Mastering Community is a comprehensive breakdown of everything an organization should think about to foster cohesion. Concepts such as radical candor, kissing up/kicking down, and ruinous empathy are discussed to help frame what helps a community gel.

A Minute to Think walks us through how adding blocks of open, unscheduled time, or “white spaces,” can change the nature of how we work. If you want a more sane flow of daily work or are looking to achieve a new level of effectiveness, this book is a must-read.

Partnering unpacks the many ways that human connections can be improved. Using examples from climate change, religion, politics, and her own personal life, Jean Oelwang gives the reader reasons to reflect on the past and plan for stronger partnerships in the future. Ideas such as enduring trust, nurturing generosity, and positive amnesia are all part of the blueprint to better relationships. Schools are at their heart an intricate web of partnerships and this is a great read for anyone looking to make those partnerships, and therefore schools, a better place.

In a technological landscape dominated by hand-held devices and social media, some educators and experts are concerned that young people are losing the skills to engage in face-to-face conversation with others. In education, effective conversations are needed when talking to colleagues, students, and parents. Administrators and teachers will benefit from the insights in Making Conversation, since it clearly lays out how to design conversations that move us from speech to action.

Think a positive culture is luck or charisma driven? Daniel Coyle is here to convince you that it is actually a series of intentional steps that anyone can do. The Culture Code lays out how comedy troupes, Navy SEALS, San Antonio Spurs and jewelry thieves all inadvertently use the same tactics and process to build culture.

Think Masters of Scale has nothing to do with school? If you are thinking about how school used to be, you may be right. If you are thinking about how we might educate all children more uniformly, then you may be quite wrong. What is working well at your school or in education that might be able to scale so that it benefits all?

Have you seen progress at your school delayed because of conflict? Are there tension points that never seem to go away? Stone, Patton, and Sheen use Difficult Conversations as a guide to confronting and resolving all of that.

At first blush, Algorithms to Live By might seem too narrow to support our work in education. In reality though, there are concepts and dilemmas throughout that can reframe our work. If you see yourself as an analytical or model thinker, there will be sections here that will push your thinking and improve your school for sure.

Brand With Purpose will give you much to think about. Is your website effective? Do you network the right way? Is the Mission of your school articulated online, in print and on campus enough and in the same way? Can everyone state the values of your school in an elevator speech? If you think your school could market itself better, then this book is for you.

If you’ve ever thought that it would be easier to scrap the current system of education and start over… then Design Thinking for School Leaders was written for you. Gallager and Thordarson show how empathy combines with being an “opportunity seeker”, “experience architect”, “rule breaker”, “producer”, and “storyteller” to create a culture where designing change becomes the norm.

We know there is a huge gap between how often school leaders feel they appreciate those they lead and how appreciated the average teacher feels. Leading with Gratitude is the antidote! It’s hard to imagine a better book for a school leader to read than this one. It might affirm you are showing gratitude enough and in the right ways or it could transform how you interact with others.

Have you ever wanted an economist to break down the traditional perceptions of the value of an education? Well if so… you are in luck! Bryan Caplan does just that in The Case Against Education. Statistical analysis of the human capital vs. signaling theories is done with his theory that education is primarily about “signaling” to the world that someone is suitable for the workplace.

In What If I Say The Wrong Thing, Verna Myers helps individuals and leaders understand the structures, policies, and cultures that organizations may have in place that hinder achieving equity, diversity, and inclusion. With examples from her personal life and professional career Myers provides readers with useful suggestions for how one can become a more culturally responsible individual and how leaders can transform organizations.

Daniel Pink’s When showcases extensive research and enlightening case studies to explain how and why timing is so important to human flourishing and productivity. Simple tweaks of school schedules would boost test scores, lower depression, increase student cognition, and even improve decision-making among faculty and administration. For this reason and many others, all educators would all benefit from a deeper exploration of this enjoyable read.

If you have respect for both those who serve in the military and sound business practices, then Extreme Ownership is the book for you. Want war stories? Check. Want to live in the intersection between military tactics/strategies and leading a school? Check. Looking to step up your leadership game by taking responsibility for everything that happens in your school? Triple check!

Have you ever caught yourself ruminating about “What ifs…?” Or have you been paralyzed by fear, unable to make decisions? In Emotional Agility, Susan David provides a guidebook grounded in psychological research to help us embrace all of our emotions, even the most uncomfortable ones, discover our “why”, and align our lives with our values.

If Simon Sinek, Carol Dweck, and Brene Brown participated in a weekend book writing blitz, they may well have produced this book. A variety of themes filtered through the lens of business (particularly Whole Foods) gives us an intentional path to Conscious Leadership.

How good are you at convincing others that you have a good idea? If there’s room for improvement, then Backable is the book for you. You’ll learn why steering into objections, focusing on a single character, and building a backable circle are all critical to convincing others that your ideas have merit.

In this book, Simon Sinek draws a line between organizations with short-term thinking/goals and those playing The Infinite Game. He argues that those leading with future generations in mind will create cultures that will weather hard times, inspire others, and build organizations that will thrive.

Whether you use humor to lead and want to know how it works or just wish work was more fun, Humor, Seriously is the book for you. Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas use their research, experience with improv, years of teaching about humor, and their vast network of comedians and writers to produce an impressive (and witty) book about humor.