Category: Student

212 Leadership

4/17/2018

Title:
212 Leadership

Author: Mac Anderson

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Student/Student Leaders

Book Summary:
In 212 Leadership, Mac Anderson shares 10 of the elements that can help to transform your leadership skills, along with some of his favorite quotes on the elements of leadership. You'll gain insight into the qualities and characteristics of great leaders. History has identified many qualities and characteristics of great leaders, and, of course, no person embodies them all. But the great leaders have one simple thing in common: They have developed their leadership styles around their personalities and their values, and in the end, their actions are consistent with what they truly believe.
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Luminstruct Review:
212 Leadership was an enjoyable quick read for this month. Applying the concept of 211 degree water just being hot and 212 degree water boils, this one degree makes all of the difference and could power a locomotive. Similarly, it is possible to alter your leadership style by a single degree in order to take a good group and make it great! We would highly recommend this book to student leaders who are starting their journey down the path of leadership. The entire book is approximately 100 pages and contains many beautiful illustrations and info-graphs so that the entire book could be read in approximately an hour. This shorter length makes the book ideal for student leadership conferences during downtime. Unlike other books, 212 Leadership has less of Anderson's personal beliefs in the book and contains more quotes and summaries from other professionals in the field (some of whom we have featured on our site!) In many ways this book serves as a great diving board for individuals wanting an overarching review of leadership techniques and can dive deeper into other books once they find a concept they enjoyed reading. Anderson makes it easy to take this dive by bolding the work done by the different professionals and places many quotes on their own page with an eye catching graphics. We would recommend this book for anyone who is excited to scratch the surface of leadership!
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Ratings:
Goodreads: 3.8/5
Barnes and Noble: N/A
Amazon: 5/5
Luminstruct: 4.0/5
Ratings Average: 4.3/5
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Next Month's Book:

Title: Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service

Author: The Disney Institute and Theodore Kinni

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Mid-Level Staff/Senior Staff

Book Summary:
Exceeding expectations rather than simply satisfying them is the cornerstone of the Disney approach to customer service. Now, in honor of the tenth anniversary of the original Be Our Guest, Disney Institute, which specializes in helping professionals see new possibilities through concepts not found in the typical workplace, is revealing even more of the business behind the magic of quality service. During the last twenty-five years, thousands of professionals from more than thirty-five countries and more than forty industries have attended business programs at Disney Institute and learned how to adapt the Disney approach for their own organizations.

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

3/31/2018

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Title:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Author: Stephen R. Covey

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Student/Student Leaders

Book Summary:
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity--principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.
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Luminstruct Review:
This month we reviewed The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey and greatly enjoyed this book! Written in 1989, this book has stood the tests of time and still holds useful information today. Covey has since added an "8th habit" novel to discuss the changes in effectiveness in the modern world, however it builds off this original book. Including topics ranging from "learning how to centering your life", "looking at a situation from a different perspective" and "learning to be interdependent instead of independent/dependent of others", this book could be easily targeted toward all audiences. The content is simple to grasp and could hold life changing results if followed. Covey delivers this content in a fun way with clever antidotes, personal stories and real-life examples. It is very easy to get to know the author and you feel a sense of sadness once the book has concluded. With this being said, we would recommend multiple reads since the amount of content in this book is vast and it is very likely you will gain some new understanding after additional reads. There are parts of the book which discuss concepts of Christianity, however Covey makes sure to note that the topics are his own personal beliefs and welcomes the ideas of other paths. We would highly recommend this book and look forward to reading it again in the future.
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Ratings:
Goodreads: 4.1/5
Barnes and Noble: 4.2/5
Amazon: 4.5/5
Luminstruct: 4.5/5
Ratings Average: 4.3/5
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Next Month's Book:

Title:
212 Leadership

Author: Mac Anderson

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Student/Student Leaders

Book Summary:
In 212 Leadership, Mac Anderson shares 10 of the elements that can help to transform your leadership skills, along with some of his favorite quotes on the elements of leadership. You'll gain insight into the qualities and characteristics of great leaders. History has identified many qualities and characteristics of great leaders, and, of course, no person embodies them all. But the great leaders have one simple thing in common: They have developed their leadership styles around their personalities and their values, and in the end, their actions are consistent with what they truly believe.

