Books that Have Shaped My Thinking

I read continually. I can't remember the last time there hasn't been a stack of books on the bedside table and another in my office. One of my early mentors told me you could tell when someone's brain died by the copyrights dates on his library shelves. I believed him.

Still, not every book truly shapes my thinking. Some I simply skim. Some I never finish. And some I read again and again.

There have been a number of books that create an indelible mark on my brain. They shape my thinking.

I've been thinking about which books have made the biggest difference in my thinking.

For now, these are the lists:

Thinking Strategically

• Seven Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones
• Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley
• Managing for Results by Peter Drucker
• The Future of Management by Gary Hamel
• The Design of Business by Roger Martin
• Good to Great by Jim Collins

Leadership

• H3 Leadership by Brad Lomenick
• 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
• The Four Obsessions of the Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni
• The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

Productivity

• Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky
• The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry
• 18 Minutes by Peter Bregman
• The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker

The Changing Western Culture

• The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons
• Good Faith by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons
• The Rise of the Nones by James Emery White
• unChristian by David Kinnamon and Gabe Lyons

Spiritual Formation

• The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard
• The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard
• Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard

Image by Sam Greenhalgh