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SG Leadership Library

From the Surgeon General

“Chance favors the prepared mind.” ~Louis Pasteur

Regular reading, whether texts, audiobooks, or internet educational resources support personal and professional knowledge growth. Finding the opportunity to read can be challenging and sometimes it seems there is not enough time to manage work and family commitments. I find that audiobooks, digital newspapers and podcasts allow me to find time to learn while driving, running, or doing chores.

Luck will only get you so far. Lifelong learning is foundational to growing as an Air Force leader and an AFMS medic, and better prepares one for successfully meeting future challenges. It has worked for me.

Lt. Gen. (Dr.) John J. DeGoes
U.S. Air Force Surgeon General

Leading Change
by John P. Kotter

John Kotter’s eight-step process for managing change with positive results has become the foundation for leaders and organizations across the globe. By outlining the process every organization must go through to achieve its goals, and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process, Kotter provides a practical resource for leaders and managers charged with making change initiatives work.

Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions
by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber

Our Iceberg Is Melting is a simple story about doing well under the stress and uncertainty of rapid change. Based on the award-winning work of Harvard Business School’s John Kotter, it can help you and your colleagues thrive during tough times.

Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success
by John C. Maxwell

Maxwell takes a closer look at failure and reveals that the secret of moving beyond failure is to use it as a lesson and a stepping-stone.

Talent Is Never Enough: Discover the Choices That Will Take You Beyond Your Talent
by John C. Maxwell

People everywhere are proving him right. Read the headlines, watch the highlights, or just step out your front door: Some talented people reach their full potential, while others self-destruct or remain trapped in mediocrity. What makes the difference? Maxwell, the go-to guru for business professionals across the globe, insists that the choices people make-not merely the skills they inherit-propel them onto greatness.

Find Your Why: A practical leadership book to bring purpose to your team from the multi-million copy bestselling author of Start With Why
by Simon Sinek

This hands-on, step-by-step guide will help you to find your WHY. With detailed exercises, illustrations and action steps for every stage of the process, Find Your Why can help you address many important concerns

The Infinite Game
by Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek offers a framework for leading with an infinite mindset. On one hand, none of us can resist the fleeting thrills of a promotion earned or a tournament won, yet these rewards fade quickly. In pursuit of a just cause, we will commit to a vision of a future world so appealing that we will build it week after week, month after month, year after year. Although we do not know the exact form this world will take, working toward it gives our work and our life meaning.

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
by Simon Sinek

Start with Why asks (and answers) the questions: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?

One Mission: How Leaders Build a Team of Teams
by Chris Fussell and C. W. Goodyear

This practical guide will help leaders in any field implement the Team of Teams approach to tear down their silos improve collaboration, and avoid turf wars. By committing to one higher mission, organizations develop an overall capability that far exceeds the sum of their parts.

Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead
by Jim Mattis and Bing West

Call Sign Chaos is the account of Jim Mattis’s storied career, from wide-ranging leadership roles in three wars to ultimately commanding a quarter of a million troops across the Middle East. Along the way, Mattis recounts his foundational experiences as a leader, extracting the lessons he has learned about the nature of warfighting and peacemaking, the importance of allies, and the strategic dilemmas - and short-sighted thinking - now facing our nation. He makes it clear why America must return to a strategic footing so as not to continue winning battles but fighting inconclusive wars.

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World
by Stanley A. McChrystal

In Team of Teams, Stanley A. McChrystal and his colleagues show how the challenges they faced in Iraq can be relevant to countless businesses, nonprofits and organizations today. In periods of unprecedented crisis, leaders need practical management practices that can scale to thousands of people - and fast. By giving small groups the freedom to experiment and share what they learn across the entire organiza­tion, teams can respond more quickly, communicate more freely, and make better and faster decisions.

Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations
by Admiral William H. McRaven

Sea Stories begins in 1963 at a French Officers' Club in France, where Allied officers and their wives gathered to have drinks and tell stories about their adventures during World War II-the place where a young Bill McRaven learned the value of a good story. Sea Stories is an unforgettable look back on one man's incredible life, from childhood days sneaking into high-security military sites to a day job of hunting terrorists and rescuing hostages.

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World
by Admiral William H. McRaven

Based on a Navy SEAL's inspiring graduation speech, this bestseller of powerful life lessons "should be read by every leader in America."

The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy)
by Admiral William H. McRaven

From the author of Make Your Bed - a short, inspirational book of advice and leadership lessons that Admiral McRaven collected over his four decades as a Navy SEAL.

It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership
by Colin Powell

It Worked for Me is filled with vivid experiences and lessons learned that have shaped the legendary public service career of the four-star general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell combines the insights he has gained serving in the top ranks of the military and in four presidential administrations with the lessons he's learned from his immigrant-family upbringing in the Bronx, his training in the ROTC, and his growth as an Army officer.

Washington's Farewell: The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations
by John Avlon

A revealing look at the first President’s Farewell Address, a still-relevant warning against partisan politics and foreign entanglements.

Leadership: In Turbulent Times
by Doris Kearns Goodwin

From Pulitzer Prize-winning author and esteemed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, an invaluable guide to the development and exercise of leadership from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin

One of the most influential books of the past fifty years, Team of Rivals is Pulitzer Prize-winning author and esteemed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s modern classic about the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, his unlikely presidency, and his cabinet of former political foes.

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
by Charles Duhigg

An exploration of what makes conversations work-and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life.

Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable ... About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business
by Patrick Lencioni

Death by Meeting is a blueprint for leaders who want to eliminate waste and frustration among their teams and create environments of engagement and passion.

Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less
by Joseph McCormack

Author Joe McCormack tackles the challenges of inattention, interruptions, and impatience that every professional faces. His proven B.R.I.E.F. approach, which stands for Background, Relevance, Information, Ending, and Follow up, helps simplify and clarify complex communication. BRIEF will help you summarize lengthy information, tell a short story, harness the power of infographics and videos, and turn monologue presentations into controlled conversations.

Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less
by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz

Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz teach readers how to say more with less in virtually any format. They also share communications lessons learned from their decades of experience in media, business and communications.