The best leadership books to read before the sh!t hits the fan

I have seen how important it is for someone trying to lead to understand themselves as a person—to be comfortable in their own skin, even in trying circumstances. To be effective, you have to be authentic and have presence. It’s harder than it seems.

Dunston walks through a series of simple, yet profound questions that help you master the balance of “be and see.” That is, being the real you and as the leader others need to see. I refer to the “essential” questions regularly and find more meaning through them every time. The answers help build self-awareness, confidence, and the ability to show up ready for any challenge.

I regularly recommend this book to my leadership students.

Braiding Sweetgrass may seem an odd choice for crisis leaders.

However, I find it essential reading for two reasons: One, is that I derive some of my understanding of people and organizations through learning about non-human systems. Nature has a lot to teach us. Kimmerer provides a deep, yet accessible masterclass on the lessons she’s taken from her close relationship with plants. Second, Kimmerer, as a Native American, opened my eyes to a different way of knowing.

When you have to work with people and communities different than your own, it is critical to appreciate how they see things. That’s a situation I face regularly, and I find openness to different logic models and worldviews to be vital to building cooperative, collaborative relationships.

This is another counter-intuitive recommendation, but I find I learn a lot about leading by getting outside the confines of leadership books.

Heller is a pioneer in social design, solving complex challenges by working with communities rather than doing something to them. The emphasis on listening and iterating solutions are directly applicable to leading through crisis and change. The process she outlines is approachable and her stories compelling. My copy has lots of highlighting.

For me, Heller’s approach takes away the pressure of trying to have all the answers by reminding me that when you ask the right questions and involve the right people, the answers will emerge. 

My work on crisis leadership uses applied neuroscience to help people get “smarter their brains” by learning to work with and, in some cases counteracting, their instinctual reactions and ingrained patterns.

Jensen, who has worked with elite athletes as well as executives, draws on some of the same science (and more) in a practical approach to how to handle pressure. He goes through how to use breathing to tame anxiety and increase focus.

One insight I’ve found particularly useful is remembering what’s not at stake in a high-stakes situation. No matter what happens, your family, friends, and pets will still love and support you, for example. Knowing what you can count on makes a seemingly overwhelming challenge more manageable.

Crises always come with ambiguity that complicates decision-making and communication. I’ve watched otherwise competent leaders stumble because they don’t deal well with uncertainty.

Rinne draws on her life story (an interesting tale on its own) to sketch out a series of “superpowers” for handling the turbulence that life increasingly throws our way. My favorite of the superpowers is running slower.

Rinne includes a quote from Frank Partnoy (author of Wait) that I keep at the front of my journal: “A wise decision requires reflection, and reflection requires a pause.” I use that to slow myself down (which isn’t always easy).