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The 5 Love Languages

2/17/2018

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Title:
The 5 Love Languages

Author: Gary Chapman

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Student/Student Leaders

Book Summary:
In the #1 New York Times bestseller The 5 Love Languages, you’ll discover the secret that has transformed millions of relationships worldwide. Whether your relationship is flourishing or failing, Dr. Gary Chapman’s proven approach to showing and receiving love will help you experience deeper and richer levels of intimacy with your partner—starting today.
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Luminstruct Review:
February is the month for love and what better way to celebrate Valentine's day than to understand love and appreciation on a deeper level. Chapman is a marriage counselor who discusses how different people display love in different ways. Just like speaking a foreign language, if love is displayed in a way which is not a "primary language", there may be miscommunication between significant others. Chapman breaks down love into five languages: quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, physical touch, and acts of service. He then explains how every person has their ideal love language and how each language has its own unique dialect. If this concept is understood, your partner can be filled with love and appreciation. Although the book is primarily targeted toward married couples, this concept can be applied in our every day lives when working with students, peers, family and friends (we even adapted the test toward res life in the "5 Advising Languages" found in our Diversity team builder activity page). Chapman also has a free love languages test on his site: www.5lovelanguages.com/. The concept is easy to follow and can help you create stronger relationships. With this being said, we would not recommend buying the book. The majority of the tools are available online for free and the book became very repetitive. The majority of the book starts with introducing a language, telling a story of a marriage which was in turmoil and how Chapman fixed the marriage by using the language. He then goes into detail on ways to boost the language if it is the prime language of your partner. The book was not bad, it just didn't deliver any new material. We would have liked to have also seen more diversity in the book. There are Christian undertones throughout the book and the majority of the couples are going through a similar problem where the husband doesn't want to work on the marriage and the wife wants to fix the problem (same-sex couples are not mentioned). With this being said, there are other versions out there for the workplace, for singles, for teens, for men, for children, etc., but with this being the main book of the series, it would have been nice to see elements throughout and not just for married couples.
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Ratings:
Goodreads: 4.23/5
Barnes and Noble: 4.3/5
Amazon: 4.8/5
Luminstruct: 3.5/5
Ratings Average: 4.2/5
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Next Month's Book:

Title:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Author: Stephen R. Covey

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
All Audiences

Book Summary:
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity--principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

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The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus

12/25/2017

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Title:
The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus

Author: Eric Harvey

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Student/Student Leaders

Book Summary:
This compact book presents leadership concepts in a new and exciting way. With lots of practical advice you can implement starting today, you can start to motivate your team, deal with change, and become a better leader now.

Make your company a cherished favorite using insider advice delivered directly from the North Pole. Find out if your existing strategies are naughty or nice and unwrap easy-to-follow leadership secrets. Build an excellent reputation and motivate your company to achieve big things every year using the invaluable gifts of every team member.
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Luminstruct Review:
The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus was a fun and quirky book. Consisting of chapters such as "Choose Your Reindeer Wisely", "Share the Milk and Cookies" and "Build a Wonderful Workshop", the book does a good job taking valuable topics in leadership and breaking it down in a simple way from the viewpoint of Santa Claus. There were many parts of this book which were creative when delivering the basic fundamental concepts of leadership and would recommend this book as an intro book for a student just starting out as a leader in a club or job position for the first time. With this being said, I believe there are stronger leadership books out there and the Christmas theme was distracting from the main principles of the book from time to time. Although not a bad book, with the combination of the entry-level leadership tips, the shortness of the book, and the quirky theme, we would probably leave this book as a stocking stuffer.
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Ratings:
Goodreads: 3.6/5
Barnes and Noble: N/A
Amazon: 4.4/5
Luminstruct: 3/5
Ratings Average: 3.6/5
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Next Month's Book:

Title:
Good to Great

Author: Jim Collins

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Mid-Level/Senior Staff

Book Summary:
Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last, concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silver bullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great, the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that any organization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards

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Tuesdays with Morrie

12/3/2017

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Title:
tuesdays with Morrie: an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson

Author: Mitch Albom

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Student/Student Leaders

Book Summary:
Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you?

Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying of ALS - or motor neurone disease - Mitch visited Morrie in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final 'class': lessons in how to live.
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Luminstruct Review:
Tuesdays with Morrie is easily one of the best novels we have reviewed on book club this year. Whereas previous reviewed novels have gone into the professional side of Student Affairs, Tuesdays with Morrie cuts to the core of who we are as humans and discusses topics such as love, forgiveness, compassion and death. Written by a student who interviews his old college professor about the meaning of life, it is hard not to think of similar professors who have made a similar impact on the reader's life as well. The book captures each character on such a deep level so that there is a flood of emotions which hit you by the end of the book. It looks at death especially from a rarely seen lens and makes it more manageable and understandable. Although written more than 20 years ago, this novel holds true today just as much as it had when originally written. Regardless of your position, we would highly recommend this book.
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Ratings:
Goodreads: 4.1/5
Barnes and Noble: 4.2/5
Amazon: 4.8/5
Luminstruct: 5/5
Ratings Average: 4.52/5
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Next Month's Book:

Title:
The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus

Author: Eric Harvey

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Student/Student Leaders

Book Summary:
This compact book presents leadership concepts in a new and exciting way. With lots of practical advice you can implement starting today, you can start to motivate your team, deal with change, and become a better leader now.

