Over at Ruckus Maker HQ, I’m enjoying a lot of downtime and one of my favorite things to do during the holidays is to read.

President Truman had this to say:

The truth is, all leaders don’t read. They should, but don’t.

Play-It-Safe-Principals and Status-Quo School Leaders seem to have an aversion to reading which limits what they can achieve.

But all Ruckus Makers read. 

How on earth can you learn and actually Do School Different™ unless you are constatntly exposing yourself to original and innovative ideas?

So in this free version of The Ruckus Maker Newsletter, I want to highlight some books for you to consider gifting yourself or others this holiday season in an effort to Making a BIGGER Ruckus in 2024!1

This list has 4-parts:

• Books I’ve written that will help you be an even more effective leader

• Books by fellow Ruckus Makers

• Every book we’ve read in the mastermind since 2016

• Books that have changed my thinking and/or helped me grow (but not on the mastermind list)

Books I’ve written that will help you be an even more effective leader

Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader. My first bestseller. Discusses the ABCs of Powerful Professional Development ® and how integrating more authenticity, belonging, and challenge can lead to great things.

Build Leadership Momentum: How to Create the Perfect Principal Entry Plan. My second bestseller. A practical book on how to create a 90-day entry plan. But here’s the punchline … you can do this 4x a year and intentionally create even more value on your campus by executing your plan. Build Leadership Momentum is included for paid subscribers to this newsletter.

The Remarkable Vision Formula: A Guided School. My third book that focuses on creating your 3-year “Remarkable” vision for your campus. Although you can buy all my books on Amazon. I recommend getting his one specifically from my website because when you do, you get the ebook, print, audio, and 5+ hours of recorded coaching content on this topic, and a multipage checklist for creating your Remarkable Vision. And by the way, The Remarkable Vision Formula is included when you become a paid subscriber to this newsletter.

The Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap: Small Ideas That Lead to Big Impact. My first book. My goal was to share a bunch of small ideas you could take action on and see a positive result.

Books fellow Ruckus Makers have written

Executive Functions for Every Classroom by Mitch Weathers. Executive functions have the greatest impact on student success. This book will show you how to implement them consistently and predictably each day.

Invest in Your Best by TJ Vari and friends … A great book on how to be there for your top performing staff and empower them to be even more amazing.

Stretching your Learning Edges by Jennifer Abrams. You ever notice that the adults in a building are (typically) good with kids, but not so good with other adults? This book will help with that.

Stop Leading, Start Building by Robyn Jackson. Learn how to break free from the school improvement hamster wheel through Robyn’s Buildership Model™. This book shows you how to succeed without the staff and resources you already have.

How to be a Transformative Principal by Jethro Jones. Jethro has been doing great work on his podcast for years and it’s admirable. After doing 400+ interviews, Jethro shares what has helped school leaders be successful and shares these insights in this book.

Now We’re Talking by Justin Baeder. Want to get in more classrooms more often? Justin is the king of this and will share a results-driven process better than traditional walkthrough models.

Learning that Transfers by Julie Stern and friends … siloed concepts and curriculum has riddled education for decades. Imagine a space where the learning transferred between classes so students could solve increasingly complex and new problems …

Leading Equity by Dr. Sheldon Eakins. The essential text on how to create classrooms that prioritize equity.

SEEing to Lead by Dr. Chris Jones. A fantastic book on how to Support, Engage, and Empower the staff on your campus. Chris is a teacher-first principal. I think we all should be. By taking care of his staff the students benefit.

Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond. The editor of my first bestseller and writing partner called this book a “masterpiece.” This book sells more in a day than all my books combined in a year. Essential reading.

De-Implementation by Peter DeWitt. Continuing to add to teacher’s plates without taking anything off is absolutely stupid. And yet schools continue to follow this model for some unknown reason. Maybe because they lack a process on how to get rid of stuff that no longer makes sense. Follow the advice found in this book when you’re ready to cut.

The Gender Equation in Schools by Jason Ablin. Gender is often an overlooked component with profound implications in each classroom. I wonder how your own gender-bias might be impacting student achievement? Want to change that? Read this book.

These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most Jr. by Dave Stuart Jr. We can all benefit from focus. Great book to gift teachers so they work smarter, not harder.

Every book we’ve read in The Ruckus Maker Mastermind™ since 2016

Back in 2016, I started a community for Ruckus Makers who wanted to Do School Different™. This community is called The Ruckus Maker Mastermind™ and members commit to reading different leadership books throughout the year.

For the last 8 years I’ve been told that these books have been incredibly helpful.

The comment I hear most often goes like this, “I never would have picked that book Danny, but it has absolutely changed my approach to leadership for the better.”

2016

Essentialism by Greg McKeown. Everything doesn’t matter. Here’s an approach to figure out on the few things that actually do matter. 5/5.

Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace. Story of Pixar and how they intentionally are creative. Many ideas to steal and apply to education. 5/5.

Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. Why is change hard? Read this to learn how to motivate and inspire. 5/5.

Procrastinate on Purpose by Rory Vaden. Good book, but the one point you need from it is called “The Focus Funnel” which is explained in the graphic below. 3/5.

