One thing that you can almost always count on in the South is a rainy March, which means more time for reading. With that in mind, I took the chance to read a couple of larger books that have been on my list. I’ve also been doing some “me work” over the past few months and there were a couple of books coming out that really hit at what I’ve been dealing with. Life is hard sometimes. Social media can make us think that only good things are happening to other people, but I think it’s extremely healthy for us to be able to say “hey, I’ve been struggling.” Not only does it open us up to talk with others, but it let’s others know that it’s okay not to be ok. Here’s to you today, and to let you know that we all struggle sometimes.
On with the books!
Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
If there is one thing that is clear while reading about Elon Musk, it is this: he’s not here to be your friend or fulfill your expectations. He is here to build companies that change the world, and it is almost his singular focus. I have followed Musk a lot over the years. I was a big fan for the early years of Tesla, and I devoured Power Play by Tim Higgins, which detailed the early days of the company. And though Tesla and SpaceX have become more successful than almost anyone dreamed, Musk has continued with his “chip on my shoulder” attitude and has taken a more eccentric turn than most expected. I remember when this book first came out, there was a lot of criticism for Isaacson because people didn’t believe he was hard enough on Musk about some of his more offensive statements and actions. Musk has definitely turned many people off with his seeming embrace of far-right ideology, but after having read the book I don’t believe the criticism was warranted. Isaacson puts out a true read on Musk’s thoughts and behaviors, and, for me at least, Musk does not come off as very likeable. Still, the man has achieved so much in his life there are plenty of lessons to be gleaned from these pages.
Never Not Working: Why the Always-On Culture is Bad for Business–and How to Fix It by Malissa Clark
This book by Malissa Clark was something of a wake-up call for me. I would never have called myself a workaholic. I simply take my career seriously, and I’m willing to go above and beyond for organizations that are making a difference. But as Clark states in her book, it is not as simple as saying “you are or are not a workaholic.” There is a spectrum, and I believe I’m definitely on it. Clark spends a lot of time defining what workaholism is and is not, as well as tackling several myths about workaholics. The book is meant to be a self-guide on how to escape putting work at the center of your life and avoiding the health issues that may cause. I haven’t read it yet, but something tells me that Cal Newport’s new book, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, will be a great complement for this one.
Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down by Corey Keyes
In addition to Never Not Working, this book also hit very close to home for me. If you are always on, always working, always on the go, you have no choice but to eventually wear down. Demotivation, disconnection and a general “blah” feeling about life are the hallmark traits of languishing. Keyes has spent his career fighting this feeling and championing a way of life he calls flourishing. It turns out that a lack of mental illness doesn’t necessarily correlate to mental health. The two exist apart from each other, and it’s only by flourishing that we can truly combat languishing. Flourishing, as you’d guess, it not a simple thing to do, but the second half of this book explains Keyes’ research on five areas that increase your mental health and help combat languishing. In a world where social media only shows us the happy, successful sides of our friends and connections, it can be easy to believe no one else feels like you do. I’m here to tell you, we all have things to overcome, and this book lays a great groundwork for focusing on the things that matter.
The Leap to Leader: How Ambitious Managers Make the Jump to Leadership by Adam Bryant
When it comes to leadership, I like books with real-world examples. That’s what got this book on my “to be read” list, and a flash sale on Amazon got it to my doorstep. It’s a quick 200 page read, but it’s full of examples from leaders all over the country who successfully made the jump from manager. Each chapter even has a couple of Q&A’s with leaders where they take you through some of the biggest moments and decisions of their careers. The book goes through everything from the different types of managers to how to differentiate yourself, to what is actually required of leaders these days. I liken it a little to The Go Getter by Peter Kyne. It’s short, but it’s blunt.
It Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO by Felix Gilette & John Koblin
I absolutely love books like this, where you get a behind the scenes view of how a company succeeded or failed. This one is especially good because you get all sorts of stories and facts about some of the best HBO programming over the years, including The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, and so many others. Hearing how the shows were conceived, and the obstacles that had to be overcome to produce quality content was super entertaining. However, I think for me the most interesting part of this book was HBO’s competition with Netflix. Anyone who loves a good business story knows that Netflix and Blockbuster went at it for years before the video store’s ultimate demise, but I never really pictured Netflix and HBO as competitors until the streaming wars began. Ironically, HBO is not a significant topic in Marc Randolph’s That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix. But from an HBO standpoint, it turns out that executives knew pretty early that Netflix was a significant threat. They just botched a chance to buy the company (real idea) and then botched years of building their own streaming platform until Netflix had unequivocally won the race to global streaming. If you enjoy behind-the-scenes business books, or if you have multiple shows from HBO that are high on your “greatest” list, this is a must read!
The Armour of Light by Ken Follett
Fiction Alert!! I don’t do a lot of fiction, but Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge Series hooked me years ago. So when I found out another installment was coming out, I was extremely excited about it. I’m not going to go into details here, but suffice it to say the book is another great addition to the series. If you are looking for a good historical fiction set, this series would be a fantastic place to start. In fact, he’s so good with historical fiction, he actually has another series, The Centuries Trilogy, that I also highly recommend.
Books I’m Choosing from for Next Month
The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future with Robots by Daniela Rus & Gregory Mone
Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport
Selling the Dream: The Billion-Dollar Industry Bankrupting Americans by Jane Marie
Paper Soldiers: How the Weaponization of the Dollar Changed the World Order by Saleha Mohsin
Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg
Tune In: How to Make Smarter Decisions in a Noisy World by Nuala Walsh
As always, I’d love to hear from you if you’ve read any of these books or have thoughts on them. My biggest goal for this newsletter is to build a group of people who enjoy discussing non-fiction books and what can be learned. Better yet, if you know of another book that’s worth checking out, I’d love to hear about it!
Enjoy the books, have a wonderful month, and let me know what you learn.
-Blake