Awesome Reads for Awesome People

Summer’s here, summer’s here, summer’s here! And last year I took flack for providing a reading list at the end of the summer heading into the fall because, and I’m quoting, “who has more time as the summer ends?!” Fair.

It’s been a hell of a reading (well, listening for me) year and I LOVE this year’s list that’s now the Summer List of Awesome Reads for Awesome People. Some of these are new-ish on the shelves and some have been around for a while, but they all were new reads for me that I learned from and were inspired by… I’ve got no skin in the game on any of these nor your clicking on the Amazon link. That’s just the place I get all of my reads both in print and via Audible. :-)

With that, let’s dive in.

Got Your Attention: How to Create Intrigue and Connect with Anyone by Sam Horn

I came across this surprising find while listening to Stanford’s “Think Fast, Talk Smart” podcast, which focuses on communication. I’m pretty skeptical of communications books that I’ve never heard of at this point in the game so when I heard Sam’s approach to laying out and teaching communication principles on the podcast, I bit on her book. A simple yet elegant approach to re-thinking how we communicate in some subtle and effective ways, “Got Your Attention” will work for expert leaders and presenters or for those who would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy! Pick it up on Amazon.

Endure by Alex Hutchinson (with a foreword by Malcolm Gladwell)

This very, very surprisingly was one of my top three books of the past year. Alex dives into how massive a role the brain and our own psychology play in the limits of human endurance and performance. If you’ve hit a plateau in your life - be it in any kind of physical training, work, relationships, or another skill - Alex’s book will help you think about your own limitations in some new, and educated, ways. Pick it up on Amazon.

The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem by Dr. Nathaniel Branden

A recommendation from a good friend and a fellow reader of this newsletter (tip of the cap to Ryan Jennings), Dr. Branden’s book is the shortest read/listen on this list but delivers a powerful message. A very Stoic-like approach, the author dives into the six pillars of Living Consciously, Self-Acceptance, Self-Responsibility, Self-Assertiveness, Living Purposefully, and Personal Integrity while providing in-depth looks as well as opportunities for embracing and improving each of these in our lives.  Pick it up on Amazon.

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

Jon Haidt is a professor at NYC’s Columbia University and is a world-renowned sociologist who has been examining this topic - how smartphones and social media have played an outsized role in the current mental health crisis our youth, and many adults, face. This will be known as the definitive book of this era. If you haven’t read it, you’re probably a little behind on any conversation amongst friends or co-workers, and agree with his diagnosis or not, this is an absolute must-read. If you haven’t read his 2018 precursor to this, The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, I would suggest reading Coddling first and then jumping into Anxious Gen. Coddling is the book I gave to the former Chief of Sport Performance at the U.S.O.P.C. after the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games to help he and his team prepare for a new generation of athlete that will need support in different ways than previous generations to reach their goals. (That’s another story for another day.) Pick up Anxious Generation on Amazon.

The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter 

This book was probably the closest thing to “speaking to my soul” that I came across this year, along with Alex Hutchinson’s Endure. Michael dives into the power of discomfort with a focus on improving both health and happiness. If you tend to enjoy the majority of what we talk about at this newsletter and are looking for new ways to up your game, this book is worth your time. Pick it up on Amazon.

The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running by Kara Goucher and Mary Pilon

Olympian Kara Goucher is one of America’s, and the world’s, greatest distance runners. Kara’s former coach, who Kara alleges abused her, Alberto Salazar, ran Nike’s distance program for far too long amidst numerous doping and abuse allegations. And Kara’s co-author Mary Pilon is an old friend I got to know back in my sport days when she was still at the NY Times - thanks for the tour back in the day, Mar! I’ve read a lot of athlete autobiographies and this ranks in the top three of all time. Kara’s story from discovering running to jetting around the world amidst one of her sports biggest scandals is for every reader out there. Pick it up on Amazon.

Extreme Ownership by Leif Babin and Jocko Willnik

This was another surprisingly fantastic read that I started listening to when I ran my first half marathon last fall on the road to the NY Marathon. I wanted something that might be motivational. Well, not only was it that, but I saved the second half for the actual marathon because there’s not much better for me than listening to two Navy Seals go back and forth with telling a story, with a point/lesson, of being in the military field (Afghanistan, mainly) and then taking that lesson into the board room with examples from their business consulting practice. Their owning our own accountabilities standard of approaching all situations spoke to me. These guys have been all over social media and podcasts for the last decade. They definitely aren’t for everyone - but this book really is. Pick it up on Amazon.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

If you haven’t heard of this book by now, I’d recommend you climb out from under your rock and get some sun! But really, this is one of the only truly great books I’ve read in years that I’d place in the self-improvement category.  James focuses on how to improve habits and get better by 1% every day… an expression I hadn’t come across since my days roaming the country’s campuses with Apolo Ohno post-Vancouver Olympics glory. James’ emphasis on small habits making or breaking us, focusing on systems rather than goals, and the laying out of methods to actually create new habits that have real potential to work for a lot of people. Pick it up on Amazon.

And any reading list I put out there is never complete without ensuring everyone knows about these two absolute classics that I read 1-2 times per year at this point, still.

What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

To quote my last touch on these books:
The classics never get old - one is almost 100 years old and the other is barely 15. Both of these are great and grounding books for anyone busy trying to do big things in the world. They remind us that, at the end of the day, it’s all about people and how we show up for them. Both books provide a giant list of “try to do this” and “try not to do that” with rationale and stories behind both. They’re far-and-away the books I recommend the most for people looking to improve their performance as a leader. 

What Got You Here… Amazon

How To Win Friends… Amazon

Good reading, listening, or however you consume this stuff! If you dive in, let me know what you thought/learned!

- Steve