“Leadership and Self-Deception” by The Arbinger Institute
This was a game changer for me, recommended read by one of my Commanders. We are masters of self-deception and while I am pretty comfortable with who I am, I realized there is plenty to work and improve upon. Shorter read, highly recommend.
“Leaders: Myth and Reality“ by Stanley McChrystal
This book showcases a great perspective by someone who came from the Army yet came to realize top down is not how leadership works. It is also great for getting insight into historical figures.
“A Passion for Leadership” by Robert Gates
A short and insightful book written by former director of the CIA, secretary of defense, and president of Texas A&M. The best book I have ever read on how to deal with bureaucracy.
“The Art of Resilience” by Ross Edgley
An incredible true story of a man who swam all the way around Great Britain without setting foot on land, swimming 12 hours a day, and how it applies to personal growth and development.
“The Dichotomy of Leadership” by Jocko Willink
A good exploration into the idea that there are two ways to play it.
“Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
A long but amazing book about Lincoln and his cabinet – who essentially all opposed him at every turn. This was the basis for the movie “Lincoln”.
“Profiles in Courage” by John F. Kennedy
This profiles real political challenges, what happened and the challenges within.
“Hal Moore on Leadership” by Harold G. Moore
A collective body of work through his many years/experiences. It is an overall great book on various elements of leadership.
“Triple Crown Leadership” by Bob Vanourek & Gregg Vanourek
It does a great job of sharing real world examples: the good, the bad, and the nuances within the results.
“The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership” by Tim Elmore
Much like Jocko’s book, it delves into the complexities of leadership – there’s always more than one way to view, handle, and act on a situation.
“Endure” by Cameron Hanes
Hanes is an avid bow hunter, so premises largely deal with that element of his life. He trains with David Goggins – they are of a different breed. Not all of it is relatable to everyone, but the lessons are still excellent and there are great lessons to be learned about perseverance I wholeheartedly agree with.
“Primal Leadership” by Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee
It’s over 20 years old, so a lot of the concepts were not necessarily new, that’s only because so many of these concepts have permeated leadership literature. The content is still excellent and is full of useful info related to emotional intelligence, for which Goleman is an expert.
“Focus” by Daniel Goleman
Goleman wrote Emotional Intelligence as well. A wealth of useful knowledge in this book. Found about 90% of it useful, a worthwhile investment of my time. Leadership content of note; self-awareness and empathy, two critical competencies we often struggle with.
Personal Development
“Endurance” by Alfred Lansing
This is a story that every kid in the UK reads growing up, because it’s worth it. What they went through and overcame is both remarkable and incredibly inspiring.
“The Boys in the Boat” by Daniel James Brown
Similar to “Endurance“, just continuing to succeed despite all the obstacles and challenges. A great American story.
“Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl
A shorter read; it will really help you appreciate what you have in life and understand more about human nature.
“Moonwalking with Einstein” by Joshua Foer
A book about learning how memory works, fails, and what you can do about it.
“Atomic Habits” by James Clear
A very popular book, and for good reason, on building good habits and breaking bad ones.
“The Willpower Instinct” by Kelly McGonigal
Provides great insight into how willpower works, how it applies to you, and ways to improve.
“12 Rules for Life” by Jordan Peterson
A useful and impactful tool for any stage in your life. This book shows you that there are things within your control that can make your life better.
“Moral Courage” & “How Good People Make Tough Decisions” both by Rushworth Kidder
Two critical reads to learn from and understand moral and ethical dilemmas.
Military
“The Last Hill” by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin
A book focused on birth of the Rangers and D-Day with Lt. Col. James Rudder heavily featured. Very fascinating as the Army didn’t have a plan for the brand-new Rangers after D-Day.
“Ordinary Men” by Christopher R. Browning
This one is incredible in terms of learning how normal people fall into terrible habits and don’t recognize their own downfall or wrongdoing.
“Days of Steel Rain” by Brent Jones
It is a great book that tells the story of a Navy ship from birth (literally being built) to going all the way through WWII. It’s a great lesson in how to develop and build a brand new team out of nothing. Fascinating from a war/historical perspective, but also how to lead and grow your people.
“Alone at Dawn” by Dan Schilling
This book is an incredible Medal of Honor story from right after 9/11 – great for learning leadership success and more importantly, failures.
“All Blood Runs Red” by Phil Keith & Tom Clavin
True, and mostly unknown, story about America’s first black combat pilot who fought for the French in WWI. An incredible story of a man, whose father had been a slave, who learned French and German after running away from home with a second-grade education.
