These books found me over the years. I refer to them regularly. They are in no particular order. My lesson is that I have come to understand how books are one of many frames of reference, and they should be respected as tools and companions on our personal journey of pursuing our noble vision.

Another lesson learned: it is okay to be vulnerable to the written word just as it is okay to be vulnerable to meaningful action.

1. A Journal (Always start here; Write and reflect each day even if you scribble, “I have nothing to say today.”)

2. Walking the Australian Crawl  William Stafford (my mentor’s mentor)

3. Start with Why  Simon Sinek

4. Leaders Eat Last  Simon Sinek

5. Senior Leadership Teams  Wagemen, et. al.

6. The End of College  Kevin Carey

7. Lord Dragon Fly  William Heyen (my mentor)

8. The Joy of Thinking Big  Ernie Zelinski

9. For Whom the Bell Tolls  Ernest Hemingway

10. Policy Paradox  Deborah Stone

11. Remaking College  Michael Kirst and Michelle Stevens

12. What the Best College Teachers Do  Ken Bain

13. What the Best College Students Do  Ken Bain

14. Fahrenheit 451  Ray Bradbury

15. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance  Robert Pirsig

16. Give and Take  Adam Grant

17. The Bible

18. Poems  Walt Whitman

19. The Art of War  Sun Tzu

20. The Essence of Buddhism  David Tuffey

21. War and Peace  Leo Tolstoy

22. Pterodactyl Rose  William Heyen

23. Invisible Man  Ralph Ellison

24. The Weary Blues  Langston Hughes

25. The Bhagavad Gita

26. The Quran

27. The Sound and the Fury  William Faulkner

28. On the Road  Jack Kerouac

29. What Work Is  Philip Levine (Poems)

30. The Emperor of all Maladies  Siddhartha Mukherjee

31. Mountain and Rivers without End  Gary Snyder

32. Built to Last  James Collins & Jerry Porras

33. The Tao of Coaching  Max Landsberg

34. The War of the Worlds  H.G. Wells

35. Renewing Organizations  Robert Golembiewski

36. The Speed of Trust  Stephen Covey

37. Good to Great  Jim Collins

38. Statistics without Tears  Derek Rowntree

39. Delivering Happiness   Tony Hseih

40. Stumbling on Happiness  Daniel Gilbert

41. The Art of the Personal Essay   Phillip Lopate

42. A History of American Life  Arthur Schlesinger, Sr.

43. Disrupting Class  Clayton Christensen

44. Action Learning in Action  Michael Marquette

45. Barrel Fever  David Sedaris

46. The Dance of Change  Peter Senge

47. Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership  Lee Bolman & Terrence Deal

48. Learning to Lean  Warren Bennis

49. Leadership as Service  Kent Farnsworth

50. Asking Questions  Seymour Sudman & Norman Bradburn

— Dr. Ken Trzaska

Categories: Growth Mindset, President's Blog

Tags: Excellence, Our Community