Links for light reading – January 2012

One of my new year resolutions is to start a ‘links for light reading’ email newsletter and send it out regularly (monthly). I kind of pinched the name from Max Design (who send out a great newsletter with links to interesting web design and development articles/tools/announcements) but instead, the newsletter that I send out will be focused on topics like leadership, management, innovation, creativity, work etc. If you’re interested in subscribing you can sign up here, or you can find the newsletters on the blog.

This is January’s newsletter….

New Year is traditionally a time of reflection and goal-setting. Many people (perhaps yourself) have made (and hopefully kept so far!) new year’s resolutions to exercise more, eat healthily, save more money, take up a new hobby. But have you also given consideration to new year’s resolutions and goals for your professional life? Here are some links that might inspire and assist your reflection and planning….

On the Harvard Business Review (HBR) blog, John Coleman and Bill George suggest young leaders are increasingly being asked to take on major leadership responsibilities in their organisations and their communities. They propose five resolutions to help aspiring leaders prepare for leadership challenges ahead.

Looking for new books and ideas to inspire, challenge and educate you in 2012? Stanford University professor and author, Bob Sutton, has compiled his list of 11 books every leader should read, and the Forbes blog has a great post on how to be more interesting in 10 simple steps.

In another recent Forbes article, Mike Myatt argues that one of the most often overlooked aspects of leadership is the need for pursuit.  What will you be pursing as a leader in 2012?

If you find that you’re struggling to stay committed to your goals, Peter Bregman suggests that your problem isn’t motivation. So how can you maximise the likelihood that you’ll stick with your resolutions and achieve your goals? Decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do. In this HBR blog post, Heidi Grant Halvorson outlines the nine things successful people do differently.

In addition to setting goals for 2012, why not try making note of your 2011 mistakes and taking action to avoid repeating them in 2012… and maybe even consider making a mistake or two on purpose.

And finally, a good reminder that leadership education and professional development doesn’t always need to come from management journals or expensive training courses… In this post, Chris Walter shares what he learned about leadership, teamwork and innovation by watching Junior Masterchef.  Perhaps you can rethink that resolution to watch less reality TV?