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Big Vision, Small Business. Author Jamie S. Walters, founder of Ivy Sea, Inc. and producer and editor-in-chief for Ivy Sea Online, celebrates the contributions made by the smallest enterprises, and provides a handbook for creating an enduring, big-vision, positive-impact enterprise, and a satisfying life that honors what you value most. The book received the CEO Refresher "Best Book of the Year" award, a five-start "must read" review from About.com's Entrepreneur Guide and Library Journal, and many other "highly recommended" accolades. Written by a small-business founder, with real small-business owners in mind. Learn more about Big Vision, Small Business.
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. Author Parker Palmer, named one of the most influential senior leaders in higher education in 1998, shares six engaging essays compelling us to bring our highest truths and values into our work. Says Palmer, "Great leadership comes from people who have made that downward journey through violence and terror, who have touched the deep place where we are in community with each other, and who can help take other people to that place." This small book is well worth the time for anyone who wants to eliminate the disconnect that too often occurs between one's heart and one's work.

Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time. If you're wondering what you can do amidst all of the news headlines about horrible events and dismal developments, read books like this one. The author, Paul Rogat Loeb, provides a hopeful vision and practical suggestions for ways that ordinary citizens — every citizen — can contribute to a more positive reality in their community or elsewhere in the world. According to Loeb and others, you can make a difference, no matter how small the news headlines make you feel.

A Higher Standard of Leadership: Lessons From the Life of Gandhi. This book by Keshevan Nair offers suggestions and examples of how modern business leaders can learn from the example set by one of the world's greatest, most courageous leaders: Mohandas Gandhi.

The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America. Yes, I too feel that if I never heard the word "soul" used again in conjunction with Corporate America, I'd be thrilled. Yet it's important to separate frustration with a marketing machine that routinely abuses meaningful words from the importance of the key notion offered in books like this one: Organizations that beat people down, treat them disrespectfully and suck the life out of them, do themselves a great disservice, because demotivated, disenchanted, demoralized people are not able to bring their full potential into the workplace.

In The Heart Aroused, British poet David Whyte combines a poet's sensibility with a down-to-earth understanding of life in many corporations. The result is an inspired, and inspiring, view of how we can draw from the archetypes found in poetry, be it by Dante or Coleridge, for a fresher vision of our role within our organization. Whyte's more recent book, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity, is also a worthwhile and thought-provoking read.

Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (25 years later ... with commentaries). This updated release of the classic handbook on human-scale economics features the original text written by E.F. Schumacher, along with fresh commentary by contemporary advocates and leaders of the livable-economies, simplicity, conscious-enterprise, sustainability and other movements geared toward fostering healthier, more community friendly and sustainable business norms and cultures. The forward is written by author and entrepreneur Paul Hawken.

The Zen of Listening. Author Rebecca Z. Shafir has put together an excellent review of mindful listening practices that go well beyond the rote "how to parrot and paraphrase" lessons of most so-called "active listening" primers and workshops. Truly skillful listening is an "inside-out" endeavor, and Shafir's book provides both an accessible theoretical review as well as practical suggestions that the reader can practice for more rewarding and effective interactions.

Dialogue:Creating and Sustaining Collaborative Relationships at Work. Unlike the MBA-Guru spew contained within the covers of most management books, Linda Ellinor and Glenna Gerard have written a book on a topic that really does, when adopted and implemented mindfully, make leaders more effective and workplaces more productive. Great sections on topics such as deep listening, suspending judgments and identifying our assumptions for more productive dialogue.

The Tao of Sales: The Easy Way to Sell in Tough Times. I find myself going back to this book by E. Thomas Behr again and again for inspiring and implementable reminders. I find the title misleading; this is really a book about integrity-based thinking and relationship-building, so goes well beyond the sales process.

Civility, Integrity. In these two accessible, challenging and thoroughly enjoyable books, Yale law professor Stephen Carter shares anecdotes and insights on building integrity and civility (and discusses where and how both virtues are sorely lacking). Carter's writing is eloquent, and the books well-researched. They'll have you yearning for more of both, and inspired to raise the bar on your own behavior. Both books are highly recommended.

Lincoln. Need we say more? Well, Pulitzer Prize-winning Biographer David Herbert Donald did, and readers everywhere can rejoice. Lincoln embodied integrity, grace, mindfulness, simplicity and soul long before they became buzzwords, and inspired a nation and countless generations because of it. He reminds us that being decent and making decisions that are mindful of the people whose lives are affected, and doing so despite great pressure and personal sacrifice, make a true leader.

The Dance of Change. Though I occasionally groan at the creation of what will no doubt perpetuate new corporate vapor-speak, Peter Senge's work can always be relied upon to offer inspiration and practical ideas for creating a more positive, learning-oriented work environment. This is a new collection of essays organized for people with a lot on their to-do lists.

The New Corporate Cultures: Revitalizing the Workplace After Downsizing, Mergers, and Reengineering. Authors Terrence E. Deal and Allan A. Kennedy coined the term "corporate culture" fifteen years ago. In this new book, Kennedy and Deal take an honest look at what's happened to organizational cultures ill-affected by the Religion of Shareholder Return, and offer ideas for fostering — and in some cases, rebuilding — a healthy corporate culture. A worthwhile read for leaders wanting to expand their understanding of what creates — and what decimates — organizational culture.

The Life of Elizabeth I. There's nothing like reading about someone else's incredibly difficult go at leadership to remind you that your own situation's not so bad after all! This biography shows how Elizebeth beat the rampant and treaturous politics of the court, all the while laying the groundwork for a lengthy and very successful reign. Alison Weir's non-fiction account of one of history's most renowned leaders makes for a fascinating and inspiring read.