A guide to the role of solitude in good leadership, including profiles of historical and contemporary figures who have used solitude to lead with courage, creativity, and strength. Throughout history, leaders have used solitude as a matter of course. Eisenhower wrote memoranda to himself during World War II as a way to think through complex problems. Martin Luther King found moral courage while sitting alone at his kitchen table one night during the Montgomery bus boycott. Jane Goodall used her intuition in the jungles of Central Africa while learning how to approach chimps. Solitude is a state of mind, a space where you can focus on your own thoughts without distraction, with a power to bring mind and soul together in clear-eyed conviction. Like a great wave that saturates everything in its path, however, handheld devices and other media now leave us awash with the thoughts of others. We are losing solitude without even realizing it. To find solitude today, a leader must make a conscious effort. This book explains why the effort is worthwhile and how to make it. Through gripping historical accounts and firsthand interviews with a wide range of contemporary leaders, Raymond Kethledge (a federal court of appeals judge) and Michael Erwin (a West Pointer and three-tour combat veteran) show how solitude can enhance clarity, spur creativity, sustain emotional balance, and generate the moral courage necessary to overcome adversity and criticism. Anyone who leads anyone-including oneself-can benefit from solitude. With a foreword by Jim Collins (author of the bestseller Good to Great), Lead Yourself First is a rallying cry to reclaim solitude-and all the benefits, both practical and sublime, that come with it.

Are you frustrated with how some people ascend the organizational ladder at lightning speed and you can't seem to get on that first rung? Have you ever wondered what are the core skills you need to successfully become an authentic leader? First, Lead Yourself not only tackles the biggest problem in leadership development that holds millions of people back from achieving their full potential, it weaves together the essential ingredients required for your own success as a leader. This book is full of practical tools, exercises and insightful stories that will accelerate you along the path towards achieving your leadership goals. Backed by research into personal change, high performance, resilience, and advanced communication skills, First, Lead Yourself is the perfect guide for anyone looking to step up and lead. This book is amazing. I had so many 'aha' moments. Although not really a self-help book, I've learnt so much about myself from Cillín, I'm now more comfortable being me and more aware of my personal rules, I didn't realise I had so many! The wisdom Cillín shares has enabled me to become more resilient, a better leader, and most importantly, a better parent. Luke Johnstone. Director, Double-O Consulting Working with Cillín as my coach over the last few years, he has taught me many tips, tricks, technique, and strategies to inspect and learn about myself so that I can grow in my own leadership journey. This book is an amazing toolkit collection of those teachings and I, for one, am extremely grateful to have it all put together in one place. I can see that my own copy of this book is going to be well-thumbed through and dog-eared before too long. Cillín's storytelling and real life examples make this book memorable and, most of all, enjoyable to read. June McClintcok. Manager Products, FMG Our team has been fortunate to experience transformational work with Cillín. Now, with First, Lead Yourself, his self-led development approach, mixing stories and exercises, is available to everyone. Stevo O'Rourke. Director, Ocular

Become a passionate, purposeful, and meaningful leader through identifying who you are, your strengths, and your skills. New York Times bestselling author Stedman Graham's Identity Leadership is a very personal and prescriptive guide that is based on his philosophy that a leader can't lead others until he can first lead himself-the more he works on himself -- the more he can give to those around him. To know our purpose in life, we begin with our passions, skills, and talents, and with this book we learn how to channel the best of who we are to achieve success for ourselves and those we lead. In Identity Leadership, Graham examines why self-awareness matters, how leaders lead, the importance of communication, and much more. He then shows the reader how to step into their role as a leader and create their identity leadership plan. Key to the journey is believing in yourself, knowing your competence, continually challenging yourself, and being patient with yourself. Graham uses anecdotes from his own life, as well as discussing successful leaders, to illustrate the importance of identity leadership in each of our lives. Self-leaders can create a roadmap that leads to personal growth, development, and improvement of performance in every area of life. Identity Leadership provides the tools-self-awareness, emotional intelligence, discipline, and more-needed to continually plan and execute learning and development of our talents and skills. These tools enable readers to commit to a personal vision and lead with purpose.

Join the global movement that's making corporations more people-centric to achieve great results. The world is facing a global leadership crisis. Seventy-seven percent of leaders think they do a good job of engaging their people, yet 88 percent of employees say their leaders don't engage enough. There is also a high level of suffering in the workplace: 35 percent of employees would forgo a pay raise to see their leaders fired. This is an enormous waste of human talent--despite the fact that $46 billion is spent each year on leadership development. Based on extensive research, including assessments of more than 35,000 leaders and interviews with 250 C-level executives, The Mind of the Leader concludes that organizations and leaders aren't meeting employees' basic human needs of finding meaning, purpose, connection, and genuine happiness in their work. But more than a description of the problem, The Mind of the Leader offers a radical, yet practical, solution. To solve the leadership crisis, organizations need to put people at the center of their strategy. They need to develop managers and executives who lead with three core mental qualities: mindfulness, selflessness, and compassion. Using real-world inspirational examples from Marriott, Accenture, McKinsey & Company, LinkedIn, and many more, The Mind of the Leader shows how this new kind of leadership turns conventional leadership thinking upside down. It represents a radical redefinition of what it takes to be an effective leader--and a practical, hard-nosed solution to every organization's engagement and execution problems.

