Are you ready to lead your company into one of the most productive and positive periods it has ever experienced?

We know all too well that most of what we have been reading lately has been all about doom and gloom, and that considering the negatives is completely realistic and rational today. Who among us, after all, has ever been through a period like the current virus pandemic? It has been a harrowing time. We have all seen dear relatives and colleagues fall victim to the disease. We have all endured a difficult period of layoffs, furloughs, falling profits, business closings, and even worse.

Yet even in these very dark days, there is reason for optimism . . .

* Businesses have learned new ways to continue to serve their customers – and stay competitive. The lessons they have learned about selling and customer service will make them more competitive in the recovery that is about to take place.

* Customers are eager to get their lives back to normal – they want to shop, travel, send their kids to college, and get their lives back on track. There is much pent-up demand that will soon offer profit-making opportunities for companies that are ready to take advantage of it.

* Employees are eager to return to work – and companies that practice enlightened styles of employment will be able to build exceptional workforces with a keen interest in remaining employed for the long term.

Tone Up Your Recovery Leadership by Reading these Books

Even though the recovery might still be a little in the future, now is the time to start thinking about the kind of leadership that it will take to lead your organization during the coming upswing. Here are some books that offer important leadership lessons.

Ingaging Leadership Meets the Younger Generations by Evan Hackel (Authors Place Press). Our leader Evan Hackel lays out the positive philosophy of Ingagement that he has created and used to help hundreds of organizations achieve excellence and organizational success. “Ingagement is a leadership philosophy for those who believe that it is not enough to tell people what to do, but to involve their minds, creativity and even their emotions,” Hackel writes. “When you align people and create an organization where everyone works together in partnership, that organization becomes vastly more successful.” This is the philosophy that will help you hire and maximize the performance of the younger workforce that will make up more and more of your employee base in the months and years to come.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell (Thomas Nelson Publications). This is one of the most successful books on leadership ever written. The “Laws” he writes about offer actionable advice on revitalizing a company’s structure and keeping it strong, even in difficult times.

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven (Grand Central Publishing). This book became something of a classic on leadership when it was first published in 2017. Today, due to current trends and the pandemic, many of its leadership lessons seem even more applicable today. From its first recommendation (“Start Your Day with a Task Completed”) onward, this book’s advice is both motivational and practical.

Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster). Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin, who has written award-winning studies of FDR, LBJ and other leaders, offers insights in this book that seem just right at a time when our recovery is about to begin. She anchors her insights in historical observations about past American presidents. For leadership advice that resonates with real wisdom, we recommend this book.

Profiles in Courage: Decisive Moments in the Lives of Celebrated Americans by John F. Kennedy (Ishi Press).  We end our list with this classic book, written by John F. Kennedy, that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1957. JFK’s studies of critical challenges faced by John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster and others offer insights that often seem just right for the challenges we are facing today. Highly recommended!