Twelve Books that Changed World: What about the Movies?
Now don’t get me wrong, I love books and they have changed my life for the better; but what about the movies? I thoroughly enjoyed Melvyn Bragg’s book, 12 Books that Changed the World. Bragg is an Englishman who chose all English books by male authors. He summarized the books and shared why they changed the world. His list included:
- Principia Mathematica (1687) — Isaac Newton
- Married Love (1918) — Marie Stopes
- Magna Carta (1215)
- Book of Rules of Association Football (1863)
- On the Origin of Species (1859) — Charles Darwin
- On the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1789) — William Wilberforce
- A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
- Experimental Researches in Electricity (three volumes, 1839, 1844, 1855)
- Patent Specification for Arkwright’s Spinning Machine (1769) — Richard Arkwright
- The King James Bible (1611)
- An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) – Adam Smith
- The First Folio (1623) — William Shakespeare
My favorite chapters were on Isaac Newton, Magna Carta, William Wilberforce, the King James Bible, Adam Smith and Shakespeare.
Anytime a person makes a personal list of world changing anything, others will have their own list and will dispute the choice. I am sure the United States, Canada, China, and France will have their own lists.
Books are one medium where ideas are shared, what about the movies? I believe more people today watch movies than read books. Have you ever heard a person say that since they graduated from college, they have read very few books but love to watch movies? I Googled movies that changed the world. A typical list includes The Birth of a Nation, A Thin Blue Line, Triumph of the Will, An Inconvenient Truth, Jaws, 2001 a Space Odyssey and others.
Other movie news clips that changed the world I remember growing up were the landing on the moon, the first pictures of the atomic bomb, the assassination of JFK and 911 towers collapsing.
We all have our favorite lists of books or movies. What is important is the personal reflection about why we choose these books and movies. Over the years, I have developed a list of books that have formed my thoughts and values about leadership. My leadership favorite books are:
- 1. The Bible( Proverbs, Nehemiah, The Gospels and Acts)
- 2. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
- 3. Master-planning by Bob Biehl
- 4. The Franklin Time Management System, by Hyrum Smith
- 5. The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard
- 6. Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey
- 7. Lincoln on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips
- 8. Hiring the Best by Martin John Yate
- 9. Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald
- 10. In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters
11. The New Organization by Tom Peters
12. 21 Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
13. Leaders by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus
14. Business Process Improvement by H. James Harrington
15. Good to Great by Jim Collins
16. The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner
17. Developing the Leader within You by John Maxwell
18. Servant Leadership by Greenleaf
19. Getting Things Done by David Allen
20. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
21. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith
22. Personal and Executive Coaching by Jeffrey Auerbach
23. You Already Know How to be Great by Alan Fine
This list is in pencil and updated every few years. It helps me to share with others about what my leadership values are and why. I have used this list to encourage other leaders to develop their own leadership values and favorite leadership book list. The importance is that no one has the best list or the right list – it does get us to reflect about our own thoughts and values.
What are your favorite leadership books and why?
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