The following is an appendix to this post, found in the book How to Develop Your Executive Ability, by Daniel Starch.

While there may be disagreements over rankings, omissions, etc., this list of classics is passed forward for those that want suggestions for what sorts of reading might broaden their horizons. In the opinion of that author, one of the best ways to nourish your creative powers is to “read widely the writings and records of the greatest minds of all time. ” As engineers, creativity is one of our greatest assets, and for leaders, he states:

We read to be entertained, to be instructed, and to be uplifted. Executives, on whose shoulders rests the responsible conduct of affairs, employing the millions of workers, particularly need to read for all three of these purposes in order to keep that inner balance necessary to judge wisely, decide soundly, and manage successfully.

Each came with a score, representing composite judgment input from 100 distinguished persons. Entries 101-106 are if one considers the writings of Shakespeare as a single book, and/or one just likes to see more books.

On to the list.

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Why would a book about executives be relevant to engineers? Well, a couple reasons. This is a relatively old book (published in 1943, with corresponding language), and engineers for the most part love artifacts. The author, Daniel Starch, was a professor at Harvard and the University of Wisconsin (hence a Badger connection). The author uses a variety of surveys and semi-quantitative measures to get his points across, which might appeal to someone with a numerical bent. But more profoundly, given the challenges of the world, couldn’t we hope for more dispassionate, objective, results-oriented leaders in business and government, possibly drawing from a technical background? One hopes so.

Why are better leaders needed?

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