Readers Make Leaders

In 2010, I was challenged by one of the best coaches in the country to read 50 books in one year, a lofty goal!  Alan Stein (@AlanStein), the strength and conditioning coach at DeMatha Catholic High School and owner of Stronger Team, achieved this goal in 2009 and really made me want to accomplish it as well (Praise God, I did).  I've always loved reading, but that was really the first time in my life that I realized how much of an impact books would make on me as I develop into a better leader.  I was hooked.

In the past two years, I have also set goals to read a certain number of books throughout the year.  In 2011, I read 20 books and in 2012 I read 25 books.  This year I have decided to compose a list of books that I would like to get through, and will be adding more along the way.  Hopefully by 2015 I will back to the goal of reading 50 books in a year!

So far in 2013 I have finished two books from my list.  "The Energy Bus" and "Training Camp", both by Jon Gordon.  Through reading these two books alone, I believe that I have developed greatly as a leader and I am excited to read more by Jon Gordon and other authors as well.

As I continue to grow and mature into the leader God has called me to be, I anticipate reading to be an essential part of that.  Looking back over the years I would contribute a significant amount of my learning to reading books.  Although I enjoy reading books on leadership, business, basketball, and religion, my true joy is reading my Bible.  Jesus was the greatest leader of all-time, and if I only had one book in my possession, I would want it to be my Bible.  I am ecstatic to share my experiences with members of our basketball program at BJU (@BJUBruins) and hopefully this passion will rub off on others along the way!  I believe that every coach needs to become a reader if they are expecting to lead their team to success both on and off the court.  If you are interested in reading some books this year, here is my reading list for 2013:

1. "The Energy Bus" by Jon Gordon (@JonGordon11)

2. "Training Camp" by Jon Gordon

3. "The Explicit Gospel" by Matt Chandler (@MattChandler74)

4. "Date Your Wife" by Justin Buzzard (@JustinBuzzard)

 5. "Real Marriage" by Mark Driscoll (@PastorMark)

6. "The Fred Factor" by Mark Sanborn (@Mark_Sanborn)

7. "A Hole in Our Holiness" by Kevin DeYoung (@RevKevDeYoung)

8. "The Good Life" by Trip Lee (@TripLee116)

9. "One Word That Will Change Your Life" by Dan Britton (@fcadan)

10. "The Positive Dog" by Jon Gordon

11. "Everyone Communicates, Few Connect" by John Maxwell (@JohnCMaxwell)

12. "The 360 Leader" by John Maxwell

13. "No Complaining Rule" by Jon Gordon

14. "The Seed" by Jon Gordon

15. "Soup" by Jon Gordon

16. "Creature of the Word" by Matt Chandler

17. "Who Do You Think You Are?" by Mark Driscoll

18. "Underdawgs" by David Woods

19. "Jesus + Nothing = Everything" by Tullian Tchividijan (@PastorTullian)

20. "Your Pregnancy for the Father-to-Be" by Glade Curtis

21. "I Am Second" by Doug Bender

22. "How to Be Like Walt" by Pat Williams (@OrlandoMagicPat)

23. "Go For the Magic" by Pat Williams

24. "Dr. Jack's Ledership Lessons from a Lifetime in Basketball" by Dr. Jack Ramsay

25. "What the Dog Saw" by Malcom Gladwell (@MalcGladwell)

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