Books worth the time.
A short list of books that help when you're new in the seat, or about to be. They're here because they're useful, not because they pay.
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Leading people
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View the book: It's Your Ship (paid link)
It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy
D. Michael Abrashoff · 10th anniversary edition, revised and updated, Grand Central Publishing, 2012
A Navy captain takes over a broken ship and turns it around by giving his crew real ownership and listening harder than he talks. Worth reading when you inherit a crew that already has its habits, and you need to lead without tearing the place down first.
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View the book: Leadership Strategy and Tactics (paid link)
Leadership Strategy and Tactics: Field Manual
Jocko Willink · Expanded edition, St. Martin's Press, 2023
A field manual on how to lead day to day: when to step in, when to stay quiet, how to give an order, and how to take one. Short chapters you can open before a hard conversation or a shift that already looks bad.
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View the book: Extreme Ownership (paid link)
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin · Updated edition, St. Martin's Press, 2017
The rule is simple and hard: if it happens on your watch, it's yours. Read it when you're tempted to blame the crew, the last officer, or the BC, and you need a clean way to own the fix instead.
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View the book: The Score Takes Care of Itself (paid link)
The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership
Bill Walsh with Steve Jamison and Craig Walsh · Portfolio, 2009 (paperback 2010)
Walsh built the 49ers on a Standard of Performance: get the small things right every day, and the wins follow. Useful when you're picking the one or two standards you'll hold on yourself first, and when you need language for how this crew works on your shift.
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Already cited in the Buddy to Boss guideView the book: Becoming a Manager
Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership
Linda A. Hill · 2nd ed., Harvard Business Review Press, 2019
Follows 19 new managers through their first year. The Buddy to Boss guide draws on it for what changes when you step up.
The job
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FreeGet the free PDF: The Book of Search
The Book of Search
Edited by Corley Moore · Firehouse Vigilance, 2024 (independently published)
A free PDF on search, written by firefighters for firefighters. Put it next to the size-up card: leadership books help you run the crew, and this one helps you run the job when the smoke is in the hallway.
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