“Lightning Down” by Tom Clavin
A true story of WW2 pilot shot down and sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp instead of POW camp. It never should have happened and no one knew about them except a few Nazi’s. The only reason they survived was because of Nazi intervention. Great story.
“Helmet for my Pillow” by Robert Leckie
A firsthand Marine experience of WW2 in the Pacific theater. It was a significant portion of the basis for the mini-series “The Pacific“.
“In Harm’s Way” by Doug Stanton
A story of the famed USS Indianapolis sinking, survivors, and of successful (and failed) leadership. If you’ve seen the movie Jaws, this is the ship he’s talking about when the sharks discovered hundreds of floating survivors.
“The Wild Blue” by Stephen Ambrose
A series of remarkable true stories of the B-24’s in WW2, some of whom were Aggies.
“Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand
A remarkable true survival story of lost at sea to POW camp in WW2.
“Lone Survivor” by Marcus Lattrell
The book is remarkable and very insightful into just what it takes to become a SEAL. The movie is terrible (and largely inaccurate) compared to the book.
“American Sniper” by Chris Kyle
This book also provides insight into becoming a SEAL, but also how it impacts all aspects of life such as family.
“Devotion” & “A Higher Call” & “Spearhead” by Adam Makos
The author’s research and storytelling are incredible. All of them have great stories about personal growth and development.
“Call Sign Chaos” by Jim Mattis
A solid read on his personal story and leadership lessons learned throughout his career.
“Tower of Secrets” by Victor Sheymov
A direct look behind the KGB’s Iron Curtain during the peak of the Cold War.
“Where Men Win Glory” by Jon Krakauer
This book covers the remarkable life of Pat Tillman, a personal hero of mine, and the tragedy surrounding his death.
“American Ceasar Douglas MacArther 1880 – 1964” by William Mancaster
A life forged by West Point’s motto of Duty, Honor, Country, he was a remarkable soldier. He had flaws, including his massive ego. Yet, he was incredibly gracious and kind in the rebuilding of a devastated Japan.
“Lucky 666” by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
Remarkable true story resulting in two Medals of Honor from a single flight/critical mission. Friendship, teamwork, leadership challenges…and the bravery born from their efforts make this a story worth knowing.
“The Splendind and the Vile” by Erik Larson
From the perspective of Londoners attempting to survive the war and an in depth look at Winston Churchill’s efforts to save his country and take on the Third Reich. Excellent book.
“Beneath a Scarlet Sky” by Mark Sullivan
Based on the true story of a 19 year old Italian boy forced to serve the Germans despite helping Jewish people escape persecution, interesting and insightful novel.
“The Forgotten 500″ by Gregory Freeman
Remarkable story about the rescue of 500 airmen, a relatively unknown story due to our government’s mistake of siding with the ill informed and ill-willed British intelligence (due to spies) that lead to Yugoslavia becoming a communist country after the war. A lot of insight and lessones learned from those mistakes. The bravery of the locals and the fledgling CIA, who saved 500 Americans should be remembered and celebrated.
“Patton’s Prayer” by Alex Kershaw
Dives in the faith of an egotistical cuss during the Battle of the Bulge. We are all walking contradictions, like he was. Despite his known flaws, he was a remarkable combat general who cared deeply for his men.
“Targeted Beirut” by Jack Carr
Sheds light on what is essentially the birth of modern day terrorism, costing American lives. It was eye-opening, frustrating, and hearthbreaking. Fascinating to see how politicians spoke during this era. A lot of valuable lessons in this book.
“The Women” by Kristin Hannah
I don’t read many novels, but this was recommend to me by multiple people. It is fantastic! While it’s fiction, it based on true events from nurses in Vietnam and their treatment upon returning home. Hannah captures the military aspects perfectly. Excellent read, highly recommend.
Shorter Reads
“Grit” by Angela Duckworth
A short book, but it has some great stuff about personal development, and I will tell you, this is really helpful for me in terms of trying to be a good parent and help my kids – but I found it personally beneficial as well.
“Freakonomics” by Steven Levitt
This has been around for a little while, a super popular book. It is also relatively short, but an eye opener to help you look at things a different way – which is good for someone as they transition into the real world.
“Noise” by Danil Kahneman & etc.
An eye-opening book that goes beyond/outside of bias to discover why/how we make decisions.
“Red Teaming” by Bryce Hoffman
Born from the US Army, a great exploration of how to check plans before implementation in order to succeed – how to play devil’s advocate without being an a-hole and help overall success.
“Range” by David Epstein
A fascinating book about the importance of being well-rounded, and not overly specialized. Good read for any point in your life – useful to countless ways to develop.
“Man Things …Equal Time for Men” by Lauran Paine, Jr.
