3 Books I Gift to New Managers

As new faces get thrust into more senior roles within my relative space, I like to gift and recommend a few books that have impacted the way that I manage my day-to-day.

Essentialism

I was gifted this book in early 2018 during a particularly stressful and overwhelming period of work. Growing a small team, personally running projects, supporting pre-sales, and regularly acting as an escalation point my time and calendar were no longer under my control. And it was taking its toll on me mentally and physically.

A good friend of mine grabbed a quick lunch with me one afternoon where we commiserated on how difficult and out of control work felt. The next day he came into the office with Essentialism. Found it on his bookshelf at home, never having read it, quickly read it as he thought it might help me and brought it in the next day. 

This book helped reframe a lot of the challenges and out of control feelings I was facing. I recommend all new managers read this as it’s important to understand the power of saying ‘No’ as more of your time gets committed by others. Read the first page, you’ll be hooked.

Extreme Ownership

There’s a concept of DRI ingrained in my brain because of work. DRI = Directly Responsible Individual. This book epitomizes that concept.

“Jocko Willink is an American retired United States Navy SEAL, podcaster, and author. He received the Silver Star and Bronze Star for his service in the Iraq War and was commander of SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser during the Battle of Ramadi.” (wikipedia). Basically Jacko developed the leadership training courses within the Navy Seals and uses war time stories to teach business lessons. How to take responsibility for your team’s successes and failures, support your team members, and a whole host of other lessons. I quickly devoured this.

I like to gift this book because it teaches you to how to prioritize and not make excuses. Once you can get past blaming others for your failures, you are free to own your successes.

The Making of a Manager

This was a recent read on our trip to Thailand. It’s a very practical manual for what being a manager actually is and, bonus, has a high growth startup tint to it.

Julie Zhuo discusses everything from what talk about in a one-on-one, how to handle tough conversations, recruiting priorities, and empowering your team. What I really enjoyed was how she framed the purpose of a manager – what the true goal is for people like us.

To be honest, I haven’t gifted this book yet but intend as we promote our next round of leaders.

What books do you gift most often?

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