Issue No. 169 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Dec. 31, 2009) features the Top-10 books of 2009. As you welcome in 2010, here's a recap of the books I've reviewed in 2009 (Issues No. 121 to 168). To download a PDF of the chronological list of book reviews (168 issues) visit the Book Bucket page at the Management Buckets website. I reviewed 47 books and one DVD in 2009.
Here are my Top-10 picks of the year for the books I reviewed. It's a tough assignment to narrow it down to 10, since all of us are at different levels of competency within the 20 buckets. But...maybe this will be helpful to you. Other than my top pick, the other nine are listed in alpha order, by author:
2009 Book-of-the-Year
The sidebars and the prayers in this book are soul whackers. Like Henri Nouwen's elbow-to-the-gut: "The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there."
Order from Amazon.
The Other 9 Books:
1) Master Leaders: Revealing Conversations With 30 Leadership Greats, by George Barna with Bill Dallas - (Read my review.)
I'm calling this book review, "Barna's Brilliant Brainstorm: The Big Name Speaker's Backroom Buzz." Every leader will wish he or she had thought of writing this book. It's brilliant--on so many levels. George Barna's goal: "Create the ultimate leadership event and report what happened behind the scenes where the leaders mixed it up a bit."
2) How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, by Jim Collins - (Read my review.)
In the early pages of this cautionary, wake-up call, Jim Collins mentions what a mentor told him about effective teaching: "don't try to come up with the right answers; focus on asking good questions." I started to count the elbow-in-the-ribs questions, but I ran out of ribs. (Read more about questions here.)
3) The 100 Best Business Books of All Time: What They Say, Why They Matter, and How They Can Help You, by Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten - (Read my review.)
I've read 21 of the 100 books. I'm familiar with another 25 and have always wanted to read about half of those. So the value of this book, for me, is having at my fingertips a two-page morsel on each of the 54 books I've never read. If your favorite book is missing, you can recommend it on their website. I've added my own, of course, Mastering The Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit.
4) The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller - (Order from Amazon.)
One of Keller’s best. No review needed. Just read it!
5) Bo's Café: A Novel, by John Lynch, Bill Thrall and Bruce McNicol - (Order from Amazon.)
2026 update: Visit all the books from the TrueFace team here. Powerful content and memorable stories!
6) Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, by Dev Patnaik with Peter Mortensen - (Read my review.)
Story #1: "Eisner's Tiger Encounter." When Joe Rohde, a Disney Imagineer, wanted to convince Michael Eisner to open a safari-like experience for guests, he needed a way to get past the mantra "Disney doesn't do zoos."
After making the pitch to CEO Eisner (still unimpressed), Rohde opened the doors of the executive suite to let in a 400-pound Bengal tiger. After experiencing this immense beast (bigger than his desk) up close, Eisner responded simply, "I see your point." Disney's Animal Kingdom was born.
7) Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams and Why People Follow, by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie - (Order from Amazon.)
This book includes online access to the StrengthsFinder assessment where you’ll discover your Top-5 strengths. (I’ve recommended this book for years as part of my “3 Powerful S’s” approach to understanding yourself and others.) See my book, Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.)
8) The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising, by Kenneth Roman - (Read my review.)
When Author Kenneth Roman was a 33-year-old account executive at what was to become the storied Ogilvy & Mather ad agency, David Ogilvy (the king) wrote a letter to one of Roman's clients. "After listing eight reasons why some ads prepared by the company's design department would not be effective, he delivered his ultimate argument: `The only thing that can be said in favor of the layouts is that they are `different.' You could make a cow look different by removing the udder. But that cow would not produce results.'"
9) The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us? The Answer That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World, by Richard Stearns - (Order from Amazon.)
(Note: an updated 2025 edition of this important book was just published. Even more relevant today. I had the privilege of writing a companion study guide, The Hole in Our Gospel Six-Week Quest: Daily Action Journal, a collaborative publishing venture of World Vision, Thomas Nelson Publishing, and Cross Section.)
ONE MORE SUGGESTION:
Read both Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership and Bo's Cafe. Then discern which book you might recommend first to selected colleagues. They are both powerful, but Bo's Cafe (a novel) might connect more effectively with some. Then if they want to know more, suggest they read Barton's book.
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