Leaders Are Readers Q1 2026

The past six months have brought a lot of change, and that has influenced the types of readings I've sought out. Lately, I've been drawn to readings that many might categorize as spiritual or personal growth, but my leadership lens is always on. That's why this quarter's list isn't a traditional leadership list but an invitation to explore self, presence, worry, and belonging. These readings won't offer a framework for your next artificial intelligence (AI) project, but they will challenge you to consider how you show up—as a human and as a leader. If you're still reading, I have a feeling that at least one of these may resonate with you.

Let's dive in.

The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life's Perfection

By Michael Singer

I don't think I've ever seen the word surrender on a corporate office wall or heard it used seriously in a leadership meeting. I know I've never said it in a professional setting. It just doesn't fit how we tend to think about work. Leaders tend to operate more from a "never surrender, never give in" mindset shaped by startup culture, constant change, and the pressure to keep up with everything from AI to global news cycles. Yet, my own journey this year has led me to study surrender. While it started outside of work, I've long believed work and life aren't separate. Leadership lessons always show up.

Singer, a multiple-time bestselling author, shares his personal journey of surrender alongside his path as a software entrepreneur. He ultimately sold his company, Medical Manager, to WebMD for $5 billion and credits surrender as a key part of that success. That idea runs counter to most leadership narratives: push harder, outwork everyone, and stay in control.

Instead, Singer describes saying "yes" repeatedly to what emerged before him—quieting his instinct to resist, protect, or control.^Footnote1 His success wasn't forced; it unfolded. For higher education leaders, there's something worth sitting with here. In a moment where we're being told to move faster, do more, and "win" (whatever that means), the word surrender suggests something different. I recently saw a social media post about "winning the AI race in higher ed," and it stuck with me. Winning what, exactly? And at what cost?

Operating from a "control" mindset—forcing outcomes, pushing people, resisting uncertainty—often results in frustration with faculty, tension with students, and burnout across teams. Maybe the exhaustion so many leaders are feeling right now isn't just about the pace of change. Maybe it's the constant effort to control it.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living: Time-Tested Methods for Conquering Worry

By Dale Carnegie

If there's one word that describes the leadership experience for many people I've worked with, it's worry—worry about teams, budgets, enrollment, and public perception—not to mention everything outside of work. In some ways, it's become normalized and even expected. But it comes at a cost. Worry is tied to poor physical health, strained relationships, and mental fatigue. As Nobel Prize–winning physician Alexis Carrel put it, "Those who do not know how to fight worry die young."^Footnote2 That may sound extreme, but the impact—literal or figurative—is real.

While Carnegie's book was originally published in 1944, the advice holds up. The strategies are simple, practical, and relevant:

• Write down the actual facts of what you're worried about to ground yourself in reality.
• Stop trying to be someone else—performing a role often creates more anxiety than clarity.
• Rest. Regularly. On purpose.^Footnote3

That last one stands out. I still talk to leaders every week who say how busy they are—with a sigh—and laugh at the idea of intentionally resting. I get it. I live in worry more often than I'd like to admit and rest doesn't often make it to the top of my priority list. Sometimes that's justified. Most of the time, it's an attempt to control things I can't. If you find yourself lying awake thinking about work or feeling the pull to constantly check email, Carnegie's book is worth your time.

Presence Golf: A Sacred Path to Self-Mastery

By Troy Ismir

A book about golf and spirituality may not be on your list, but it might be worth reconsidering, even if you don't play. I didn't expect this book to feel like a master class in presence. Ismir weaves together Raja yoga, the Beatitudes, and Jungian archetypes through the lens of golf. But underneath it all is a simple, powerful idea: learn to be fully present with yourself and others in a world that rarely is.

As I reflected on leadership, I kept coming back to this: the best leaders I've seen aren't the loudest or most performative. They're grounded. Self-aware. Steady. They know who they are, and they lead from that place. One idea that stuck with me is the connection between how we treat ourselves and how we treat others: "The way I treat myself internally is how I treat others externally."^Footnote4

It's common for leaders to acknowledge their own self-criticism while assuming it doesn't carry over into how they lead others. But it does. We don't compartmentalize as well as we think we do. Leadership, at its best, becomes an act of alignment—between who we are and how we show up. And in that alignment, there's space. Space to pause. Space to listen. Space to lead.

As Ismir writes, "Stillness comes not by grabbing at each snowflake, but by setting the globe down and letting the flurry settle on its own."^Footnote5 How often are leaders seemingly grasping snowflakes in a flurry to keep them in the air when they should be letting them settle to see clearly?

"Leadership Practices for Cultivating Value and Belonging in the Workplace"

By Donna Petherbridge, Jennifer Domnick, Elizabeth Cole-Walker, Mardecia Bell, Ashley Arya, Kelly Brown, Saras Grandhi, Imraan Khan, Kenny Ferguson, and Kaity Matthews

You can probably tell this has been a reflective stretch for me. It has also had me thinking more about the purpose of leadership—and even the purpose of reading about leadership.

This article answers that clearly: The purpose of leadership is to help people feel valued and that they belong. Simple in concept. Hard in practice. The authors offer practical ways to move toward that goal: practicing transparency, demonstrating humility, listening actively, committing to ongoing learning, and ensuring every team member's voice is engaged.^Footnote6

If you ever find yourself thinking leadership is primarily about AI adoption, ERP implementations, or systems integration, this is a good reset. Those things matter, but they're not the reason we lead. People are.

Closing Thoughts

This quarter's readings might seem a little more introspective than usual. A few years ago, I might have thought the same. But for leaders who have been through difficult moments—or who have been doing this work for a while—these ideas tend to land differently. When leadership becomes less about ego and more about care, presence, and awareness, it starts to shift. So, if one of these stood out, pick it up. There's meaningful work behind effective leadership—and it often starts deeper than we expect.

Be curious. Be well.

Notes

1. Michael A. Singer, The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life's Perfection (Harmony/Rodale, 2015).Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.↩
2. Dale Carnegie, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (Simon & Schuster, 1948), 21–22.Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.↩
3. Ibid, 37, 132, 197.Jump back to footnote 3 in the text.↩
4. Troy Ismir, Presence Golf: A Sacred Path to Self-Mastery (Insight Publishing, 2015), 71. Jump back to footnote 4 in the text.↩
5. Ibid, 45.Jump back to footnote 5 in the text.↩
6. Donna Petherbridge et al., "EDUCAUSE Review Leadership Practices for Cultivating Value and Belonging in the Workplace," EDUCAUSE Review, December 8, 2025.Jump back to footnote 6 in the text.↩

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