10 Books Every Leader Should Read During COVID-19 And The Spring Of 2020

Smart leaders are using their downtime during COVID-19 to get better.  The following are three things I see these leaders doing:

1. Becoming more creative
2. Improving their skills
3. Getting better at their craft

Reading good books is a necessity for this to take place.  Every quarter I post my reading list.  These have become some of my most popular posts.  To get caught up on this year’s list, read 10 Books Every Leader Should Read During Winter 2020.

The following are 10 Books Every Leader Should Read During COVID-19 And The Spring Of 2020.  There is something here for all leaders – Faith, Sports, and Business.  The books are listed in alphabetical order except for the first one because of how much I admire the author.

• Confident Leader How Overcome Self-Doubt by Dan Reiland.  I cannot wait for this book!!!  Being released on April 21st, in his new book, the incomparable Dan Reiland draws from his 39 years of leadership experience to share a practical, workable, and transformational process that results in your ability to become a more self-assured leader and achieve maximum success. Building unshakable confidence will positively impact your personal work performance, your belief in self, your support and approval from others, and your trust and reliance on God.In this book you will learn how to:
  • Make deep foundational decisions about your core identity
  • Implement practical steps for deliberate character development
  • Incorporate daily, practical disciplines that transform your leadership ability
• Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industriesby Safi Bahcall. Over the past decade, researchers have been applying the tools and techniques of this new science―the science of phase transitions―to understand how birds flock, fish swim, brains work, people vote, diseases erupt, and ecosystems collapse. Loonshots is the first to apply this science to the spread of breakthrough ideas. Bahcall distills these insights into practical lessons creatives, entrepreneurs, and visionaries can use to change our world.
• The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves by Keith Law. In this groundbreaking book, Keith Law, baseball writer for The Athletic and author of the acclaimed Smart Baseball, offers an era-spanning dissection of some of the best and worst decisions in modern baseball, explaining what motivated them, what can be learned from them, and how their legacy has shaped the game. Combining behavioral science and interviews with executives, managers, and players, Keith Law analyzes baseball’s biggest decision making successes and failures, looking at how gambles and calculated risks of all sizes and scales have shaped the sport, and how the game’s ongoing data revolution is rewriting decades of accepted decision making. In the process, he explores questions that have long been debated, from whether throwing harder really increases a player’s risk of serious injury to whether teams actually “overvalue” trade prospects.
• Stay Positive: Encouraging Quotes and Messages to Fuel Your Life with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon. Stay Positive is more than a book of positive quotes. This book is a resource you can turn to each day for encouragement to help you take on your daily challenges, pursue your goals and dreams, and create positive momentum in your life. The power of positive thoughts is not about being Pollyanna Positive; it’s the real stuff that makes a proven difference in your perspective and life. After all, we don’t give up because it’s hard; we give up because we get discouraged. By fueling yourself with encouragement and positive energy, you’ll have greater power to overcome negativity, neutralize the naysayers, and conquer adversity.
• Dangerous Prayers: Because Following Jesus Was Never Meant to Be Safe by Craig Groeschel. Do you ever wonder, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?” Do you wish you could see the evidence that prayer changes lives? Are you tired of playing it safe with your faith? In Dangerous Prayers, New York Times bestselling author Craig Groeschel helps you unlock your greatest potential and tackle your greatest fears by praying stronger, more passionate prayers that lead you into a deeper faith.
• Reborn: How Encountering Jesus Changes Everything by Clayton King. In our self-help, DIY culture, we love the idea of improvement. We make-over wardrobes and restore houses and commit ourselves to better habits. But we’re still left feeling empty and not-quite-enough. That’s because what we need is not an upgrade but a complete upending of our lives. We need to be reborn. And it’s not something we can do by ourselves.  With deep compassion, Clayton King shares the compelling stories of 12 broken people who came face-to-face with Jesus in the New Testament and got a second chance at life. A respected religious leader, an ostracized woman, a despised embezzler, a condemned thief–all of them flawed, sinful, full of regret–encountered Jesus and were never the same. Along with their stories, King shares contemporary stories of people struggling with addiction, lust, greed, and depression, showing that Jesus still meets people right where they are and changes them from the inside out.
