2020-2021 Mastermind Book Reading List

In the mastermind, we read one books every two months. We also only read outside of education. 

This choice is intentional:

• School leaders read enough about education.
• Many education books “sound” the same. We don’t need an echo chamber effect in the mastermind.
• Reading outside of education gives you a multidisciplinary approach to solving problems and being a better leader.

Feel free to read along with us and apply to the mastermind today.

But if you’re not ready to commit to your leadership development via our community, then at the very least pick up these books and read them on your own.

“Everyone wins when a leader gets better. Everyone wins when you get better.”

• July – August 2020: Stillness is the Key How to be an Anti-Racist
• September – October 2020: The Infinite Game
• November – December 2020: Radical Candor
• January – February 2021: Thinking in Bets
• March – April: 2021: Thanks for the Feedback
• May – June 2021: Application Months

You’ll notice that the last month has no book. The idea behind application months is that action is more important than ideas.

“It is one thing to put bread and wine away in a store-room, and quite another to eat them. What is eaten is digested and distributed around the body, to become sinews, flesh, bones, blood, a good complexion, sound breathing What is sored away is ready at hand, to be sure, to be taken out and displayed whenever you wish, but you derive no benefit from it, except that of having the reputation of possessing it.”

-Epictetus

The mastermind is about action. During application months leaders go back to whichever books we read. They re-read, they make plans, they put those plans into action. In the mastermind, we talk about what we are doing and what the results are from taking action.

What’s the point of reading about difficult conversations, if you run from confrontation each day?

If you’re ready to level up and could benefit from surrounding yourself with other “A” players taking action, stretching, and growing as leaders, we welcome your application to the mastermind.

And here are a few other posts with some good book recommendations:

• What books should I read as a school leader?
• 22 best books for principals.