Reading List
My Recommended Reading List
Updated: March 8th 2025
When picking out a coach/consultant/mentor you aren’t just getting them but you are getting the wealth of experience and learning they acquire (Reading, Courses, Continued Education). A few years back I started incorporating more reading into my morning routine all with a specific focus on Coaching, Self Improvement, Psychology and more. I’ve written this as a top 10 list as well as library of focused knowledge.
TOP LIST
I recommend these books to anyone I work with as I find it offers the foundational tools to navigate change, dynamic thinking and beyond!
#1 Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
This book revolutionized my mornings, reclaiming precious time for self-growth, learning, and business, setting the stage for an empowered day ahead. A decade of dedication has fueled exponential growth and amplified returns on my investments in myself.
#2 Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Baban
Firstly - Listen to the audio version (you’ll thank me later) Diving into the world of elite teams led me straight to the relentless resilience and unrivaled discipline of the Navy SEALs. It's an intense journey, but the invaluable lessons in leadership endure far beyond the extreme conditions they face. A Must Read for anyone traversing leadership.
#3 Mindset - Carol Dweck
Prepare to shatter the assumptions of yesteryears! This transformative journey helps reshape mindsets, busting through the #1 blocker for teams, companies, and individuals alike.
#4 Daring Greatly Brene Brown
A book that speaks directly to the soul, inner child and armor we all carry to help us progress forward in new and more remarkable ways. I’m STILL working on vulnerability!
#5 Essentialism Greg McKeown
This is the book for people that have so much to do and never have time for the most important things in life. For clients that come to me and say they know what needs to be done there simply isn’t enough hours in the day - I recommend this book. It really steps you back to look at the truth of making hard trade offs / what real prioritization looks like and helps you map out a game plan to reclaim your time.
#6 The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler
I feel like this book should be higher on my list but the reason for it’s position is because you very much have to be ready for it! This is after you have built systems for habits, committed to making the time with essentialism, leverage the right mindset, accountability and vulnerability to dream big and then you need a blueprint to make it happen!
#6 Stay Sane in an Insane World Greg Harden
If you find yourself caught in the trap of focusing on other people as the source of the problem…(As we all do) this book provides a sobering reality to focus on what YOU can control and not all the factors around you that you can’t. Additionally Greg’s philosophy of helping people become an expert on themselves is a beautiful reminder of the power and focus of coaching.
#7 The Power of Full Engagement Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
Older book but the case studies and examples hold true. I almost forgot this book but on this list it’s likely the one I quote most often! It’s a great book for burnout or for those who have overly developed in their career life but at the expense of other areas of life. It gets you back to your roots of what you enjoy to increase your energy.
#8 Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less -and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined
I love the assumptions this book flips on it’s head most people assume they need more resources to get started or to go to the next level but this book highlights multiple companies who leveraged their scrappy nature and limited resources to be their competitive advantage.
Psychology
Flow The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Cslkszentmihalyi Understanding Flow state is a good unlock for your values compass and rich territory to explore if you are asking: What do I want to do next?
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill It’s on every reading list but I was pleasantly surprised by the different philosophical thinking about money.
The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris A good reminder on how to reframe moments to ensure they are fueling our happiness vs. steeping us in the problems.
Thinking Fast and Slow Daniel KahnemanI often need the reminder of slowing down - from a research perspective it reminds me how much data we miss by speeding over moments vs. checking in on slowing down.
Attached Amir Levine rachel S. F. Heller This is a bit of a wild card but it helped me understand my irrational responses in relationships SO much more!
The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler a peak performance primer this book lives up to ever word of someone looking to optimize their performance. I love the balance of neuroscience and raw ambition channeled into a productive blueprint that walks you along the journey of opportunity with a destination of peak performance.
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel This makes a lot of top book lists but I truthfully think I got more from Think and Grow Rich with Napoleon Hill on the financial side.
Biographical
Creativity Inc. Amy Wallace and Ed Catmull: The story of Pixar is so inspiring and this book can help understand how to build culture, resilience and leveraging a teams creativity to solve tough challenges.
The Ride of a Lifetime Bob Iger: Bob Iger attracts and inspires some of the best leaders in the world. I found the biography interesting but his recent re-take of Disney leaves me most pondering: How exceptional leaders build bench.
Business / Executive Coaching
9 Truths and a Lie About Work Marcus Buckingham: A book you could read starting out your career as well as reminder mid-career to remember the difference between advice you will get and the behaviors/mindset that may help you jump ahead.
Angel Jason Calacanus: If you are working with Founders I highly recommend this book to understand not only the best ways to get a handle on the business challenges but mindset of different founders as well.
Love + Work Marcus Buckingham: I appreciate Marcus Buckinghams work on engagement understanding - this book is more of a focus on mindfulness in navigating your career leveraging your love / passion as a compass.
The Making of a Manager Julie Zhuo: This was recommended to me starting out in tech as a new leader - it’s a good “lay of the land” and foundational basic intro for anyone net new to the area.
Super Freakonomics Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levvit: I always love when data gets flipped on Its head a bit to really look at correlation vs. causation!
Freakonomics Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levvit A continuation of the above!
Concious Business Fred Kaufman
Getting to Yes Roger Fisher and William Ury
Self Help
The Miracle Morning Hal Elrod
Playing Big Tara Mohr
Limitless Jim Kwik
The Power of Full Engagement Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz My team will tell you I’m a sucker for a sports analogy in the business world - This book takes learnings from the greatest athletes and applies it to helping us avoid burnout.
Good to Great James C. Collins
Million Dollar Habits Brian Tracy
Sparked Jonathan Fields
Joy-Full AF Erin Baker
Bored and Brilliant Manoush Zomorodi
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living Dale Carnegie
Don’t make me Think Steve Krug
Authentic Success by Robert Holden, PhD.
UltraLearning by Scott H. Young
The 7 Rules of Power by Jeffrey Pfeffer to be honest this is one book I am super polarized on! From chapter to chapter I found myself oscilating from positive sentiment to deep hatred for some of the cases outlined here. Let your moral compass guide you on this one!
Meditations Marcus Aurelius Stoicism reading translated from the roman empire really stands the test of time on morality and human psychology.