The Books That Will Change Your Game
“The Big Book of Mental Models”
Packed to the gills with mental models, the book Super Thinking by Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann weaves in and out of various disciplines to provide us with different takes on our world to better help us see things from all angles.
“The best minute I spend is the one I invest in people”
In this short 112 page book, The One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson teach us about the “one minute redirect” and to “look for the good” when leading teams.
“Motivational Interviewing requires a genuine desire to help people reach their goals.”
If there is any book out there that will help you become a better listener and a collaborative leader it is Motivational Interviewing. What motivational interviewing is is a collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person’s own motivation and commitment to change.
“When the reward is the activity itself–deepening learning, delighting customers, doing one’s best–there are no shortcuts.”
Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose, and If then vs Now that; Daniel Pink’s Drive takes a deep look into the motivations of teams and what really propels them to do tasks a the maximum of their ability.
““Make sure that you are seeing each person on your team with fresh eyes every day. People evolve, and so your relationships must evolve with them. Care personally; don’t put people in boxes and leave them there.””.
Kim Scott goes into her 2×2 matrix and also describes how an effective leader moves their group forward by caring personally for the growth of each individual. A must read…
“The strength of the wolf is the pack”.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
James Kerr spends time with the New Zealand All Blacks and reports on their culture of winning, relying on one another, leaving their jersey in a better place for the next person and never being too big to do the small things. This one is a MUST
“None of us is as smart as all of us”.
The Executive VP of Ops of Disney explains how they create their culture of success through their leadership strategies. From calling their employees cast members to learning how to truly care about those that work with you, this book will give you perspective
“There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.”
The personal accountability tome. Jocko and Leif describe many examples of leadership through stories from the military and how they apply in all facets of leadership.
“Don’t Focus on Championships; focus on developing Champions”
Coach Mike Smith formerly of the Atlanta Falcons along with Jon Gordon of the “Energy Bus” explain their 7c’s to fostering a culture of winning team.
“It’s not what you teach it’s what you tolerate”
Jocko and Leif’s follow up to Extreme Ownership where they go over the different balancing acts a leader must deal with. Deciding where to spend your “leadership capital” can make or break your coaching ability
“When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment”
Simple read with a lot of great quotes focusing on team
development and the positive mindset needed to encourage others
“The number one job is to take care of each other…”
Daniel Coyle goes deep into the reasons some cultures are successful and some aren’t
“Your personal core values define who you are, and a company’s core values ultimately define the company’s character and brand. For individuals, character is destiny. For organization, culture is destiny”
The creator of Zappos goes deep into core values and what makes a successful culture tick.
“The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways”
A book that helps you see all the angles
“Great vision without great people is irrelevant”
People are your greatest asset and leaders need to make tough decisions to realize their vision
“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary. It’s time for that to end.”
Sebastian goes deep into the reasons humans need that sense of belonging
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader”
Simon breaks down the components of what make us tick as groups and how leaders pull the best out of people
“Once you become a victim you cease to become a leader”
Its hard to pinpoint exactly what makes great leaders of people. The emotional intelligence platform is probably the first place to go as this will list out exactly those attributes of those few people who get the job done.
“Change the language in the tribe and you have changed the tribe itself”
Goes in depth into the different levels of cohesion a group has and how to manage and uplift each
“People leave managers, not companies”
Sometimes going against the grain is the best way to get the job done. This book shakes up the normal ways of doing things and challenges you to think differently at how you do things.
“I have become more aware of (1) how true emotions can feel during crucial moments, and (2) how false they really are”
In the business of management or coaching you’re bound to have a few conversations that need a delicate approach. This book walks you through how to handle these professionally.
“Habit is a mighty ally…the habit of self composure and courage”
This ancient tale still hold true as being one of the great lessons in how to lead a group of people by getting in the trenches with them
“Don’t listen to give an opinion, listen to understand”
Legendary record producer Rick Rubin not only describes his creative process but how he coaches creativity in those he is trying to get the best out of. While it may feel out of place in a leadership context, Rubin’s ability to stay at the top of his game because of his ability to carve diamonds out of coal is something to be marveled at.
“What is the one thing you can do, such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”
There are a number of books out there about productivity. Gary Keller and Jay Papasan’s “The One Thing” gives easy to implement strategies for you to find your “One Thing” to execute for what it is you’re trying to achieve.
“Ego is wanting to be right more than finding out what is right”
Ray Dalio’s Principles will not only provide for you frameworks and rules to think through any professional struggles, but personal ones as well.
“Often we don’t realize that our attitude toward something has been influenced by the number of times we have been exposed to it in the past.”
Easily one of the best books on the science of persuasion out there! Robert Cialdini goes in depth on the 6 (I believe he’s recently added one more) Principles of Persuasion in this amazing book. If you work with humans…this is a must
“We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don’t like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary.”
No one has more of an in-depth look into the topic of Growth vs Fixed Mindset more than Carol Dweck’s book Mindset.
“Philosophy begins when one learns to doubt – particularly to doubt one’s cherished beliefs, one’s axioms and dogmas”
Covering philosophers and philosophy as far back as Plato and Aristotle, The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant is one of those books that goes in depth in to the most prolific thinkers in history. It is certainly a heavy read but well worth the mental effort. There will certainly be more times that we will reference this book so be on the lookout.
