Leaders Are Readers: Q3 2024 Reading List

I was recently asked whether a particular book was a leadership book. I couldn't help but hold back a smile before I replied, "Isn't every book a leadership book?" While I don't believe that every book falls into the leadership category, I do believe that leadership lessons can be found everywhere. As Simon Sinek put it, "Great leaders are students of leadership."^Footnote1 I couldn't agree more. If you've been reading this article series for a while, you must be on board, too.

So, without further ado, let's dive into the reading list for this quarter. As an astute student of leadership, you're here to search for leadership treasure in all sorts of unexpected places. Let's see what we can find.

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

By Jonathan Haidt

Gen Z students, born between 1997 and 2012, are the primary group filling classrooms and strolling across campuses nationwide this fall. Gen Z members are shaping the future in countless amazing ways. They're creative, hopeful, and passionate. But they're also grappling with mental health issues at unprecedented levels.

Labeling an entire generation isn't usually my style, and I hesitate to do so here. But the numbers don't lie. Around 2012—five years after the first iPhone was released and just as social media took off—college students began experiencing a stark and ominous change in their mental health status. Anxiety rose by 134 percent in five years, and depression came along for the ride, increasing by 106 percent.^Footnote2 Concerns about self-image and unprecedented levels of addiction—to everything from video games and pornography to drugs and sugar—followed suit. Overt mental health issues weren't the only problem. In 2010, young people started sleeping less, spending less time with friends, and struggling to focus.^Footnote3 It's easy to look at the data and feel overwhelmed or hopeless. But as a parent, I know that's not an option. And it's not an option for us as leaders either, especially with Gen Z entering the workforce.

So, what's the plan? In his book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Jonathan Haidt offers advice in three key areas: actions governments and technology companies can take, strategies for parents, and approaches for schools. Higher education leaders may need to read between the lines to find practical solutions. But simply raising awareness about our tendency to "overprotect kids in the real world and underprotect them online"—and the potential harm in doing both—makes this book well worth the read.^Footnote4

Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results

By Shane Parrish

Shane Parrish began his career at a certain three-letter agency headquartered in Virginia (I'll let you figure that one out). His experiences there served as a pressure cooker of leadership lessons. Long hours, high stress, and incredibly high stakes packed a lifetime of learning into just a few years.

In his book Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results, Parrish distills those lessons into a guide for making decisions with clarity and intention. Higher education leaders must make hundreds of decisions every week. Who wouldn't benefit from better decision-making structures?

The book reads like a collection of practical ideas and brilliant insights. Here are a few of my favorite takeaways:

• Good decisions happen when leaders recognize the need for judgment, pause, and, before deciding, create space to think clearly. Making decisions on the fly might be efficient, but it's rarely the best process.
• Leaders often struggle with empowering others to make decisions because being the go-to person makes leaders feel important and indispensable. Yet, the goal of a leader is never to create a bottleneck in the excellent work people do. To empower others, they should communicate what they value most and trust others to act.
• What leaders choose not to do is often as important—if not more important—than what they choose to do.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Parrish's interview with Charlie Munger (1924–2023), a renowned businessman, investor, and philanthropist. Munger said, "I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything unless I know the other side's arguments better than they do."^Footnote5 This remark gives us something to ponder as we enter the 2024 election season.

Parrish also covers practical strategies, such as how to communicate and uphold high standards, focus on the right problem, explore multiple solutions before acting, and make team members feel heard while fostering a sense of accountability. Here's a fun quote to incorporate into your leadership thinking: "Poor leaders insist that everything must be done their way."^Footnote6

How to Say Anything to Anyone: A Guide to Building Business Relationships that Really Work

By Shari Harley

We at EDUCAUSE were fortunate to work with Shari Harley on one of our Leadership Series events. Leaders can approach having difficult conversations with team members and providing them with feedback in countless ways, but Harley has put together one of the most practical guides out there.

I don't know a single leader who doesn't want to create and work in a candid culture where "coworkers, employers, and employees say what they need to say quickly and easily."^Footnote7 Wouldn't it be refreshing to work in a place where expectations are clear, feedback is fast and actionable, and accountability is consistently upheld?

Harley offers frameworks like the "feedback formula," which emphasizes being specific about a behavior, sharing its impact, and offering alternatives.^Footnote8 She also delves into building trust, overcoming the fear of conflict or hurting others' feelings, following through, and holding yourself and others accountable. I love higher education, but in my experience, it could use a bit more of what Harley has to offer.

If you enjoyed the seminal book Crucial Conversations, you'll find How to Say Anything to Anyone to be a perfect companion. The books cover different topics, so they're both worth reading.^Footnote9 Your team will thank you.

