Leaders Are Readers Q4 2025

"In six months, you'll either have six months of regret or six months of progress."

I found this quote recently, penciled onto a page of a library book. The marks were fading, but the handwriting was deliberate and steady, as if the writer wanted the words to endure. This brief message from the past seemed to be intended to shake someone out of complacency.

It made me think about the writing I've put off and the people I sometimes take for granted. But it also made me reflect on leadership. I've met many people who want to become better leaders, but competing demands and pressures often pull them in different directions. Still, by setting clear intentions, the next six months can hold meaningful progress rather than regret. Here are a few reading recommendations that have helped me—and may help you as well.

The Way of Integrity: Finding a Path to Your True Self

By Martha Beck

Organizations often display certain values on their websites and office walls. Respect. Community. Innovation. And perhaps most common—integrity. This word is mentioned so frequently that it risks becoming meaningless. Even worse, many organizations responsible for terrible, unethical acts over the last few decades touted their integrity right before their downfall.^Footnote1

Martha Beck reframes the meaning of integrity in the most profound and personal way. "To be in integrity is to be one thing, whole and undivided," she wrote.^Footnote2 Modern life often pulls people away from integrity and into conformity—toward choices rooted not in authenticity but in expectation. I've certainly experienced this myself. The decisions I've made in response to cultural pressure—from career choices to parenting moments—are nearly impossible to count.

Beck puts it bluntly: "Integrity is the cure for unhappiness. Period."^Footnote3

Many leaders who feel out of alignment and unfulfilled are likely experiencing a loss of integrity. They've replaced the behaviors that once grounded them with ones that they believe leadership requires. The gap between those two things can be personally and professionally destructive.

I've been thinking a lot about how many leaders skip the most important step of the leadership journey: cultivating self-awareness. Leadership development programs tend to use personality assessments, such as the Enneagram or StrengthsFinder, to check that box, but these rarely help leaders get to the core of who they are, what shaped them, and why they react the way they do. These deeper questions matter. Leaders who avoid them sometimes undermine their own well-being.

At the very least, I encourage you to read the introduction to The Way of Integrity. If you read beyond the introduction, you'll be led through the stages of Dante's The Divine Comedy as you explore your wholeness. You'll be encouraged to question your assumptions, spend more time on what you genuinely care about, and stop creating small self-betrayals that accumulate over time. Freedom to be authentic is on the other side of this work, and there isn't a single person on your team—or in your life—who wouldn't benefit from that.

In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife

By Sebastian Junger

That Junger wrote this book at all is remarkable.^Footnote4 He should have died in the woods behind his home in June 2020, surrounded by the outstretched branches, green leaves, and bright sun of the New England summer. But miraculously, he survived a ruptured aneurysm in his pancreatic artery. That experience forced him—an atheist and acclaimed journalist—to reckon with things he preferred not to: an encounter with his long-deceased father, the potential existence of an afterlife, and the uncomfortable realization that no matter how much control a person thinks they have over today, tomorrow will always be full of unknowns.

A book about dying may not seem relevant to higher education leaders, but I believe it is.

The Stoics said, "memento mori," which means "remember that you will die." This was not intended to be morbid or frightening. Instead, it was an acknowledgment that this life is fleeting, finite, and incredibly precious. Yes, your meetings with presidents, boards, and cabinet members matter. But so do your conversations with new team members, the time you invest in colleagues, and the relationships that sustain you.

Reading Junger's story with the question "What if that were me?" in mind may shift your leadership perspective in meaningful ways. It might make you more likely to pay attention when a team member wants to talk through an issue, to better appreciate the moments you spend at work, or to simply pause and breathe more often.

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

By Steven Pressfield

When people ask me about the difference between leadership and management, I start by explaining that leadership is inherently creative. Leaders, at any level and with any title, are creatives at heart. They imagine things that do not yet exist, translate vision into action, and navigate communication gaps—all of which require creativity.

But creativity is often met with resistance.

Steven Pressfield defines "resistance" as the feeling we experience when we do or create something new.^Footnote5 It's the force that stops someone from writing a book, painting a canvas, or producing a screenplay. It's the voice inside your head that tells you you're not good enough, and that no one will care anyway.

Leaders experience resistance as well. It may not prevent them from writing a novel, but it may keep them from trying something new, challenging a long-held assumption, or moving forward with a bold idea. Resistance shows up as imposter syndrome, risk avoidance, or the quiet pull toward "what we've always done."

I highly recommend Pressfield's book. It reads quickly and is worth every minute of your time. In fact, I read it before I start any new creative project as a reminder to keep my wits about me and prepare my soul for the resistance that will inevitably show up.

"Identifying Change Fatigue in Teams: Insights from the Energy-Commitment Model"

By Tacy Holliday and Joseph Drasin

A good framework always helps me think through complex problems. Even though change management is chock-full of official models, frameworks, and approaches, few of these things account for the fact that many people are often navigating several changes simultaneously. Most professionals aren't dealing with one neatly contained project; they're juggling multiple initiatives, timelines, and expectations at once. This results in change fatigue.

The Energy-Commitment Model (ECM) provides a practical lens for understanding and addressing change fatigue before it causes burnout or disengagement.^Footnote6 One of the most valuable aspects of the model is how it clarifies terms leaders often use loosely, such as burnout, overload, resistance, and cynicism.

As the saying goes, "the only constant is change." This article offers a grounded, accessible explanation of the complexity of change fatigue and suggestions for responding productively.

Closing Thoughts

Living in integrity, opening yourself to new perspectives, working through resistance, and recognizing change fatigue can help you become a better leader. I hope one (or all) of these readings will help pave the way toward progress—and away from regret—over the next six months.

Be curious. Be well.

Notes

1. A few years ago, I went down a rabbit hole searching for examples of the disconnect between what an organization claims to value and its actions. My favorite example was Enron, a company that famously displayed the word "integrity" on a giant marble wall in the lobby of its headquarters, yet orchestrated one of the largest accounting frauds in U.S. history. Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.↩
2. Martha Beck,The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self (Penguin Life, 2021), xiv.Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.↩
3. Ibid., xix. Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.↩
4. Sebastian Junger,In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife (Simon & Schuster, 2024). Jump back to footnote 4 in the text.↩
5. Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (Warner Books, 2002). Jump back to footnote 5 in the text.↩
6. Tacy Holliday and Joseph Drasin, "Identifying Change Fatigue in Teams: Insights from the Energy-Commitment Model," EDUCAUSE Review, November 13, 2025. Jump back to footnote 6 in the text.↩

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