This master class on leadership, written by one of America’s most prominent and successful executives, will help you develop the professional leadership qualities that deliver personal, interpersonal, and organizational success. ​In Learning to Lead: The Journey to Leading Yourself, Leading Others, and Leading an Organization, Ron Williams provides you with practical, tested leadership advice, whether you’re searching for a new career, looking for proven management solutions, or seeking to transform your organization. Developed from Williams’s own personal and professional journey, as well as the experiences of America’s leading CEOs, these strategies emerge boldly from engaging stories, outlined with practical steps for you to accomplish goals such as— • Launching your career quest • Avoiding professional pitfalls, wrong turns, and wasted effort • Overcoming interpersonal challenges and conflicts • Building and leading an effective, high-performance team • Prioritizing and solving problems from multiple perspectives • Developing your leadership style and mastering communication • Casting a vision and changing the culture of your organization After finishing Learning to Lead, you will be well equipped to take the next step to success in your personal and professional leadership journey. Williams’s book has the potential to join other leadership development classics on your shelf—to be read repeatedly and consulted throughout the span of your career.

In this life-changing book, Dr. Zebulan Hundley offers what has been described as the essential oils- the distilled essence- of self-awareness and self-leadership.Dr. Hundley has a unique gift of taking complex ideas and breaking them down into easily understandable and digestible bites. This affords everyone the opportunity to not only understand these ideas, but to put into practice real strategies that will propel themselves forward in their own journey of personal growth and development.Any journey of self-leadership requires an awareness of where an individual is really starting from. Through Dr. Hundley's unique perspective, one might be surprised to discover that their starting point is often different than they initially thought. Leading Yourself is essential reading for anyone who is serious about taking their life back and achieving not just outward success, but also internal fulfillment.

"Lead Yourself First makes a compelling argument for the integral relationship between solitude and leadership." --The Wall Street Journal Throughout history, leaders have used solitude as a matter of course. Martin Luther King found moral courage while sitting alone at his kitchen table one night during the Montgomery bus boycott. Jane Goodall used her intuition in the jungles of central Africa while learning how to approach chimps. Solitude is a state of mind, a space where you can focus on your own thoughts without distraction, with a power to bring mind and soul together in clear-eyed conviction. But these days, handheld devices and other media leave us awash with the thoughts of others. We are losing solitude without even realizing it. To find solitude today, a leader must make a conscious effort. This book explains why the effort is worthwhile and how to make it. Through gripping historical accounts and firsthand interviews with a wide range of contemporary leaders, Raymond Kethledge (a federal court of appeals judge) and Michael Erwin (a West Pointer and three-tour combat veteran) show how solitude can enhance clarity, spur creativity, sustain emotional balance, and generate the moral courage necessary to overcome adversity and criticism. Anyone who leads anyone--including oneself--can benefit from solitude. With a foreword by Jim Collins (author of the bestseller Good to Great), Lead Yourself First is a rallying cry to reclaim solitude--and all the benefits, both practical and sublime, that come with it.

Are you ready to be the leader of your own life? We live in a time of unprecedented economic and social turmoil. In the face of uncertainty and fear, we look to our jobs for security and to our leaders for inspiration. We aspire to a prosperous, stable future and strive to remain optimistic, but the stress of simply surviving—financially, professionally, and emotionally—can seem a relentless struggle. Consequently, we doubt ourselves and our capacity to be the leaders of our own lives—often opting for the status quo—because staying stuck is easier than creating change. We overlook this simple truth: If we remain true to ourselves, we can control our own reality. Lead Yourself First! is filled with engaging stories and advice to help people everywhere live life to the fullest and take the lead in any work or personal challenge. By applying Michelle Ray’s simple, powerful life-changing lessons, you will discover how to influence and improve the quality of all your choices. Michelle Ray’s “One-Two Punch” approach will inspire you to: Address the fear of success and eliminate the fear of failure; Rise above toxic behavior and situations; Gain new insights into your values about money, opportunity, and success; Discover your dream career or business and live it!

LEADERSHIP IS ALL ABOUT YOU When you make a conscious decision to Lead Yourself Today, the people around you will make a conscious decision to follow you. When you make a conscious decision to inspire and motivate yourself, then the people around you will make a conscious decision to be inspired by you. Lead Yourself Today was written especially for you, to read and transform your leadership faith daily. You are the only one living your life and know the desire and faith that is inside of you to achieve something great in your and other peoples lives beginning today. Your faith has brought you forward to this point, to discover your greatest leadership vision. Reading and unlocking the keys that transform you into a Leader of Significance will keep you inspired to maintain your vision and enthusiasm for yourself and the people around you. Your leadership faith and vision remain the highest expression of personal achievement. Your leadership presence acts as a spark and momentum for you and the people around you to achieve great things.

Great leadership is not about trying to be what we're not; rather, it's about helping others be the best they can be. For that to happen, we must be the best that we can be.In this book, Phil has outlined eight key areas that I feel are crucial to our success and character as individuals, and consequently crucial for us as leaders to both model and teach.