"Leveraging Displaced Talent to Address Growing IT Workforce Needs"

By Betsy Fisher and Alec Regino

The hiring process is inherently uncreative. With human resource regulations, equity concerns, and a strong legacy of what the process should be (all good things, mind you), there's little room for rethinking. Yet, in their article, "Leveraging Displaced Talent to Address Growing IT Workforce Needs," Betsy Fisher and Alec Regino bring creativity to this area by challenging leaders to reconsider who should be involved in certain processes rather than challenging the processes themselves.^Footnote10

On one hand, higher education and many other industries sorely need skilled talent. On the other hand, a significant pool of overlooked talent needs work. Fisher and Regino explain, "The transformative potential of skilled refugees has emerged as a creative solution for employers who are sourcing fresh talent." They highlight statistics that show the fields where these skilled workers excel, such as technology (wink-wink, nudge-nudge), medicine, engineering, and more.^Footnote11

If the fields above surprise you, then you've uncovered a deeper insight of this article. Many of us view others through the lens of a single story—an incomplete narrative about a person that creates a stereotype.^Footnote12 Such narratives not only limit our ability to see certain people for who they truly are but, when paired with policy, they also make bringing these individuals into our organizations nearly impossible.

Leadership requires a creative mind and an open heart. It demands a readiness to let go of assumptions and single stories. Rethinking who you seek to hire can be a starting point. I hope the more profound lesson about checking your assumptions resonates as much with you as it did with me.

Bonus Entry: The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival

By John Vaillant

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival is certainly not marketed to leaders, but it's a heck of a read! In the book, John Vaillant tells the story of an amur tiger that is hunting humans in a remote region of Primorye, Russia, during the mid-1990s. Vaillant uses this gripping backdrop to explore human nature, animal instincts, the history of humans and animals across the region, anthropology, and more. Along the way, he tells stories about team leadership, failed expectations, and the long, complicated history of the people who live in the Primorye region. While you can certainly draw leadership lessons from this book, you'll also gain a sense of wonder for a species in decline, the humans around them, and the role we all play in the bigger picture of humanity and nature.

What I love the most about this book—beyond the incredible writing and storytelling—is that Vaillant offers a grounding perspective. In a world where emails can feel like life and death, The Tiger reminds us of the blessings we take for granted and the impact small choices can make. Leaders benefit from zooming out from time to time, and this book is a perfect example of why it's so important to do so.

I'm a diehard fan of physical books, but I have to recommend the audiobook in this case. Vaillant reads the book himself, adding an extra layer of intrigue that kept me hooked from start to finish.

Closing Thoughts

From Shari Harley's candid communication strategies to Shane Parrish's clear decision-making frameworks to John Vaillant's profound narrative, the underlying theme remains the same: valuable leadership and personal growth lessons can be found almost anywhere. Every book offers insights to those willing to look, and these selections provide fresh perspectives and actionable ideas to enrich your leadership practice. As you dig into these reads, embrace the surprises and let them inspire you to see beneath the surface and upend the status quo.

Be curious. Be well.

Notes

1. Simon Sinek, "Great Leaders Are Students of Leadership," Success Motivational Grid, posted September 9, 2023, YouTube video, 0:59. Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.↩
2. Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Penguin Press, 2024), 26–27. Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.↩
3. Ibid, 123, 120, 125. Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.↩
4. Ibid, 68. Jump back to footnote 4 in the text.↩
5. Shane Parrish, Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results (Cornerstone Press, 2023), 84. Jump back to footnote 5 in the text.↩
6. Ibid, 209. Jump back to footnote 6 in the text.↩
7. Shari Harley, How to Say Anything to Anyone: A Guide to Building Business Relationships that Really Work (Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2013), 4. Jump back to footnote 7 in the text.↩
8. Harley, Say Anything, 117. Jump back to footnote 8 in the text.↩
9. Joseph Grennu, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Emily Gregory, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High (McGraw Hill, 2021). Jump back to footnote 9 in the text.↩
10. Betsy Fisher and Alec Regino, "Leveraging Displaced Talent to Address Growing IT Workforce Needs," EDUCAUSE Review, March 27, 2024. Jump back to footnote 10 in the text.↩
11. Ibid. Jump back to footnote 11 in the text.↩
12. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Danger of a Single Story, TEDGlobal, July 23, 2009, video, 19:30. If you feel regret for viewing someone through the lens of a single story, read the takeaways on Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow in Ryan MacTaggart, "Leaders Are Readers: Q4 Reading List," EDUCAUSE Review, December 11, 2023. Our brains are hardwired to seek the easiest path in thinking, which is the single story. It can be useful, like the single story explaining that a charging bear is dangerous. But we have to use our slow thinking skills when it comes to people and their stories. Jump back to footnote 12 in the text.↩

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Ryan MacTaggart is Associate Director, Professional Learning, at EDUCAUSE.