Make your company a cherished favorite using insider advice delivered directly from the North Pole. Find out if your existing strategies are naughty or nice and unwrap easy-to-follow leadership secrets. Build an excellent reputation and motivate your company to achieve big things every year using the invaluable gifts of every team member.

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Lessons Learned

10/1/2017

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Title:
Lessons Learned: How to Avoid the Biggest Mistakes Made by College Resident Assistants

Author: John D. Foubert

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
New Resident Assistants

Book Summary:
Lessons Learned is designed for use in training programs for newly hired resident advisors or assistants (RAs). Its uncomplicated format allows users to select from among several dozen issues of importance to a particular campus. This volume is the ideal tool for residence life professionals who are responsible for training college Resident Assistants. Over three dozen common RA mistakes are discussed, chapter by chapter, in individual letters written by experienced RAs to new staff members. Each chapter includes resources and thought-provoking questions, allowing residence life professionals to choose which material they will cover to stimulate reflection and lively dialogue. This is an easy-to-use manual for an interactive, learning-centered RA training program at any level.
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Luminstruct Review:
Lessons Learned serves as an amazing training tool for first year RAs. Covering topics ranging from tips on how to build a healthy community, to how to handle various safety and security scenarios, this book provides clear explanations in a simple and easy to read format. Each chapter serves as a stand alone story written from the viewpoint of a different RA handling a situation. This makes it easier to skip around for the reader if needed. Although all stories are written by Foubert, it is easy to be swept away by the different character personalities and the type of institution they come from. Each chapter starts with an introduction from the RA and describes who they are and what their institution/students are like, they then set the scene and describe a scenario where they didn't handle a situation well. The story then continues with "Getting some advice" from their supervisor or mentor and how they fixed the problem. The final part of each chapter summarizes the "Lessons Learned", provides "Discussion Questions", "Available Resources" (books/websites) and any "Additional Tips" on handling the given situation. Although written in 2007 (second edition written in 2013), the topics described in this book are still just as relevant today as they were a decade ago. We decided to use the first edition simply because it was cheaper for staff members to buy in bulk for an RA class or for individual RAs to purchase at a cheaper rate for themselves. Especially with the discussion questions at the end, this serves as a great resource for summer reading assignments, RA class presentations or a tool to review when creating RA training sessions. We would highly recommend this novel and would encourage Foubert to publish a "Lessons Learned" version for New Professionals and Mid-Level Staff in a similar format.
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Ratings:
Goodreads: 3.2/5
Barnes and Noble: N/A
Amazon: 4.8/5
Luminstruct: 4.5/5
Ratings Average: 4/5
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Next Month's Book:

Title:
Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity

Author: Kim Scott

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Mid-Level/Senior Staff

Book Summary:
Radical Candor offers a guide to those bewildered or exhausted by management, written for bosses and those who manage bosses. Taken from years of the author's experience, and distilled clearly giving actionable lessons to the reader; it shows managers how to be successful while retaining their humanity, finding meaning in their job, and creating an environment where people both love their work and their colleagues.

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What Happens on Campus Stays on Youtube (July 2017)

8/11/2017

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Book Title:
What Happens on Campus Stays on Youtube

Author: Erik Qualman

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Student/Student Staff

Book Summary:
Learn the new rules for your reputation on campus, online and beyond. Today, your digital reputation is determining your next internship or job offer, your role in student organizations and leadership positions, even athletic scholarships and much more! This book will help you not only protect your reputation, but it will teach you how to leverage digital tools to produce a strong digital presence. The book includes several student case studies, tips, resources and more. You can read it in a day and reference it for a lifetime!
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Luminstruct Review:
It was an honor to have some of our "Lead On!" professionals highlighted in this month's Book Club. What Happens on Campus Stays on YouTube is a perfect selection for a summer reading novel for incoming college students. Too often than not, our students go to social media to vent their frustrations, voice their thoughts, and communicate with the world around them. With this being said, there is not much training provided to our students to teach them how to properly brand themselves online, consider the consequences of their posts, and know how to properly utilize the internet as a tool to obtain future employment and stay out of trouble. Qualman and the supporting authors do an excellent job teaching these points through stories, online resources, and chapter summaries/tests. The formatting of the book was very easy to follow and the graphics made the book a fun read. We would highly recommend this book!
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Ratings:
Goodreads: 3.1/5
Barnes and Noble: N/A
Amazon: 4.5/5
Luminstruct: 4.75/5
Ratings Average: 4.12/5
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Next Month's Book:

Title:
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action

Author: Simon Sinek

Intended Luminstruct Audience:
Mid-Level/Senior Staff

Book Summary:
START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way — and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.

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Book Club

212 Leadership

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The 5 Love Languages

The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus

Tuesdays with Morrie

Lessons Learned

What Happens on Campus Stays on Youtube (July 2017)

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