I’m mesmerized by this alluring subject of leadership. I have been a professor of leadership and management since 1974. I’ve conducted hundreds of leadership development seminars and workshops involving thousands of organizational leaders across the country. I’ve conducted leadership courses and seminars in nearly fifty nations. I take every opportunity to visit my favorite bookstore, purchase a large cup of my favorite, albeit expensive, coffee drink (a double latte macchiato with heavy cream, extra cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg – with whipped cream, when my wife is not looking), then scurry to the business section to scope out the latest releases on this fashionable topic. I am zealous to learn all I can about leadership.

Some book titles are intriguing: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change; The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness; The 9 Natural Laws of Leadership; Lead to Succeed: Ten Traits of Great Leadership in Business and Life; The 13 Fatal Errors Managers Make and How to Avoid Them; The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team; The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow; and, How to Think Like a CEO: The 22 Vital Traits You Need to Be the Person at the Top.

Other titles are downright disturbing, such as The 48 Laws of Power. The Machiavellian approach to leadership espoused by this book is not about influencing people in a positive, winsome way. This book is what I call the “I’m here to pull you buzzards into the 21st century” approach to leadership. The 48 Laws of Power is a book about cunning manipulation. It teaches people to do anything, anywhere, at anytime to get what they want regardless of how many people get hurt in the process. If there is any redeeming value to this book, it is to make one aware of the cunning, manipulative people out there masquerading as leaders.

Some titles are absolutely amusing: Jackass Management Traits; The 101 Dumbest Moments in Business; The 108 Skills of Natural Born Leaders; Leading Every Day: 124 Actions for Effective Leadership; and, just when you think “124” traits tops them all, John Baldoni released his book, 180 Ways to Walk the Leadership Talk: The How to Handbook for Leaders at All Levels.

It makes me wonder, what number is next? 360? What are your thoughts?