My Reading List

Books that have shaped my thinking about leadership, innovation, and human behavior.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

Groundbreaking exploration of the two systems that drive how we think and the cognitive biases that affect our everyday decisions.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Dale Carnegie

The quintessential guide to understanding human relations and influencing people positively.

Entrepreneurship: A Strategic Approach

Various Authors

Frameworks for approaching entrepreneurship as a systematic, strategic process rather than just inspiration.

The Stormlight Archive

Brandon Sanderson

Epic fantasy series set in the world of Roshar, following the stories of characters caught in the middle of an ancient conflict that shapes their world.

Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't

Jeffrey Pfeffer

Evidence-based insights on how power operates in organizations and how to develop it.

Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't

Jeffrey Pfeffer

Evidence-based insights on how power operates in organizations and how to develop it.

Getting to Yes

Roger Fisher & William Ury

The classic text on principled negotiation from the Harvard Negotiation Project.

Getting Past No

William Ury

Strategies for breaking through barriers to cooperation and consensus.

Never Split the Difference

Chris Voss

Revolutionary negotiation techniques from an ex-FBI hostage negotiator.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert Cialdini

Classic work on the six universal principles of influence and how to use them ethically.

Give and Take

Adam Grant

How helping others drives our success and why givers often rise to the top.

All You Have to Do Is Ask

Wayne Baker

How to overcome barriers to asking for help and build a culture of productive requests.

Power, for All

Julie Battilana & Tiziana Casciaro

Understanding power dynamics and leveraging them for positive change.

You Have More Influence than You Think

Vanessa Bohns

Research-backed insights on our hidden social influence and how to harness it.

Friend & Foe

Adam Galinsky & Maurice Schweitzer

When to cooperate, when to compete, and how to succeed at both in business and life.

The Manager's Path

Camille Fournier

A guide for tech leaders navigating growth from managing one person to managing managers.

Engineering Management for the Rest of Us

Sarah Drasner

Practical guidance for technical professionals transitioning into leadership roles.

The Coaching Habit

Michael Bungay Stanier

How to use seven essential questions to become a more effective and time-efficient coach.

Turn the Ship Around

L. David Marquet

How a submarine commander transformed a low-performing team by distributing leadership.

Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader

Herminia Ibarra

How to step up to leadership by changing your actions first, not your mindset.

The Leader's Brain

Michael Platt

How neuroscience can help you become a better leader through understanding brain function.

Art of War

Sun Tzu

Ancient military treatise with enduring lessons on strategy and leadership.

Tools for Teams

Various Authors

Practical tools and frameworks for building and managing high-performing teams.

Radical Candor

Kim Scott

How to be a great boss by caring personally while challenging directly.

The Progress Principle

Teresa Amabile & Steven Kramer

Using small wins to ignite joy, engagement, and creativity at work.

Alive at Work

Daniel M. Cable

The neuroscience of helping your people love what they do and unleashing employee creativity.

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein

How subtle "choice architecture" can ethically influence better decision-making.

Predictably Irrational

Dan Ariely

Exploring the hidden forces that shape our decisions in predictable, irrational ways.

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics

Richard Thaler

The intellectual memoir of how behavioral economics challenged traditional economic models.

Atomic Habits

James Clear

How tiny changes in behavior lead to remarkable results through compound effects.

Neuroscience

Dale Purves et al.

Comprehensive introduction to the biological foundations of brain and behavior.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

Groundbreaking exploration of the two systems that drive how we think and the cognitive biases that affect decisions.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Mark Manson

A counterintuitive approach to living a good life by focusing on what truly matters.

Get it Done

Ayelet Fishbach

Surprising lessons from the science of motivation and how to apply them to achieve goals.

How to Change

Katy Milkman

The science of getting from where you are to where you want to be by overcoming barriers to change.

Crossing the Chasm

Geoffrey A. Moore

Marketing and selling disruptive products to mainstream customers and navigating the technology adoption lifecycle.

Entrepreneurship: A Strategic Approach

Various Authors

Frameworks for approaching entrepreneurship as a systematic, strategic process rather than just inspiration.

The Mom's Test

Rob Fitzpatrick

How to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you.

The Lean Startup Methodology

Eric Ries

How constant experimentation and validated learning can build successful businesses in conditions of extreme uncertainty.

Inside the Box

Drew Boyd & Jacob Goldenberg

Systematic innovation using five techniques that leverage existing components and concepts.

Resistance to Innovation

Shaul Oreg & Jacob Goldenberg

Understanding why people resist new ideas and how to overcome innovation resistance.

Innovation Tournament

Christian Terwiesch & Karl Ulrich

Structured approach to generating exceptional opportunities for growth and innovation.

Demand-Side Sales

Bob Moesta

Customer-centric approach to sales that focuses on the job the customer is hiring your product to do.

The Stormlight Archive

Brandon Sanderson

Epic fantasy series set in the world of Roshar, following the stories of characters caught in the middle of an ancient conflict that shapes their world.

The Lies of Locke Lamora

Scott Lynch

Follows the adventures of a gifted con artist and his band of thieves known as the "Gentleman Bastards" in a Venice-inspired fantasy city.

Mistborn

Brandon Sanderson

A fantasy trilogy featuring a unique magic system based on metals and a heist storyline against an immortal ruler in a world of ash and mist.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adams

Comedic science fiction series following the misadventures of Arthur Dent, who explores the galaxy after Earth is destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

A Song of Ice and Fire

George R.R. Martin

Complex political fantasy series featuring multiple viewpoint characters in a medieval world of feuding noble houses, intrigue, and supernatural threats.

The Martian

Andy Weir

Hard science fiction novel about an astronaut stranded on Mars who must use his ingenuity and knowledge of science to survive until rescue.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Jack Weatherford

Revisionist history that portrays Genghis Khan not as a barbarian conqueror but as an innovative leader who established the foundation for the modern world.

Why Nations Fail

Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson

The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty through the lens of inclusive and extractive institutions.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

A sweeping narrative of humanity's creation and evolution exploring how biology and history have shaped human societies and cultures.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Mark Manson

A counterintuitive approach to living a good life by focusing on what truly matters.