’ve had the opportunity to attend the Leadership Summit. As expected, I was exposed to a number of great books and resources that I plan on reading between now and next August.
Here are books from the Leadership Summit I read prior to attending:
Great By Choice By Jim Collins – Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, Built to Last and How the Mighty Fall, has released yet-another business leadership book. His latest work, Great by Choice, describes how good companies become great companies during uncertain times. Many have described Great by Choice as the missing second-half of How the Mighty Fall. I wrote about Great by Choice in a recent blog post.
The Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy – I read this book based on a recommendation from a pastor in my local church. The book doesn’t necessarily break new ground in the field of leadership studies, but it offers extremely practical advice based on Dungy’s years of experience as an NFL coach. I wrote about The Mentor Leader in a recent blog post, titled Lessons from The Mentor Leader.
The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg – This was easily the most memorable of the books that I read in preparation for the Summit. Ortberg challenges readers to become the person that God has called them to be and offers a series of suggestions to readers to help them achieve their God-given potential. I wrote about The Me I Want to Be in a recent blog post.
Here are books from the Leadership Summit I plan on reading:
Loud as a Whisper by Bill Hybels – Loud as a whisper was the book at Willow Creek was pushing hard during the 2011 Leadership Summit. Hybel’s personal website describe the book as a “biblical, practical, and seasoned perspective on listening for God’s voice in your day-to-day life and acting on what you hear.” I didn’t get the opportunity to read Loud as a Whisper, but it’s definitely on my 2012 list.
Soul Detox by Craig Groeschel – Groeschel is the senior pastor of LifeChurch.TV. His latest book, Soul Detox, encourages readers to practice “clean living in a Contaminated World.” According to Amazon, the book “examines the toxins that assault us daily including: toxic influences, toxic emotions, and toxic behaviors.” “By examining the toxins that assault us daily, this book offers the ultimate spiritual intervention with ways to remain clean, pure, and focused on the standard of God’s holiness.”
Getting to Yes by William L. Ury – I had the opportunity to read Getting to Yes sometime in 2009. The book was revised last-summer and I could certainly use a refresher course on negotiation. Getting to Yes provides readers a step-by-step strategy to coming to mutually-agreeable terms in just about any type of conflict.
One More Resource
You can also purchase a “Team Edition” of the material from the Leadership Summit. It contains DVDs of every video as well as a number of additional resources presented at the summit.