• The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities by Patrick Lencioni. New York Times best-selling author Patrick Lencioni has written a dozen books that focus on how leaders can build teams and lead organizations. In The Motive, he shifts his attention toward helping them understand the importance of why they’re leading in the first place.  Lencioni uses unexpected plot twists and crisp dialogue to take us on a journey that culminates in a resolution that is as unexpected as it is enlightening. As he does in his other books, he then provides a straightforward summary of the lessons from the fable, combining a clear explanation of his theory with practical advice to help executives examine their true motivation for leading. In addition to provoking readers to honestly assess themselves, Lencioni presents action steps for changing their approach in five key areas. In doing so, he helps leaders avoid the pitfalls that stifle their organizations and even hurt the people they are meant to serve.
• Jesus: The God Who Knows Your Name by Max Lucado.  This is my favorite book so far in 2020!  For more than three decades, pastor and bestselling author Max Lucado has shown us Jesus. In this capstone book, he takes us further on the journey to know the life and character of the Savior. Divided into six sections (Immanuel, Friend, Teacher, Miracle Worker, Lamb of God, Returning King), each containing multiple chapters, this book describes both the person Jesus was on earth and how to live in a personal relationship with him.  By exploring Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as well as specific details like how he interacted with his friends and his enemies, what he did with time alone, how he acted at a party, this compilation from Max Lucado—now with original never-before-read content from Max—gives readers the chance to become more familiar with the man at the center of the greatest story ever told.
• The Victory Machine: The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty by Ethan Sherwood Strauss. The Golden State Warriors dominated the NBA for the better part of a decade. Since the arrival of owner Joe Lacob, they won more championships and sold more merchandise than any other franchise in the sport. And in 2019, they opened the doors on a lavish new stadium.  Yet all this success contained some of the seeds of decline. Ethan Sherwood Strauss’s clear-eyed exposé reveals the team’s culture, its financial ambitions and struggles, and the price that its players and managers have paid for all their winning. From Lacob’s unlikely acquisition of the team to Kevin Durant’s controversial departure, Strauss shows how the smallest moments can define success or failure for years.
  And, looking ahead, Strauss ponders whether this organization can rebuild after its abrupt fall from the top, and how a relentless business wears down its players and executives. The Victory Machine is a defining book on the modern NBA: it not only rewrites the story of the Warriors, but shows how the Darwinian business of pro basketball really works.
• Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports by Yaron Weitzman.   Drawing from interviews with nearly 175 people, TANKING TO THE TOP brings to life the palace intrigue incited by Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie’s proposal, taking readers into the boardroom where the Sixers laid out their plans, and onto the courts where those plans met reality. Full of uplifting, rags-to-riches stories, backroom dealings, mysterious injuries, and burner Twitter accounts, TANKING TO THE TOP is the definitive, inside story of the Sixers’ Process and a fun and lively behind-the-scenes look at one of America’s most transgressive teams.
•  ***BONUS*** The Good Life: What Jesus Teaches about Finding True Happiness by Dr. Derwin Gray.  You should pre-order this book now. What is true happiness, and how can we find it?  Everyone wants to be happy. We spend our money, time, and energy chasing after “the good life,” and we run ourselves into physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion on the way. But what if the happiness we’re all striving for isn’t the happiness we were created for? Releasing June 2nd, pastor and author Dr. Derwin L. Gray believes there is a path to true happiness. It is a life lived with Jesus by embracing the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. As you walk through these words, Jesus invites you into a new life-giving rhythm that cultivates a flourishing, happy, transformative life. 

That is my list.  What other great books are you reading during COVID-19?

My book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders is available for purchase.  If you have ever wanted to become the leader God created you to be, this book is for you!  By combining leadership lessons from biblical heroes like Jesus, Daniel and Joseph, along with modern day leaders like Bill Gates, Nick Saban, Kobe Bryant and multiple pastors, Timeless will equip and inspire you.  This book is not to be read alone.  Discussion questions are included in each chapter allowing you to develop those in your circle of influence.  Click HERE or on the image provided and order your copies TODAY.