Posted on Nov 19, 2013

What's in your "professional library?"

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What's in your %22professional library %22

<p>Many leaders recommend developing a 'professional library' throughout your career. What are those time-honored classics as well as new titles that redefine the subject of (fill in the blank). I'm sure this will be a fun and informative topic that'll spark some discussion on the subject, as well as promote professional reading/development and well rounded "professional library." Of course, today when we speak of "books" we may also include: audio books; videos/ documentaries; mp3s, or any other format or delivery method, the important thing here is content/substance. Here's just a few ideas on subject matter: military/government; business; leadership; success & achievement; human behavior/psychology; philosophy; management; finances; training/systems/ technical, or anything else applicable, and the titles, well... we'll leave those up to you. Hopefully, this helps spur some thought on professional reading and development, and will prove helpful; now let's get this thing started, thank you for all that you do, and... see you all in the discussion threads! </p>

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Edited 10 y ago

Posted 11 y ago

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SFC (Join to see)

Posted 11 y ago

Most recently read...."The Battle of Stones River." because I live two miles away from the National Battlefield and until recently only discovered how much history I was wasting.

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield actually an AWESOME book about leadership

Lions of Kandahar....because I knew some of the Group guys in it.

Killing Bin Laden...will let you know how close we actually came to getting him early on.

No Easy Day...Marcus Lutrell

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SSgt (Join to see)

Posted 11 y ago

Here's another one that should be mandatory reading. The Mission, The Men and Me

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Maj (Join to see)

>1 y

This is a great book and has an important message for everyone BDE or higher. "Always listen to the guy on the ground."

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SSgt (Join to see)

Posted 11 y ago

Leadership and Training for the Fight by. Paul Howe

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SPC(P) (Join to see)

>1 y

The Art of War - Sun Tzu

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CWO2 Shelby DuBois

Posted 11 y ago

Saw a USAToday article today about another Jr High is going to iPads next year over text books. Sad ...iBooks are like 'fire and forget' firing downrange.

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CWO2 Shelby DuBois

Posted 11 y ago

Current read is "Orders to Nowhere" by LtCol Mike Grice... "After action report from a career Marine's tranistion back to the civilian world".... So far highly entertaining and thoughtful. Lots of humor about some of the mundane things we take/took for granted with regard to making the decision to leave the service, the 'check out' process and the meat and potatoes part... how to go about finding a job.

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Maj Chris Nelson

Posted 11 y ago

I have a couple.... one is "the Oz Principle" by Roger Connors, Tom Smith, and Craig Hickman. It is on the topic of getting results through individual and organizational accountability. The other one is on Transformational Leadership as it applies to people going for advanced degrees in the Healthcare industry.

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Col (Join to see)

Posted 11 y ago

Here's a RP thread on a related topic, with a few great articles and resources to share, check it out here: https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/55686-simon-sinek

Simon Sinek

The name should really be enough, but for those that may not be aware, he is the author of "Start With Why" & "Why Leaders Eat Last".  He's got a few great videos out there at TED and 99U.
I...

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1SG Steven Stankovich

Posted 11 y ago

I read this articles this afternoon. I thought that I would share.

http://warontherocks.com/2014/01/odiernos-reading-list/

Odierno’s Reading List

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno released a proposed reading list on his Facebook page for Army, and more generally, military professionals. He asked...

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SFC James Baber

Posted 11 y ago

I think this is a good thread for those we are trying to get to join can see the substance of some things we discuss between us as current and former military, soft spoken as well as informational and mentoring types of postings.

We also have fun at times while remaining professional.

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SrA Eric Olsen

Posted 11 y ago

Right now I have my library divided up into two main topics military history and success. My military history part is mostly comprised of books relating to WW II. In that regard I have added books either written by or about various leaders from that time period including Gen Patton, Gen Eisenhower, Gen Bradley, Gen Wainwright, Gen Doolittle, Gen Holland Smith and a host of other books all with little nuggets to be gleaned from them about leadership.

My success and leadership library is one that is starting to grow as I am mentored by leaders in a company that my wife and I are associated with. Some of these books are:

How to win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carneigie
How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
The Success Magazine
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
and a host of other authors including John Assaraf, Og Mandino, Napoleon Hill, Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, Zig Ziglar, David Bach, Jim Rohn, W. Clement Stone, and Robert Schuller.

You become that which you are exposed the most to. A good look at your library and the 5 people you spend the most time with and a clear picture can be seen of where you are and where you are going. Personal development is the name of the game if one hopes to live a life by design and not designed for them.

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What's in your "professional library?"

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