Must Reads
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Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue
by Edwin Friedman
This book has helped me more as a spiritual leader than anything other than the Bible. It’s VERY dense material and it will change the way you see things in your family and your church/ministry (but in a good way).
Friedman’s Fables
by Edwin Friedman
Just as Jesus told parables to illustrate concepts of God’s reign, Friedman uses fables to help us understand family systems. You could actually use this book without Generation to Generation, but it’s best to use them together.
The Speed of Trust
by Stephen M. R. Covey
Authored by the son of “7 Habits,” this book helps us to understand why people follow (and don’t). People no longer respond to command and control. The way to lead is to inspire and to influence. Both require trust.
Other Favorites (without annotation), alphabetical by author
Churchless: Understanding Today’s Unchurched and How to Connect with Them by George Barna
Leading Me: Eight Practices for a Christian Leader’s Most Important Assignment by Steve A. Brown
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
By Angela Duckworth
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
By Charles Duhigg
Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business
by Charles Duhigg
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
by Carol S. Dweck
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix
by Edwin Friedman
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
by Chip and Dan Heath
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
by Chip and Dan Heath
Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible through 100 Days of Rejection
by Jia Jiang
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
So Good They Can’t Ignore You:: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
by Cal Newport
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
by Cal Newport
A Spirituality of Fundraising
by Henri Nouwen
Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive
by Thom Rainer
Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries
by Peter Sims
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
by Simon Sinek
Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t
by Simon Sinek
The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives
by Dallas Willard
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I'm Jack Shitama; author, speaker, teacher and coach. I have spent three decades helping congregational and nonprofit leaders to lead as a non-anxious presence.
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