2022 Reading Summary

Over the past four years, I've challenged myself to pursue reading as a source of consistent growth - focusing on things like culture, leadership, product, self-improvement, storytelling and the future. In 2022, I dove deeper on some of these topics and was able to apply many of the learnings in my day to day life.

I might do deeper dives later but, for the annual summary, I've pulled a couple quotes from some of the books that might be a look into what you might learn or a glimpse into some of the value that I got out of them. While some were more valuable and easier reads than others, each offered something unique and applicable.

Happy to discuss with anyone interested and excited to try to hit an ambitious reading goal in 2023. Have a great new year and keep growing!

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Liz Wiseman,?Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter

• “Multipliers invoke each person’s unique intelligence and create an atmosphere of genius—innovation, productive effort, and collective intelligence.”
• “But if people aren’t aware of their genius, they are not in a position to deliberately utilize it. By telling people what you see, you can raise their awareness and confidence, allowing them to provide their capability more fully.”

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Charles Duhigg,?The Power Of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business

• “Willpower isn’t just a skill. It’s a muscle, like the muscles in your arms or legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, so there’s less power left over for other things.”
• "Habits are powerful, but delicate. They can emerge outside our consciousness, or can be deliberately designed."
• “This is how willpower becomes a habit: by choosing a certain behavior ahead of time, and then following that routine when an inflection point arrives.”

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Melissa Perri,?Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value

“The build trap is when organizations become stuck measuring their success by outputs rather than outcomes. It’s when they focus more on shipping and developing features rather than on the actual value those things produce.”

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John C. Maxwell,?Good Leaders Ask Great Questions: Your Foundation for Successful Leadership

• “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
• “Asking and hearing people’s opinions has a greater effect on them than telling them, ‘Good job.’ ” — Sam Walton”

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Daniel Goleman,?Primal Leadership, with a New Preface by the Authors: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence

• “Not that leaders need to be overly “nice”; the emotional art of leadership includes pressing the reality of work demands without unduly upsetting people.”
• “Visionary leaders help people to see how their work fits into the big picture, lending people a clear sense not just that what they do matters, but also why.”

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Karin Hurt,?Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates

“The three elements to galvanize your genius are Know, Flow, and Show. Know means to clearly articulate what success looks like and the fundamental behaviors that make it happen. Flow is your ability to translate vision into behaviors and ensure all employees understand what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and how their work fits into the big picture. Show is about demonstrating that leaders and team members know what to do, do it well, and address unforeseen challenges before the rust sets in.”

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Adam Bryant,?Quick and Nimble: Lessons from Leading CEOs on How to Create a Culture of Innovation

“[That] speaks to one of the most important roles of a leader; to boil down an organization's many priorities into a simple plan, so that employees can remember it, internalize it, and act on it.”

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Kim Malone Scott,?Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity

• “Listen, Challenge, Commit. A strong leader has the humility to listen, the confidence to challenge, and the wisdom to know when to quit arguing and to get on board.”
• “The essence of leadership is not getting overwhelmed by circumstances.”
• “Sometimes, the greatest gift you can give your team is to let them go home.”

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David G. Smith and W. Brad Johnson, Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace

• "No matter your role in your organization, as a man, you have an "invisible knapsack" of privilege, conferred by society in a male-centric workplace."
• "... if you occupy a leadership role, showing up as a transparent and consistent ally for women and other marginalized people is fundamental to your leadership brand."

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Walter Tevis,?The Queen's Gambit

• “My experience has taught me that what you know isn’t always important.” “What is important?” “Living and growing,” Mrs. Wheatley said with finality. “Living your life.”
• “The strongest person is the person who isn’t scared to be alone.”

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Brent Schlender,?Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader

• “Having a grand, bold goal was useless if you didn’t have the ability to tell a compelling story about how you’d get there.”
• “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”