The Most Interesting Books I Read in 2021
Fueled by my having taken a research sabbatical the last three months, I’ve managed to read 100 books this year. It was a mix of new and old, business and self-improvement, written by tenured professors and self-appointed gurus. No fiction books this year, but the 426 streaming services we have access to scratched that itch!
Here, I share the ones that most influenced my thinking in case you’re building a reading list for the new year.
David Marquet
This book is Captain David Marquet’s account of turning the dysfunctional culture of the nuclear submarine Santa Fe into one of the highest-performing ships in the fleet. In particular, it shows the tactical side of decentralized leadership—how to do it, and where it doesn’t work.
Chris Bosh
I had heard Chris Bosh, a former NBA all-star (and future Hall of Famer) describe the book on two separate podcasts, and it was still good when reading it. First, it’s clear that Bosh spent half his day becoming an elite athlete, and the other half reading and thinking about how to sharpen his mind. Because of that, he’s insightful about the process of developing grit and resilience and what it takes to succeed.
David Bradford, Carole Robin
Robin taught the famous Touchy Feely course (officially, Interpersonal Dynamics) at Stanford’s business school. Confession: This class is where I received my lowest grade :). Hence, reading this book on building deep relationships with others was a helpful refresher. In particular, I enjoyed their framing of the 15% rule of gradual disclosure, which I’ve recommended to many who know they should build trust-filled relationships, but struggle to do so.
Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer
Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, & Total Nonsense by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton
Pfeffer and Sutton are also professors at Stanford. I took Pfeffer’s course Paths to Power—yet somehow have failed to incorporate any of the lessons! What’s valuable about both books is the note of skepticism about much of the popular leadership literature. This paragraph from Power is the best:
“Most books by well-known executives and most lectures and courses about leadership should be stamped CAUTION: THIS MATERIAL CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL SURVIVAL. That’s because leaders touting their own careers as models to be emulated frequently gloss over the power plays they actually used to get to the top. Meanwhile, the teaching on leadership is filled with prescriptions about following an inner compass, being truthful, letting inner feelings show, being modest and self-effacing, not behaving in a bullying or abusive way—in short, prescriptions about how people wish the world and the powerful behaved. There is no doubt that the world would be a much better, more humane place if people were always authentic, modest, truthful, and consistently concerned for the welfare of others instead of pursuing their own aims. But that world doesn’t exist.”
Thanks for reading!
Charles
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