[Review] Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices of Apex Leaders

I spent some time these last few days with a new book from Brian K. Dodd, a leading expert on leadership (and a prolific blogger on the topic). Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices of Apex Leaders is both personally challenging and a great read!

The product of years of study and research (“hundreds of books and articles on apex leaders”), Timeless identifies 10 practices out of the 307 identified that rose to the top as the most common. As much as I enjoyed pouring through vignettes and principles included in the book, what I found most helpful was the fact that every one of these practices can be developed. And this is most important, every one of these practices can be developed by me (and by you).

The 10 finalists? Here are the 10 practices Brian identified:

• Apex Leaders Build Great Teams
• Apex Leaders Are Humble
• Apex Leaders Continually Improve
• Apex Leaders Work Hard – Very Hard
• Apex Leaders Form Strong Relationships
• Apex Leaders Make Others Better
• Apex Leaders Show Consistency
• Apex Leaders Give Generously
• Apex Leaders Lead By Example
• Apex Leaders Deliver Results

Although there were a lot of aspects to love about the book, a few make it a must-read. First, every chapter is packed with stories, quotes and one-liners that not only caught my attention, but will be used in my own future leadership development work.

Second, every chapter has a built in set of questions for discussion (making Timeless a great read for teams).

Third, and most importantly for me, there was a moment in every chapter where I found myself whispering a silent prayer, “God, help me be this kind of leader.”

Timeless is both a very easy read, a quick read, and a challenging read. I suppose there may be some who have it all together and will find it too basic. Since I personally have a long way to go, I expect I’ll need to revisit this book over and over.

Because you are part of the community I’m building here at MarkHowellLive.com, I know this about you. You are in the business of building a thriving small group ministry. And since the builders of thriving small group ministries are builders of great teams (as opposed to sole proprietors), you are always looking for ways to become a better leader.

Am I right? Isn’t that one of your commitments?

If becoming a better leader is one of your commitments, you’ll probably want to pick up a copy of Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices of Apex Leaders. I found it very helpful, and I bet you will too!