My happy places are libraries and bookstores and if it happens to be a museum with a bookstore in it – I will completely nerd out LOL!! Please understand I have been like this since I was a child, and my epitome of success will be when I have a full-on library in my own home!
Having a Summer Reading List for me is an all year reading list as I usually read 4 – 5 books at a time and belong to 3 book clubs. However, this list is a little unique because it is centered on learning about leadership through multiple cultures and varying perspectives. I believe leadership can be learned and information can be gained by reading how others have become or are becoming leaders or became leaders without knowing that was part of the planned journey. Also, I believe that leadership is not just in a leader title. A leader can be highlighted in someone because of their response to a situation – and they become the best person for the job, etc. Sometimes it is the undefined leaders that are actually making a difference and creating a momentum of needed change.
That is what this selection of Summer Leadership Reading is about for me. People become exceptional leaders because of their purpose, their indirect route to leading, and their ability to encourage others and willingly share what they have learned from falling down. You will see what I mean as I give you a synopsis of each book chosen.
Dr. Pamela’s Summer Leadership Reading List
Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS by Myeongseok Kang. BTS – Bangtan Sonyeondan is a South Korean band of seven young men who have dominated the music industry for quite some time before I even knew who they were and what they meant to the world and to a young friend of mine. The author of BTS’ ten year history uses the words from the seven members, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook to help you understand their story of pain, struggles, joys, tragedies, crises, and ultimate success in a tough industry. It is in each of their words in response to questions and events that helped me see the leadership qualities in the youngest participants of my book list. RM is the selected leader of BTS, and he does exceptional work at leading a very adventurous and monumentally talented team. However, all of them as you read through the book, watch their videos, and listen to their accomplishments realize that they may all have been born leaders. They inspire, they are vulnerable in telling their stories, they fall down and get back up, they encourage you to love and care for yourself, they encourage you to protect others, and they stand up for values and beliefs that crosses continents. They are all team players and stand-out soloists. They understand the need to help, support, and believe in each other and those around them. Throughout the book they give credit to each other for being a part of the group – they believe they would not exist as BTS without the others. They are also ambitious, hardworking, know how to make connections, and are always learning and improving. They never assume that their last win or fail, is their last win or fail. They understand continually improving!
Collective Wisdom: Lessons, Inspiration, and Advice from Women Over 50 by Grace Bonney. I’ve had this book for quite some time before I actually dove into it the first time to help me write a blog post on women in leadership. I started reading it and stopped writing the blog post! It looks like a coffee table book, DO NOT judge this book by its cover or size, as over 80 women provide profound, funny, sad, reflective, engaging, and powerful thoughts on the experiences of their lives. I felt honored to be able to read their cherished stories. From athletes, to physicians, to artists, to scientists, to entertainers, to mothers, to daughters, to friends across the nation. All races, all cultures, all abilities, all skill levels, numerous professions, and each provocatively talented in their own right. These women give phraseology on life, love, strengths, weaknesses, outlooks, past events, being courageous, resting, similarities and differences – all while embracing who they were in the past and welcoming to who they are in the present. There is so much to learn about leadership from many of these women – many who are leaders in their industry and many who love being the follower-leader. It does not appear to matter to them which they are – leader or follower, it depends on who they NEED TO BE at that specific moment. Their lessons learned are miracles, aspirations, and desires to keep creating, being, living to the fullest. They each are given multiple questions to answer about risk, finding peace, living with fear, defining success, childhood impacts, and what makes them a pioneer. Their responses are unique to each woman, genuine in the response, and thoughtful to the reader. Read this book whatever gender, nationality, or age you are – there are gems, Easter eggs, bars, etc.. throughout the stories, that you will find useful and enlightening. Ceyenne Doroshow’s section in the book, had these words – “I think every woman who’s had a major influence on my life has given me a little part of them”. That is exactly how I feel about this book.
The Calling: A Memoir of Family, Faith, and the Future of Healthcare by Dr. Chris Chen and Dr. Gordon Chen. I read this book when it first came out during the pandemic and was reading it to see if there was information I could use as a reference for my dissertation. However, I read it all at first sitting because it was more about the experiences of patients facing traumatic health news from the perspective of a family full of physicians. The authors are brothers, whose father – the patriarchal physician is diagnosed with an inoperable tumor at which point their healthcare experiences becomes that of their own patients. Seeing how their father’s healthcare services were or were not rendered they understood now how important access to care, knowing how to navigate which services where and when, understanding the protocols and procedures, or even knowing if these are the right medications, became as ambiguous for them as it has been for other older patients across the country. They created a new company, ChenMed, to alter and improve how healthcare is provided to older Americans. As the health story continues, the creation of ChenMed begins to take a toll on the brothers’ health and attitudes. How they eventually work through their father’s diagnosis, their family challenges with the creation of ChenMed, and working through their own stressful challenges as healthcare innovators is why I believe their leadership is not so much in their CEO and CMO titles. As it is in their choosing to lead by faith and believing they could change a long-standing patient care challenge.
The Little Black Book of Success: Laws of Leadership for Black Women by Elaine Meryl Brown, Marsha Haygood, and Rhonda Joy McLean. This is a small in size true little black book packed with experiential information and shared knowledge from the three authors. Each chapter is specific to a black woman’s experiences while on the leadership path and in achieving a top leadership role. They break each short chapter down into three parts – an experience story, a cultural code, and a MAMAisms. The experiential stories are engaging, relatable, and sometimes painful to read and remember. The triumph comes in understanding how to move beyond the painful experiences. The cultural codes are how Black women hold onto historical events, current happenings, and familial culturisms that have impact on their leadership paths. And the MAMAisms are words and phrases that Black women heard from their mothers to protect them, warn them, and encourage them to pursue beyond their dreams as Black women grew up. While the writing is truthful and powerful, the MAMAisms can make you laugh and bring about great memories. This book also is on my Black Girl Magic Reading List!
Speak: Find Your Voice, Trust Your Gut, and Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be by Tunde Oyeneyin. If you are Peloton enthusiast, you know this author well! She is known as one of Peloton’s elite instructors and having watched her program from a friend’s perspective, elite should be coupled with POWERHOUSE! While she is so intimidating to watch, she makes you want to get in there, charges you up and makes you believe you are as powerful as she is at that moment. Which is why this book surprised me, as she did not start out as a personal elite trainer. She becomes a leader without a title because of the life experiences she shares in this book. Through the loss of family, the physical and verbal abuses on friends and herself, and determining the best way to affirm her purpose forced her to make decisions like a leader. One of the most impactful statements for me in this book, came early on and helped me to understand as I finished the book why she is so charged when you see her in the Peloton world – “There is a sensation I get when I am truly existing in a moment, moving in the right direction, driven and inspired. It’s like there’s a drumbeat. At first the thumping feels like nerves, but as I lean in, it starts to feel like my own heartbeat. Overtime, I realize it is my connection to my purpose”. It’s this certainty from her of moving in the right direction, driven and inspired, that to me reinforces her place as a leader.
I count book reading as one of my superpowers because I enjoy reading, it takes me to places I’ve never been, talks me off an insanely challenging precipice, and encourages me wholeheartedly to smile and laugh. Each book has a different perspective because of their life experiences – whether they are awe-inspiring beautiful or awe-strikingly difficult every author writes with a passion about the subject at hand. I hope my book choices find their way into your reading list. If you have a book choice you wish to share with me, let me know by commenting below.
Happy Reading! 📚✨
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