BOOKS
A full-time leader, one of my greatest needs is knowledge and continuing education. With that in mind, I read about a book a month, spanning topics such as Leadership, Creativity, Biographies, Human Psychology, Branding and Innovation. Here's an up-to-date, ranked list of those whom have impacted and influenced me the most. Some of these I return to regularly and read again and again.
- The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
- Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't by Vern Harnish
- Great By Choice by Jim Collins
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
- Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't by Simon Sinek
- Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman
- Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant
- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
- The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles That Fuel Success and Performance by Shawn Achor
- The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday
- Originals: How Nonconformists Move the World by Adam Grant
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
- Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Theil
- The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues by Patrick Lencioni
- Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
- Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
- Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High
- Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
- Shoe Dog: A memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight
- Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business by Frances Frei
- Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind by 99U
- The Dream Manager: Achieve Results Beyond Your Dreams by Helping Your Employees Fulfill Theirs
- Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
- Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart and Randy Street
- Meetings Suck by Cameron Herold
- David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
- Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands by Marty Neumeier
- Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!: 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential by Greg Crabtree
- Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big by Bo Burlinggham
- Updated June 12th, 2018 --
PODCASTS
In addition to books, there's so much wonderful dynamic content, ideas and interviews continuously flowing through Podcasting. Here's a few I recommend and listen to regularly:
- WorkLife with Adam Grant. --> Brilliant academic on the science of human systems.
- Revisionist History with Malcom Gladwell --> Check out the "bonus" episode (Season 3) where he debates Adam Grant.
- How I Built This (NPR) --> check out the episode on VICE Founder, Suroosh Alvi
- The EntreLeadership Podcast --> check out Episode #158 with Simon Sinek, #212 with Jeff Rosenblum, #204 with Sinek
- The James Altucher Show --> check out Episode #217 with Tony Robbins, #194 with Seth Godin, #238 with Ryan Holiday
- Reply All by Gimlet Media
- Song Exploder by Radiotopia --> check out the episode with Solange
- 2 Dope Queens by WNYC Studios
- On Being with Krista Tipett --> check out episodes with Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant, and one with Richard Rohr
- Here's The Thing with Alec Baldwin --> check out the interview with Starbucks' Founder, Howard Schultz
- Invisibilia by NPR --> check out the episode on The Culture Inside (exploring implicit bias)
- The Future of What by Kill Rock Stars
- The Nod by Gimlet Media
- Lost Notes by KCRW --> An anthology of some of the greatest music stories never truly told.
- The RobCast with Rob Bell --> Full disclosure: this one gets into religion, Christianity and questioning all of it.
- Still Processing by The New York Times
ORGANIZATIONS
I've had the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of groups, associations, and have served on a few boards. No organization has greater contributed to my continual development -- both as a human and as a leader -- than the Entrepreneurs' Organization.
Entrepreneurs' Organization (known widely as EO) is a global non-profit organization, whose stated mission is to "Engage leading entrepreneurs to learn and grow." Originally known as Young Entrepreneurs' Organization, it was founded by Verne Harnish in 1987 and now has more than 10,000 members globally.
My local chapter in Portland, Oregon is a vibrant community of more than 100 active and engaged Founders, CEOs and Leaders with more learning and connection opportunities than I could have ever imagined. EO has been and continues to be a critical part of my continued growth and development. eonetwork.org
EXPERTS AND ADVISORS
These people are experts and advisors I've collected along my journey that've significantly impacted me, my leadership and development, and also my teams, people and my business. I consider all of them personal friends, and I highly recommend all of these, without exception.
Brandon Gray, Crabtree Rowe & Berger // A brilliant financial thinker and leader, who understands both the micro and macro economics of small business. // crbcpa.net/our-team/brandon-gray/
Ted Sarvata // A certified Gazelles International Coach, helping leaders get focused on the most important thing. // tedsarvata.com
Mary Beth King, VetriSpace // Executive Coach & Leadership Team Guru, Building Transparent Cultures // vetrispace.com
Serilda Summers-McGee // A Jedi and expert teacher in all things related to People, Leadership, HR, and Policy. // changetheworkgame.com
Gabriel Sakakeeny // Gabriel specializes in upgrading the human operating systems of organizations, growing leaders, and helping teams of people reach new levels of high performance. // sakakeeny.com
Matthew Vance, Verge Pointe // A dear friend and a financial mastermind, who's crafted some monumental M&A work in the Pacific Northwest. // vergepointe.com/about/vance.html
Mario Schulzke // A longtime friend, mentor and marketing genius, Mario's passion and determination has inspired me in more ways than I can count. //
HEAVY ROTATION
Yes, I'm a music guy. It's an undeniable, inseparable part of my DNA. It's also a fact I own six different vintage sound systems -- mostly from the 70's, all of which have turntables, receivers and are fully powered-up and ready to go. So here's what's getting the most spins on my turntable -- all are clickable Spotify links for your listening ease.
A Seat at the Table by Solange
Nothing More to Say by The Frightnrs
Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound by Soul Jazz Records (compilation)
Enter the 37th Chamber by El Michels Affair
The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest
The Ultimate Chi-Lites by The Chi-Lites
Pray for Rain by Pure Bathing Culture
The Crossing by Menahan Street Band
And here's a playlist of some of my fave old school recordings and songs that have been prominently sampled:
This is my boy, Desmond, when he was about one year old.