My 2019 Christmas Reading List

Leaders are readers. What have you read in 2019? What will you read in 2020?

My senior pastor during my seminary years told me you could tell when a person’s mind died by the last copyrights on their bookshelves.

I’ve always found that something to guard myself against. And so…I am a reader.

Here’s what’s on my 2019 Christmas Reading List:

Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise by Horst Schulze. Schulze, the legendary co-founder and former president of Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. is no stranger to students of leadership. He's been on the faculty of the Global Leadership Summit at least twice and was recently interviewed on the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast. 

Leadershift: The 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace by John Maxwell. This seems an important book for all of us. Maxwell shares "the eleven shifts he made over the course of his long and successful leadership career. Each shift changed his trajectory and set him up for new and exciting achievements, ultimately strengthening and sustaining his leadership abilities and making him the admired leadership expert he is today."

Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions by James Emery White. If you want to keep up with the shifting culture, you need to be reading James Emery White. And if you want to communicate in a way that makes sense to your crowd and community...you probably need to be reading his latest offering.

Know What You're FOR: A Growth Strategy for Work, An Even Better Strategy for Life by Jeff Henderson. "If we want to change the world with our products or our mission, then we must shift the focus of our messaging and marketing. Rather than self-promoting, we must transform our organizations to be people-centric."

Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts. “Unarguably the best single-volume biography of Churchill . . . A brilliant feat of storytelling, monumental in scope, yet put together with tenderness for a man who had always believed that he would be Britain’s savior.” —Wall Street Journal. Churchill was a leader in a time of great change and greater challenge; a time not unlike our current day and age. I've been listening to the audio of this book and have already been captivated by the lessons to be learned.

The Burden Is Light: Liberating Your Life from the Tyranny of Performance and Success by Jon Tyson. I've been tracking Jon Tyson since Rumors of God (with Darren Whitehead) in 2011. I've been frequently challenged by both his writing and speaking. The angles he explores and the topics he addresses are always challenging to me. Can't wait to jump into this one.

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough. Beginning with 1776, I've read everything McCullough (a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize) has written. His grasp and description of the American story is always captivating. I can't wait to read his latest book.

Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers: The Texas Victory That Changed American History by Brian Kilmeade. Another New York Times bestseller, this will be the first book I've read by the co-host of Fox and Friends. He's written multiple bestsellers and I can't wait to dive into this account of an important era in American history.

You can see the rest of my Christmas Reading Lists right here.