My dad wrote this book in 1997 because he went to the library and found thousands of books about women development, etc. and there were zero for men. It’s a fun, light hearted book about being a guy and a great read for men or women.
*Lauran Paine, my grandfather, wrote over 1000 books primarily westerns. He was in the Guiness Book of World Records for “world’s most prolific living author” when he was alive. Most of his books are written under psuedonyms. If you have seen the movie “Open Range” it was based on his book The Open Range Men.
“Principles of Dealing with the New World Order” by Ray Dalio
An interesting read about why nations succeed or fail; full of good data/perspective.
“Influence” by Robert Cialdini
This book is on understanding the psychology of persuasion, why people say yes, and how to apply these understandings.
“Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom
A book about mentorship and the human connection, a great short read.
“Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson
A very short book, but great insight into dealing with change.
“A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking
It isn’t all that long and while it’s easy to follow along, there’s a lot that’s way over my head. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it and hopefully learned a little bit more about the world.
“Discrimination and Disparities” by Thomas Sowell
A book full of great information to learn how these things work, based on data.
“Untangled” by Lisa Damour
If you’re a girl dad, read this book. I learned more from this book than perhaps all the others.
“Good for the Money” by Bob Benmosche
This dude is just plain fascinating. This is good from a leadership and personal development perspective. Also, good for learning what went wrong with 2008/9 financial crisis.
“Empire of the Summer Moon” by SC Gwynne
A historical book any Texan should read, enjoyable and some great lessons in here.
“Rocket Men” by Robert Kurson
The amazing story of Apollo 8, first trip around the moon and the space race, which we were way behind until this mission. Great perspective of how different folks dealt with the different challenges.
“American Buffalo” by Steven Rinella
If you’re a hunter or historian, you’ll appreciate the insight into the near demise and importance of the buffalo.
“Into Thin Air” & “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer
Both of these books are great reads about personal desires and costly mistakes.
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hossenei
Uplifting and at the same time heartbreaking story about relationships, culture, war, influence, and perseverance.
“Educated” by Tara Westover
Incredible true story about perseverence, family dymanics, and the importance of education. She went on to received her PhD at Oxford despite having no K-12 formal education at all.
“Hillbilly Elegy” by JD Vance
Another true story about perseverance, family, service, and education – and the impact of drugs and poverty in middle America.
Historical
“Inventing a Nation” by Gore Vidal
A book focused on Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. Great insight into the birth of our country, which never would have made it without them.
“Leadership” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This book is not as long as the others and it delves into four different Presidents and the specific challenges they faced, how they dealt with them, and the aftermath.
“Nothing Like it in the World” by Stephen Ambrose
Details the building of the transcontinental railroad in the 1860’s, and how that impacted the nation.
“Crimea: The Last Crusade” by Orlando Figes
A long and very detailed book about the Crimean War. I learned a lot, but it was a bit of struggle to get through.
“Alexander Hamilton” & “Washington” & “Grant” by Ron Chernow
Three biographies on the men that significantly impacted and shaped our nation.
“Edmund Morris’s Theodore Roosevelt Trilogy” by Edmund Morris
A series of biographies detailing the rise of Theodore Roosevelt.
“A Patriot’s History of the United States” by Larry Schweikart
A large compendium on the history of the United States from its birth to the present.
“Son of Hamas” by Mosab Hassan Yousef
Remarkable first-hand insight into Hamas/Israel/Palastine from the son of a Hamas founder who became a spy. While trying to complete high school and college, he was imprisoned and tortured. He struggled not only for his life, but with his faith. Excellent read.
“Follow Me to Hell – McNelly’s Texas Rangers and the Rise of Frontier Justice” by Tom Clavin
An exciting ride through history, fascinating and great read especially if you like Texas history.
Entrepreneurial
“Play Bigger” by Dave Peterson
This has great insight to anyone who wants to start, run, or learn business development.
“So You Want to Start a Brewery, the Lagunitas Story” by Tony Magee
The perfect anti-textbook textbook of just how hard it is to start and maintain a business.
“$100M Leads” & “$100M Offers” by Alex Hormozi
These are greats books about selling a product and pitching offers. Both are fundamental to any business.
“Building a StoryBrand”by Donald Miller
full of useful info to launch/maintain your business.
Classics
“Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A classic of Russian literature which showcases how unethical deeds are committed and their consequences.
“Medidations” by Marcus Aurelius
Fantastic and thought provoking, difficult to read like a normal chapter book as it is essentially his stream of conscientiousness. It calls upon you to stop and intentionally reflect. Will read and re-read this because there are so many valuable lessons.
Academy Olympia 