The best cutting-edge books about standout leadership through remarkable talent development

I have read numerous Jon Gordon books over the years, such as The Energy Bus, The Hard Hat, and The One Truth. They are always quick and simple reads that impart great points that I’ve found immediately implementable.

This one was a fun book to read, and it immediately got me psyched to have my senior staff implement its lessons. It particularly struck a chord for me because I know Gordon’s co-author, PJ Fleck, from his days as Head Football Coach at Western Michigan University. His analogy of “The Oar” as the source of the energy and “The Boat” as the team coming together in common sacrifice was particularly telling as I read the book shortly after seeing the movie, The Boys in the Boat, about the University of Washington 1936 Olympic gold medal-winning crew team.

At my organization, Aspire, we’ve incorporated these concepts, lessons, and philosophies into our staff training and executive development. I’m an optimist, and I built a multi-million-dollar business and company based on these principles. That’s what PJ’s life and career are all about—enthusiasm and optimism.

Twin Thieves is a true story whose main message is simple and reinforces what I know to be true—great teams are built first and foremost by great leaders. The focus is on overcoming the two biggest fears that most of us have as athletes, coaches, and/or leaders of teams—the fear of failure and of being judged unfavorably.

In reading the book, one of the first things that came to mind was the old adage: “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one is willing to die first.” The trick in applying this book to enhance my leadership style was to recall and tap into how I’ve overcome those fears in my life as an athlete, team member, coach, and executive. I personally learned how to get all, or at least the majority, of team members to channel those fears into positive energy.

I recently turned 75, and my son told me, “Dad, you’re now entering the 4th quarter of your life.” The book quite simply spoke to me and where my head has been for the last 2 to 3 years as I made the decision to sell my company, The Aspire Group. I had plenty of time to think through the lessons of this book—what did I really need and want from selling the business? What ongoing lifestyle did I want? What outcomes did I want, and how much money did it really take to achieve those goals and live that kind of life?

During three years of extreme pressure, there was a lot of introspection while getting the business into the right shape to put it out on the market and then negotiating the sale terms. The only way to continue to run my business, stay sane and afloat, and progress the sale was for me to stay true to the central tenant of this book, which was to embrace what matters most.

A major philosophy in my book was inspired by reading this book—specifically, the realization that what matters most to me is a healthy, balanced life. 

I know Mark Cuban from when I was SVP of Marketing and Team Business at the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the early 2000s. When he bought the Dallas Mavericks franchise, I had just created the NBA Owners 101 program to introduce new team owners to the assets they’d acquired. Mark was as fascinating then as he is now, although less famous.

I spent two days getting to know him and telling him what he was buying. Since that time, he has only become more fascinating to me. When I read this unusual book several years ago, his advice was exactly what I’d witnessed from him in person—completely unique and different. Namely, the businesses started with no money are those you’re really passionate about; learn how to learn first; embrace technology; only associate yourself with those who are equally passionate about the business, and learn from failure. His other key points that have stuck with me are ensuring you always keep score and sell your skills. 

Captain Marquette’s YouTube video inspired me to create a highly productive team using independent thinking. Then, reading his book really spoke to me because it resonated with my first working experience outside the University of Massachusetts—namely, with the Pittsburgh Pirates as SVP of Business. The Pirates were the worst team in Major League Baseball then, losing over 100 games per season, drawing only 7,000 fans per game, and losing $10M annually. The staff were deflated and defeated.

After getting direct input from the senior staff, I planned the Pirates turnaround in three stages: 1. Stop the ship sailing in the wrong direction; 2. Turn the ship around; 3. Gain speed and momentum in the right direction. I think the key statement in Marquette’s book is, “It doesn’t matter how smart the plan is if the staff can’t execute it.”

I read this landmark book well after being at the Pirates and related to Captain Marquette’s story of turning around one of the worst ships in the US Navy, the nuclear submarine Santa Fe, from worst to first in record time. I’ve internalized his advice on turning followers into leaders by dismissing the 7 myths of leadership, starting with the fact that good leaders actually don’t know all the answers.

He believes that good leadership should be about training people in what to do (not just doing what they’re told to do) and tuning the level of control they offer to their staff dependent on their experience—empowering, delegating, and dispersing responsibility only once they’re ready for it—were huge takeaways.