In many ways, 2021 felt like a continuation of 2020. We entered with a deadly pandemic, national challenges, and a lot of personal struggles. As a nation, it might feel like we are exiting much the same. Individually, my hope is that you are not. Hopefully, you were able to accomplish some of your personal goals and professional development over the last year. I pray you found some mental and emotional peace. For me, part of that stillness comes through reading and reflecting. Below are the books I read in 2021, with a call-out of my top 10 books.
Author’s Note
This is my fourth year putting together a “year in books” list that shares my own reading. It’s equal parts accountability, vulnerability, and hope that others will do the same. By sharing what I’ve read, I am keeping myself accountable to broaden my perspective. After 2018, I noticed a lack of biographies and fiction. That same year, the #miltwitter community called me out, rightly so, for not reading enough minority authors. That accountability helped shaped my approach to reading. What I read is a reflection of who I am, and there is something deeply personal in that. I love seeing what you all are reading and I hope my list helps someone on their journey.
Caveat: This is a list of books I chose to read. This is not a purposefully crafted list of the books you “should be reading.” This is not as much a reading list as it is me sharing with you what I read over the last year. I welcome disagreement. I only ask that you don’t take this list as an end-all collection. My reasons for reading any given book on the list varies. Many were intentional, some were recommended to me, some were gifted to me, and others…I just liked the cover art.
Below are the top 10 books I read this year – completely subjective. To see a whole list of all the books I read in 2021, check out my Goodreads page.
This is How They Tell me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race; by Nicole Perlroth
My ongoing love/fear for the implications of cyber didn’t stop when I stopped working on cyber policy. Perlroth’s book was one piece of my continuing cyber-education in 2021. Written by Nicole Perlroth, The New York Times cybersecurity reporter, this book is approachable for the lay-person and very tangible. Perlroth makes sense of the history of how the US and the world turn discovered vulnerabilities into cyberweapons. She provides a clear picture of the evolution of this process as well as the implications as we move forward. Another must read for understanding zero days, cyberweapons, and the evolving security landscape.
White Fragility: Why it’s so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism; by Robin Deangelo
Last year I had a section I titled, “understanding the times.” This is another book in a journey of confronting my blindspots. Leadership requires empathy, and empathy requires a willingness to – as Atticus Finch put it – climb inside someone else’s skin and walk around. Wrestling with conflicting ideas, holding them inside your mind and facing them, is part of being a leader. Here, I purposefully focus on WHY I read this rather than WHAT I learned from it or what it was about. If I tried to summarize the complexities of the topics this book tackles in 100-200 words, I would fail miserably. Like it or hate it, this book is worth reading and discussing.
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams; by Matthew Walker, PhD
We’ve all heard of the basic benefits of sleeping, and yet a myriad cultural and societal forces stand in the way of the optimal benefits of this truly lifesaving medicine. That’s right, a proper set of sleep habits is lifesaving and this book provides the empirical data and context to support that claim. Dr. Matthew Walker, English scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley – lays out a compelling analysis of the importance of sleep, its effects on our physical well-being, and the negative effects of when we don’t receive enough of it. He takes on this task head on, letting the science lead while his engaging writing style and narratives do the supporting work.
The Score Takes Care of Itself; by Bill Walsh
Not quite as good as Wooden on Leadership or Eleven Rings (Phil Jackson) – but damn close. Coaches are some of my favorite leaders because they have to mix practical, “down in the trenches,” motivational leadership with executive decision-making, masterful management, and strategic thinking. A great coach really is the complete leader. And Bill Walsh was a great coach. Most importantly, his legacy is the coaching tree he left behind…one that still leads the league as it continues to create new branches.
QB: My Life Behind the Spiral; by Steve Young
I am unashamedly a fan of football…but I am not so much a fan of biographies of athletes. So many are completely ignorant of their marked privileges and revisionist in their history at best. Steve Young’s autobiography was very different. His career path was marked by struggle. He is open and honest about his strengths and the advantages he had along the way. But what I appreciated most, was the consistent discussion of his – sometimes crippling – lifelong battle with anxiety. The strongest among us have their own private battles, and Steve Young beautifully and honestly discussed the effects of anxiety on his life throughout his story. Most of all, I love the example he sets for grace and perseverance through adversity…while never telling you he was graceful and perseverant.
Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women; by Kate Manne
Manne, a Cornell philosopher, provides an engaging – and sometimes biting – critique of our society and the baked-in misogyny. She weaves in recent examples, ripped from the headlines (Harvey Weinstein, Brett Kavanaugh, Elizabeth Warren, etc.). Ultimately, she poses that male entitlement explains a lot of issues we see in society from the small (but not inconsequential) mansplaining to the massive (e.g., victim blaming in cases of sexual assault and harassment, a national attitude that women are unelectable to high office, etc.). Agree or disagree with all of her view – and I would assume you won’t agree with everything…I didn’t – I believe it is valuable for us to face it, wrestle with it, and consider the impacts on our own lives, relationships, and leadership.
How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices; by Annie Duke
We are not nearly as good at making decisions as we think we are. Whether you are deciding whether to hold, raise, or fold a hand of cards; buy a house; go for it on 4th and 1; or any other decision – applying a framework that helps us to focus on process over outcome is critical. Deciding with our “gut” is so fraught with issues and biases. Annie Duke uses practical exercises, illustrative examples, and narrative stories to help the reader avoid falling victim to personal biases and weaknesses. Her process is simple and scalable…relative to the level of the decision. Decision-making is critical to leadership, personal relationships, and life–what topic area could be more relevant?
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong about the World–and Why Things are Better than you Think; by Hans Rosling
If I could sum this up in one sentence…and I will try…it is this:
In a world that we think is falling apart (a cross-generational sentiment), things are actually much better than they seem; Hans Rosling is here to give you hard numbers and clear examples to prove it.
(Ok, technically that should have been two sentences, but I used a semi-colon to cheat. Deal with it).
The Wisdom of Crowds; by James Surowiecki
Individual people are stupid…sorry, we are. We are so flawed. But en masse, people as a whole seem to come to pretty good outcomes when it comes to decision-making. It’s perhaps one of the most beautiful cases for a democratic republic in a time where it feels like democracy is lagging behind the quick-hand of authoritarianism. New Yorker business columnist, James Surowiecki, defends a simple but radical principle: large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant–better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.
A Promised Land; by President Barrack Obama
The care, detail, and candor with which President Obama writes this, the first of his two-part presidential memoir, is commendable. His writing style is approachable, engaging, and entertaining. This first memoir takes the reader from the beginning of his political career through his first term – but not necessarily in chronological order. He organizes the book in 7 parts that cover topics such as the campaign, the Affordable Care Act, other domestic agenda items, and foreign policy topics; and then finishing with the Osama Bin Laden raid. A phenomenal read that allows you into a President’s mind to partner with his thoughts and the process he used to approach his administration and the world. It is authentic, reflective, and at times even vulnerable.
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Hopefully you find a book or two on here that inspires you to pick it up and give it a read. I look forward to seeing what you all read. As always, you can contact the entire editorial team here at thecompanyleader@gmail.com or tweet @thecompanyleader on Twitter. You can connect with me personally on what I am reading…and what I should be reading…through my Goodreads page.
Check out my 2018, 2019, and 2020 lists – and our The Company Leader Reading List!
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