January 9, 2018
What We’re Reading
Written By Jon Saxton
We believe that leaders are readers. Our team has a huge appetite for what experts in their field have to teach us about marketing, business, leadership, and life.
Our internal Leadership Development Program revolves around reading, discussion, and application. We keep a library with our favorites, with contributions from the team.
In this article, we’re sharing our favorites with you.
We’ve compiled a list of our favorite books, both from our CEO, Brandon West (the most prolific reader at PHOS), and collections from the entire team. And, of course, Amazon links so you can read them yourself.
Brandon
Top Books of All Time
Business
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
By Patrick Lencioni
This book is foundational to building culture. I have recommended this book to more business colleagues than any other book I’ve read.
The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable
By Patrick Lencioni
Okay, yes, I’m a Lencioni fanboy. His parabolic writing style is incredibly engaging. This book will help you address how you create and reinforce organizational clarity and build a united executive team.
Making Vision Stick
By Andy Stanley
I’ve grown as a visionary leader, and Stanley’s materials have been a huge help to me in this pursuit.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
By Simon Sinek
If you haven’t read this, it should be first on your list. Leading out of purpose is critical to building personal engagement and team buy-in.
Building and Sustaining a Winning Culture
By John Spence
Maybe you can build culture, but can you keep it going? John’s brilliant, short eBook is a great reminder that sustaining culture is a must for long-term success.
Personal
Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist
By John Piper
Without hesitation, the most influential book of my life. Piper’s opus magnum, this is a fantastic tool to help answer the great existential questions of life.
What I’m Reading in 2018
How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority
By Clay Scroggins and Andy Stanley
Very few people are truly “in-charge” and, yet, most leadership books are written to that micro-segment of society. I want to learn how to engage each person around me as a leader and give them an opportunity to lead.
The Core Values Handbook
By Lynn Ellsworth Taylor
The most helpful tool I used with my team in 2017 was Taylor Protocol’s Core Values Assessment. I’m excited to continue to unpack this tool to see how I can engage my team in the most effective ways. I highly recommend you take the assessment.
12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You
By Tony Reinke
I love digital technology, but I have resolved never to let it own me. This is going to be a great reminder about the role it should play in my life and leadership.
The New One Minute Manager
By Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson M.D.
Probably the most recommended book to me in 2017. To each of you, I’m on it.
The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life
By Robin Sharma
A high-profile leader recommended this book to me last year after he asked me to never refer to him by his title again in public. The title of this book has already begun to change me.
The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable
By Patrick Lencioni
^See above. Gotta get me some Lencioni.
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t
By Jim Collins
Finishing a book I started last year. What do I want for PHOS more than to move from good to great? Looking forward to working through this.
The Team
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
By Tony Hsieh
The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design
By Marty Neumeier
Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands
By Marty Neumeier
How to Win Friends & Influence People
By Dale Carnegie
Shoe Dog
By Phil Knight
Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points that Challenge Every Company
By Andrew Groves
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
By Steven D. Levitt
Crucial Conversations
By Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
By Robert B. Cialdini
Have a book that we really need to read?
Send it our way!
Jon Saxton
Jon recognizes passion and works to convey that in powerful ways. With an eye toward what could be and an understanding of how, he brings energy and ideas to everything he works with.
