Leadership answers; no waiting!

Three weeks ago, here and on Twitter I sought your input on books that you’d like to see from me in the future.
Within minutes, the comments here and the replies on Twitter came pouring in. And when we finally compiled all of your responses, we had close to 30 pages of ideas.

So many of you took the time to really consider the needs you see today, and then communicate them to me. Thank you! I’m excited by all the themes that really stirred my ideas for future books.

Now, what probably shouldn’t have surprised me was how many requests came in for topics that I’d addressed in previous books. Here’s the good news: You don’t have to wait a year or more for the book you requested! Since the books already exist, they can give immediate answers to your questions.

Here is just a sampling of your actual replies/comments (without names, to protect the innocent), along with the existing Maxwell book(s) that answer those questions.

I hope this is a helpful resource to you.

On Direction and Purpose:

• I train elite athletes. Our dreams go to the wayside during the daily grind. We need a process to keep the achievable dream in focus.
• Finding your true calling in business and in life. How to do what you want.
• Interested in how to find purpose within internal processes that require collaboration when adversarial environment is prominent.
• A book about discovering your passion in life, what it is you are “meant” to be, how to identify talents.
• How do you know what you’re supposed to do in life? How do you plan for it after you know?

I’m happy to say that the answers to the above questions can be found in my new book, Put Your Dream to the Test.

On Working for a Difficult Boss or Leading from the Middle:

• The problem I face is having to read my boss’s mind and dealing with his micromanagement. He gives me feedback (99% bad, things that irritate him) days or weeks after an event has happened, and when he does he lashes out from the build up of irritation. He questions the work my coworkers and I do, and assumes no work is getting done if he’s not updated on every detail. He’s a real demotivator, and I’m trying to shield my team and keep them going. Any advice?
• How to deal with different types of leaders – a follower’s perspective.
• A book about “followership” – How to be a good follower, (especially) under bad leadership.
• How to lead a company from the middle. How middle management can change the direction of a company and how to get your ideas heard.
• One for followers on how to help the leader.
• A book for middle managers trying to break through to the next level.

The 360 Leader addresses all of these questions – and more – on leading up, down, and alongside.

On Various Leadership Issues:

I received many specific leadership questions. This is just a sampling:

• Hiring eagles versus ducks.
• Leading yourself (toughest leadership challenge there is)
• On self-discipline and tools to train my staff in same area.
• How to recover when you’ve violated laws of leadership.
• Qualities of a leader of significance. The seasons of leadership, enduring legacy.
• On working with boards, or a section on group politics.
• Courage to make tough decisions in shaky economic times.

These questions and many more are answered in Leadership Gold, which contains the hardest-won leadership lessons of my life in one book. In 26 chapters, I share the nuggets of wisdom that I gained through my successes AND my failures.

I’ll stop here. I received so much feedback that I can’t address it all in one post. So stay tuned for another installment in this series very soon.

But in the meantime, don’t miss my next post!

I’ve got an exciting announcement regarding my 2010 book – and how YOU can have a part in creating it!