Reading Gang Leader for a Day, I was struck by how often the leadership issues matched conversations I have coaching law firm owners, working with my own team, and helping clients with theirs.
Which is a weird thing to realize.
You pick up a book about a gang leader and find yourself thinking, “We covered something like this on a coaching call.”
Apparently, changing the organization does not eliminate the people problems. Although I would imagine their employee handbook has some VERY different sections.
That’s one of my favorite things about reading. Something completely outside my world can help me understand the work I do every day.
So here’s another batch of books for law firm owners who want to lead and live better. Several involve understanding your brain, one involves using an artificial one, and one literally tells you not to recommend it.
I’m recommending it anyway. Nobody tells me what to do. Except my wife, my calendar, and occasionally the GPS.
Incognito — David Eagleman
What It’s About
A fascinating rundown of how your brain operates, including how much happens without you consciously directing it. There is a LOT going on behind the scenes for something that still occasionally forgets why you walked into a room. Book details
The Problem It Solves
Assuming we understand exactly why we do what we do. I like this one for becoming a better person and leader because understanding your own brain gives you more reason to question your first reaction—and be a little more curious about someone else’s.
Who Should Read It
Anyone responsible for managing humans. Including the one currently reading this email.
The AI-Driven Leader — Geoff Woods
What It’s About
Using AI as a thinking partner for leadership and decision-making. That is a much more interesting use than asking it to rewrite an email until it sounds like neither person involved in the conversation. Book details
The Problem It Solves
Having access to AI without knowing how to make it useful in your role as an owner. This is a helpful book for thinking through how AI fits into leading a business.
You can ask it to challenge an assumption, help explore a decision, or identify questions you haven’t considered. You still have to make the call. Please do not put “ChatGPT said so” in your strategic plan.
Who Should Read It
Owners who want to get beyond experimenting with prompts and start using AI more thoughtfully.
Your Brain at Work — David Rock
What It’s About
This one has such a cool setup. It walks through situations, explains what’s happening in the brain, and then revisits those situations with that understanding. Author’s book page
It’s a little like getting a Groundhog Day do-over for your workday, except you get an explanation instead of having to spend an unspecified number of years learning the lesson.
The Problem It Solves
Reading something useful and then struggling to picture what you would actually do differently. Seeing the before and after makes the application much easier to understand.
Who Should Read It
Anyone who has finished a difficult conversation and immediately thought of a better way to handle it. So…everyone?
From Strength to Strength — Arthur C. Brooks
What It’s About
How our abilities change over time and how we can build a meaningful next chapter around the strengths we develop. I thought it was a great breakdown of the mind over time and what that can make possible. Book details
The Problem It Solves
Measuring every future version of yourself against the things an earlier version did well. For a law firm owner, that raises a useful question: what should your experience allow you to contribute now?
Hopefully, something beyond being the fastest person in the office at answering everybody else’s questions.
Who Should Read It
People thinking about what they want the next stage of their career and life to look like—even if retirement feels a long way off.
Gang Leader for a Day — Sudhir Venkatesh
What It’s About
A sociologist’s account of time spent with a Chicago gang and its leader. A world very different from mine, with leadership problems that felt surprisingly familiar. Book details
The Problem It Solves
Thinking your organization is so unique that nobody outside your industry could possibly teach you anything useful.
The overlap with my coaching conversations, my team, and my clients’ teams was wild. People still bring personalities, expectations, and competing interests to an organization.
I am recommending the perspective. Please do not announce a gang-inspired compensation plan at Monday’s meeting.
Who Should Read It
Anyone interested in people and leadership who wants to learn through a story outside the usual business-book setting.
The Effective Executive — Peter Drucker
What It’s About
A wonderful foundation for getting the right things done: understanding your time, making your strengths useful, choosing priorities, and making effective decisions. It is still so relevant. Book details
The Problem It Solves
Being smart, capable, and incredibly busy without accomplishing the things that matter most.
We keep inventing new ways to fill a workday. Drucker keeps making us explain what we accomplished. Kind of rude for a book.
Who Should Read It
Any owner whose calendar is full but whose most important priorities keep getting moved to next week.
And One Extra for Fun (Because We Should Have Fun in Our Life)
Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend — MJ Wassmer
Yes, that is the title. Yes, I recommend it. Author’s website
This is a terrible book to recommend out loud. Seriously, this happened both when my wife told me to read it and when I was talking to a friend during a trail run. Both conversations went something like this:
“Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend.”
“Okay, so I won’t read it.”
“No, it was really a great book.”
“But wait, I thought you just told me it was zero stars, do not recommend it.”
“No, that’s the title of the book.”
“Oh. Okay, but I should read it?”
“Yes, I thought it was fantastic. It made me laugh.”
We’ve somehow turned a book recommendation into an Abbott and Costello routine.
This one is on the list for fun. You are allowed to read something without turning it into a staff training, a better morning routine, or a quarterly goal. Even if you own a business.
Which Books for Law Firm Owners Should You Start With?
Pick the one that matches something you’re dealing with right now. Read it, find one idea worth trying, and actually try it.
Or pick the fun one and enjoy yourself. That also counts.
Keep Reading About Leadership
Want another practical idea for leading your firm? Read If the Meeting Changes Nothing, Cancel It, or browse every newsletter about leadership and mindset.