Developing and practicing leadership skills is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle; you won’t find one tool or one book that will make you the best leader, rather it’s a whole collection of various items that you’ll put together – each piece you learn something new. Assuming you will master this in a semester or even by the end of the MEM degree is nonsense! Leadership is built on many, many years of practice.
Below are a few thought pieces to get you started or build on your journey.
Addressing common challenges MEM students face:
- Ted Talk – Making Stress Your Friend
- Ted Talk – How to Build your Creative Confidence
- Ted Talk – The Power of Vulnerability
- Podcast – WorkLife with Adam Grant
- Podcast – How I Built This with Guy Raz
- Podcast – Marketplace
- Podcast – A.I. Nation
- Podcast – Planet Money
Books (Links are to Amazon but you can also find most of these at the Duke Library)
- On the Edge: Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and Other Extreme Environments by Alison Levine
- Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
- Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It by Peggy Klaus
- The Mindful Twenty-Something: Life Skills to Handle Stress…and Everything Else by Holly B. Rogers, MD
- Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck by Amy Alkon
- Gestures: The Do’s and Taboos of Body Language Around the World by Roger E. Axtell
The Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE) is a part of the national discourse on issues of consequence. COLE Thought-Pieces, featured in high-level national and academic publications, center around topics that can contribute to the leadership development of our readers – leadership, ethics, social impact, networking, culture building, value creation, collaboration and team work.