For the last few years, I have posted a list of some of my favorite books on leadership of the past year. This year, I am going to do something a little different and post the books that are on my reading lists for the coming year. Here is my 2021 Leadership Reverie reading list (in no particular order):
1. Profiles in Courage (John F. Kennedy) - I read this book several years ago and really enjoyed it. Kennedy profiles several Congressional leaders in history that demonstrated what he called "courage", though he is really writing about leaders who demonstrated something that seems to be lacking in many political leaders today - integrity.
2. Caste (Isabel Wilkerson) - Wilkerson's newest book has appeared on a number of "Best Books of 2020" lists. Wilkerson won the Pullitzer Prize in journalism, and she is the best-selling author of another book on my list (see below), The Warmth of Other Suns.
3. "The Warmth of Other Suns" (Isabel Wilkerson) - Wilkerson's first book tells the story of the Great Migration, the movement of African Americans out of the Southern United States to the Midwest, Northeast and West from approximately 1915 to 1970. It's been on my night-stand for several months, but I've just not had the chance to read it yet (I joined too many book clubs this past year!).
4. "A Promised Land" (Barack Obama) - My wife gave me this book to me for Christmas this year. I didn't always agree with President Obama when he was in office, but I've always thought he is an extraordinarily gifted writer with a lot of great things to say about leadership. He has shown all of us about what it means to be a leader during these last four years while out of office, perhaps just as much as he did while President. I am really looking forward to reading this one.
5. "Becoming" (Michelle Obama) - This is another one that I've wanted to read for quite some time, I just haven't been able to get to it yet.
6. Upstream (Dan Heath) - I've really enjoyed reading all of the books by Dan and Chip Heath. This is the first book written by Dan Heath without his brother and comes highly recommended.
7. "The Design of Everyday Things" (Donald Norman) - Someone recommended this book to me a long time ago (it was originally published in 1988), and I have been wanting to read it for quite some time. Norman popularized the concept of user-centered design, and one of the main premises of his book is that people are often keen to blame themselves when objects appear to malfunction. However, it is not the fault of the user but rather the lack of intuitive guidance that should be present in the design.
8. Hymns of the Republic (S.C. Gwynne) - I have always enjoyed reading history, perhaps even moreso military history. Several years ago, I became hooked on books about the Civil War, one of the most difficult times in our nation's history. There is a lot that we can learn about this period of history, particularly at a time now when our nation is more polarized and divided than at any time since the Civil War. This is another book that has been on my reading list for a while.
9. Endurance (Frank Worsley) - I have learned so much about leadership by reading about Sir Ernest Shackleton and his failed expedition to Antarctica from 1914 to 1917. This book tells that story from the perspective of the ship's captain, Frank Worsley, who in many ways is just as responsible as Shackleton for the fact that no one died on this expedition.
10. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens) - as my family knows, this is my all-time favorite book. I have read it several times over my lifetime, and it's been a while since I last read it. It's a work of fiction, but there is a lot that you can learn about leadership here as well.
There are a lot more books on my list this year. I am still participating in the Cincinnati Mercantile Library President of the United States (POTUS) book club (due to COVID-19, we are meeting virtually, so I can still participate, at least for now). We are reading a biography of each of the U.S. Presidents from beginning to end. We just finished Ron Chernow's biography on Ulysses Grant. I also have several more books on my shelf that I still need to get to.
As President Harry Truman said, "Not all readers become leaders, but all leaders must be readers.” Happy reading in 2021!
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