I recently did a first draft of my manager README and I end it with some books and newsletters that have shaped my thinking, and continue to do so. I thought it might be useful to a broader audience so I’m sharing it here as well. These are the books I keep right next to my desk, and the newsletters I open every time they arrive in my inbox.
Books that have shaped my thinking
- Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting for by Jonathan Raymond
- The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier
- Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow by Matthew Skelton, Manuel Pais, and Ruth Malan
- The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business by Erin Meyer
- Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products by Marty Cagan and Chris Jones
- Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value by Melissa Perri
- Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts by Annie Duke
- No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Richard Schwartz
A few newsletters I really like
I am skipping some obvious ones (like Lenny and Platformer) that everyone already subscribes to.
- Department of Product by Rich Holmes (latest product releases and industry news)
- Elena’s Growth Scoop by Elena Verna (product-led growth, product-led sales, and career growth)
- MKT1 Newsletter by Emily Kramer (B2B marketing advice and guides)
- Attention Deficit Marketing Disorder by Mariya Delano (a newsletter about the emotions behind marketing work)
- The Leading Sapiens Weekly by Sheril Mathew (product and technical leadership)
- Culture Study by Anne Helen Petersen (fascinating essays about broad topics related to the culture around us)
- Dense Discovery by Kai Brach (design, tech, sustainability, urbanism, and more)
- Links I Would Gchat You If We Were Friends by Caitlin Dewey (the best and most interesting internet reading of the week)
- Five things on Friday by James Whatley (more wonderful things to read)
- Transfer Orbit by Andrew Liptak (my favorite newsletter about science fiction, writing, and the future)
- Read More Books by Jeremy Anderberg (book reviews, author interviews, bookish news and lists, and more)
- Garbage Day by Ryan Broderick (the only way I try to stay up to date with internet culture)