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Book Recommendations From Professors

Book Recommendations From Professors

Ryan McKnight’s Picks

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

Book Summary: In their book, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, Willink and Babin use combat experiences and lessons from the SEAL involvement in the Battle of Ramadi to show how leadership skills are learned, harnessed and employed in battle and, by extension, beyond military uses including business, negotiations, and personal growth and development. 

Review: This is a great book for the person with a sheer fascination for how some of the best combat teams in the U.S. security forces fight and win dangerous and impossible battles and missions, but more so for the person who wants to know how lessons from the military procedures can be applied to business and personal growth, as well as in leadership.

Embrace the Suck by Brent Gleeson

Book Summary: During the brutal crucible of Navy SEAL training, instructors often tell students to "embrace the suck." This phrase conveys the one lesson that is vital for any SEAL hopeful to learn: lean into the suffering and get comfortable being very uncomfortable. In this powerful, no-nonsense guide, Navy SEAL combat veteran turned leadership expert Brent Gleeson teaches you how to transform every area of your life - the Navy SEAL way.

Victoria Dubbelde’s Picks

“Such a great self-help book for anyone and highly recommended in a business context.” -Victoria Dubbelde

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steve Covey

Book Summary: In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity - principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

And, because I love reading about financial and business scandals, “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup” by Carreyrou. It is about the Theranos saga and really paints a picture of the role of ethics in business. 

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by Carreyrou

Book Summary: In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood testing significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes’s worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn’t work.

Nicole Klein’s Picks

Educated by Tara Westover

“Right now I am reading “Educated" by Tara Westover.  It gives a unique perspective on getting a higher education, and makes us realize how much most of us probably take for granted in terms of our education journey.” -Nicole Klein

Book Summary: “Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.”