Resources
There are so many wonderful resources out there to help us mature and deepen our leadership, our cultures, and our teams.
Here a few that have helped shape my own thinking and practice; these are the ones I keep coming back to and keep recommending.
Happy reading!
I am not affiliated with, compensated or incentivized by the individuals listed below or their work, which are shared here purely for informational purposes.
by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle
Bill Campbell helped to build some of Silicon Valley’s greatest companies -- including Google, Apple, and Intuit -- and to create over a trillion dollars in market value. A former college football player and coach, Bill mentored visionaries such as Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt and coached dozens of leaders on both coasts. When he passed away in 2016, “the Coach” left behind a legacy of growing companies and successful people, and an abundance of respect, friendship, and love.
by Pippa Grange, PhD
The Head of People and Team Development at the English Football Association until the end of 2019, Grange focuses on the hidden fears that make us feel our lives aren’t enough, that prompt us to spend our time worrying about competition, status, and control. Fear is what turns life into a battle, telling us we need to hide our real selves and that we’re not good enough. Fear Less lays out practical tools to practice your responses to fear in the same way elite athletes train for and perform at a big game―with equally dramatic results.
When we think about performance psychology, we think about one-on-one work, or a person working with the team to get a performance outcome. But really, it's about understanding and working with the cultural context that the person is trying to perform in. You can be an extraordinary individual performer yourself, but still feel inhibited or uninspired to perform at your very best because of the culture that you're operating in. Grange's work focuses at a culture and system level where performance is about the individual and the organization.
by Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder
Drawing on attachment theory and the neuroscience behind self-regulation, the authors focus on cultivating maturity in leadership, which they break down into observable, measurable behaviors summarize into a helpful acronym: R+A+R=E.
Remain relational
+
Act like yourself
+
Return to joy
=
Endure hardship well
I love this slightly obscure volume for it's simplicity...and the publisher has made much of it available for download.
by Tony Fadell
Tony Fadell led the teams that created the iPod, iPhone and Nest Learning Thermostat and learned enough in 30+ years in Silicon Valley about leadership, design, startups, Apple, Google, decision-making, mentorship, devastating failure and unbelievable success to fill an encyclopedia.
So that’s what this book is. An abbreviated advice encyclopedia. A mentor in a box.
Written for anyone who wants to grow at work—from young grads navigating their first jobs to CEOs deciding whether to sell their company—Build is full of personal stories, practical advice and fascinating insights into some of the most impactful products and people of the 20th century.
by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
A simple, science-based plan to help you minimize stress, manage emotions, and live a more joyful life. The Nagoskis address:
• what you can do to complete the biological stress cycle—and return your body to a state of relaxation
• how to manage the “monitor” in your brain that regulates the emotion of frustration
• how the Bikini Industrial Complex makes it difficult for people to love their bodies—and how to defend yourself against it
• why rest, human connection, and befriending your inner critic are keys to recovering and preventing burnout
by First Round Review
Psychologist Dr. Emily Anhalt is in the self-awareness business — helping folks discover the patterns that are holding them back, and working deliberately to build new ones that fuel success.
It's the very traits at the core of successful founders that enable them to dream bigger, push harder and withstand the naysayers.
But as she’s seen in her practice (and now as a founder herself), it’s a double-sided coin. Anything that can be your success can be your undoing. The very traits that make a founder successful can also hold them back — and, when left unaddressed, prop up barriers to their teams and companies.