My husband has been nudging me for months to expand the book recommendations on my website. So this Saturday afternoon, I finally pulled apart the bookshelf in my bedroom and dusted off a few of my favorites.

It was oddly comforting to revisit these old friends, each one a marker of who I’ve become as a leader. Every book holds a lesson I had to learn the hard way: a moment when the situation demanded that I grow, shift, or rethink how I was showing up.

Looking at them together, I’m reminded that the core elements of leadership — culture, behavior, systems, and meaning — aren’t separate domains. They weave together. They shape how we decide, how we relate, and how we build environments where people can do their best work.

Still, because humans love categories, I sorted this shelf into five sections:

  1. Design Thinking
  2. Ways of Working
  3. Working Better With Humans
  4. Strategy & Systems
  5. Books That Inspire Me and Keep Me Honest

If you look closely, you’ll see the edges of dozens of sticky notes sticking out at odd angles. I’ve really lived with these books. But I don’t just read them once and walk away, I return to them. I re-read to remember, to recalibrate, and to trace the leadership muscles I’ve built and the ones I’m still strengthening. These books help me remember who I am, and who I want to be, especially in the moments that test both.

So I’d love for you to join me as I walk through my leadership bookshelf over the next few weeks — not as a list of recommendations, but as a guided tour of the ideas and practices that shaped me. My hope is that we come away with a fuller, more human view of what it means to lead, and how to tap into the best of our humanity.

Goodness knows we need it.