As a leader in the health and fitness industry, it’s important that you continually grow. But you don’t have to go back to school in order to do so. Books provide a great and cheap opportunity to better yourself and improve your leadership abilities, in addition to challenging preconceived notions and providing insight on new ways of doing things.
In fact, Joe Cirulli, the founder of Gainesville Health and Fitness, in a huge proponent of reading books for growth. In a recent conversation he shared, “We have to continually get better as leaders, continually get new insight and learn how to implement the things we learn,” said Cirulli. He recently finished Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’s Extreme Ownership, a book he’d recommend.
Here are more book recommendations, some I’ve read personally, and others that have been recommended to me.
The 5 Levels of Leadership by John C. Maxwell: How does true leadership work? Does it come from just holding a title? According to author John C. Maxwell, no. He believes, from personal experience, that leadership comes from building teams that are not just productive, but that also produce new leaders to take over when others are gone. In this book he gives a great overview of the five levels of leadership, and how to know which level you’re currently at.
The Disney Way by Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson: When you think of customer service, you think of Disney. In the Disney Way the authors share the secret success formula that propelled Walt Disney’s company “into the highest echelon of business, creativity, innovation, and success.” This is great insight for any company striving to create a one-of-a-kind experience for customers.
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin: When you think of elite leadership, you think of the U.S. Navy SEALS. In this book, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin share the mindset and principles that enable SEAL units to accomplish difficult missions, and how to apply them to any team or organization.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: In this book, Carnegie shares three fundamental techniques for handling people, six ways to make people like you, the 12 ways to win people to your way of thinking, and many more key insights into human behavior and how to make it work for you.
This is just handful of great books that are out there. Do you have any you’d personally recommend? Share in the comments!
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
