BOOKS - Optimized Learning

Leadership Books

Amazon: Leaders Who Lead Successfully: Guidelines for Organizing to Achieve Innovation

Amazon: Conducting Productive Meetings: How to Generate and Communicate Ideas for Innovation

A researched based leadership framework based on an interdisciplinary framework (such as business literature and research on creativity).
Stories from world-renowned leaders who have successfully lead teams to innovate using these principles. Including authors’ personal journey
A case study of the Nevada Mathematics Project – a statewide initiative that involved every single school district and impacted over 12,000 students.
Self-reflection questions to tap into your inner potential and lead teams.
Action Items– A bulleted list of concrete strategies to implement.
K-12 Voices from the Field– K-12 Leaders share their insights about leading project teams.

Leaders Who Lead Successfully: Guidelines for Organizing to Achieve Innovation

A leader’s passion is the catalyst to make things happen. Innovation happens when a novel solution to a problem that makes life better for others is found. This book describes the characteristics of leaders who lead teams to innovate. Eight leaders whose work has made a national and international impact and seven K-12 leaders who have amazing track records share their insights, journeys and advise on how to organize teams to innovate. In addition, the author shares her journey of leading a statewide professional development project.

In this volume, the reader will learn how to lead by drawing from a higher purpose to find passion in order to lead purposefully and creatively. The leader will learn how to identify a problem from a 360-degree perspective to meet the needs of the customer to select a diverse team that can work synergistically together to innovate. This process involves matching expertise to project and project to expertise. Successful leaders acquire a combination of knowledge and experiences help them make better decisions. Strategies for growing as a leader and making decisions so that project goals and team members expertise align to create optimal conditions for thinking and productivity are provided.

Table of Contents

PREFACE
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION: WHY STUDY LEADERSHIP?
CHAPTER 1: HOW TO BUILD AN ACTION PLAN
CHAPTER 2: HOW TO ASSEMBLE AN INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM TO SOLVE A PROBLEM
CHAPTER 3: HOW TO CAPITALIZE ON TEAM EXPERTISE
CHAPTER 4: HOW TO CREATE CONDITIONS TO GENERATE INNOVATIVE IDEAS
CHAPTER 5: MOVING FORWARD
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Conducting Productive Meetings: How to Generate and Communicate Ideas for Innovation

Successful leaders have excellent communication with their team and stakeholders. Learn strategies used by successful leaders who have lead teams to innovate. Eight successful innovative leaders whose work has made an impact nationally and internationally and seven K-12 leaders who have amazing track records share how they communicate with their team and stakeholders. The author also shares her insights on leading a statewide professional development project in Nevada.

A leader must structure activities such as meetings and informal interactions to create optimal conditions to generate and refine ideas. The reader will gain specific strategies to use in meetings to move ideas from the brainstorming stage to more refined ideas that result in innovative theories, products or services. Considering the needs of the customer and engaging them in the design process is an important part of innovating. The reader will gain ideas on how to structure meetings and activities to generate and refine ideas. The author also presents a framework that is backed up by research in business and creativity.

WHY INNOVATE?

Innovation makes things better, faster or cheaper. It improves the human condition.

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN INNOVATING?

Understanding the real issues and problems that need to be addressed and engaging in creative thinking to come up with innovative solutions.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BEING A MANAGER AND AN INNOVATIVE LEADER?

A manager keeps things running. The innovative leader does more. The innovative leader creates conditions for the team to generate new ideas and innovate.

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN BECOMING AN INNOVATIVE LEADER

A leader who leads teams to innovate understands how ideas get generated. In addition, the leader has a vision and figures out how to assemble a team to solve a real problem. Furthermore, the leader understands the creative process and creates conditions for the team to generate ideas and comes up with innovative solutions.