Good Leaders Ask Great Questions by John Maxwell. Q & A with Maxwell on leadership. 3/5.

What Great Principals Do Differently by Todd Whitaker. 20 things you can do to be a great principal. 4/5.

The 12-Week Year by Brian Moran. Changed my thinking on how to approach work in 12-week or 90-day chunks. 3/5.

Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. Introduced me to S.A.V.E.R.S. Silence, Affirmation, Visualization, Exercise, Reflecting, and Scribing (here he means journaling but had to find an ‘S’ word to complete the acronym). Save yourself the read and apply the acronym to your mornings to start your days with momentum. 3/5.

The Go-Giver Leader by Bob Burg and John David Mann. A book on effective leadership because of generosity. Must read. 5/5.

Deep Work by Cal Newport. Another must read in terms of creating value for your organization. Too many school leaders spend their days completing other people’s priority items or putting out fires. I challenge every Ruckus Maker to include at least one deep work block in their week. You’ll be amazed at how much you can do for your school or district this way. 5/5.

Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. Win your battle with your ego on your way to success and legacy. 5/5. 

Leadership Step by Step by Joshua Spodek. Practical book on leadership with challenges to do each chapter. Mnay leadership books are ideas. This is a how-to. 5/5.

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz. The essential book on negotiation. 5/5.

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. How to infuse more happiness into your org and why you should do so. 4/5.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. I LOVE this book. It’s a slow read, but essential in understanding how the world works. This is not about pop-psychology and self-help that is infotainment. These are meaty issues and extremely important if you’re up for the challenge. 5/5.

The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath. Changed my thinking on how to create important moments in people’s lives. Very creative ideas that you can apply to school. 5/5.

The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Ben Zander. Introduces “12 Practices” to leading a meaningful life. I admire this book so much, when I formed my LLC I named it Twelve Practices. 5/5. This book is in my personal hall of fame and is my second favorite book ever.

Great at Work by Morten Hansen. Data driven book on how top performers do what they do. 3/5.

The Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap by Daniel Bauer (one of my books explained above).

When by Daniel Pink. Interesting book on how timing is everything and why some people are the way they are. In the context of school, you will rethink your schedule and important items like when your students test. 4/5.

The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle. What makes a great culture at a top performing organization. You’ll learn and want to apply everything to your school. 5/5.

Emotional Intelligence 2.0. by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves. A practical book on how to improve your EQ. Comes with a pre-assessment to see where you are in internal and external awareness. Then gives 20 activities for each area to improve. It works. 5/5.

Measure What Matters by John Doerr. This book changed my approach to goals. SMART goals are dumb. Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are better. This book taught me that approach. 5/5.

Dare to Lead by Brené Brown. Everyone loves Brené for good reason. I regularly reteach her “BRAVING” inventory when I am talking about belonging in education. 5/5.

The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. You face an upper limit challenge and it’s diminishing what you are able to do. This book challenges you to meet and exceed your potential. 5/5.

The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. Everyone is playing a finite or infinite game. In a finite game there are winners and losers. In an infinite game, you don’t have to lose for me to win. This is the game I am playing. I care so much about Making a Ruckus and how to Do School Different™ I give away my best ideas all the time in order to serve. If school adopted this approach education would be permanently better. 5/5.

Radical Candor by Kimberly Scott. A great book on feedback. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think about this book. 5/5.

Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. Amazing book on separating your decisions from outcomes and how to think in probability. 5/5.

Thanks for the Feedback by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen. What if the key to giving better feedback was receiving feedback better? This book taught me a very important concept called cross-switching that I use every day. 5/5.

Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday. School leaders limit their effectiveness because they are always on and busy. Busy does not equal creating value. Another take on “deep work” and why it’s essential to have quiet, stillness, and think time each day. 5/5.

BIPOC-Authored Books

Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan. Great introductory and secular look at mindfulness and meditation. 5/5. 

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. You can avoid stupid by creating checklists. 4/5. 

The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. The essential book on how to host great events (and staff development). 5/5.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. Interesting read on racism. 4/5. 

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. An even better book that looks at racism through the view of caste. 5/5.

The Person You Mean to Be by Dolly Chugh. A fantastic book on how to actually address racism and mirco-aggressions. 5/5.

2022 Book Lineup

Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader by Daniel Bauer (one of my books, explained in the first part of this post).

The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi. Some school leaders feel that they have to do things for other people, but this robs them the opportunity of learning from mistakes and wrestling with hard things. This book teaches that everyone has a “task” and it’s their responsibility to figure out. 4/5.

Inclusive Conversations by Mary Fances-Winters. Great way to look at facilitating inclusive conversations. 5/5.

The Promises of Giants by John Amaechi Obe. This book will challenge you to be better. I often share the author’s quote, “People make choices. Choices make culture.” 5/5.

First, Break All the Rules by Gallup. Counterintuitive ideas of what makes a great leader. However, we read this book so everyone could take the StrengthFinders assessment included in the purchase. 3/5.

2023

Tiny Habits by Dr. BJ Fogg. The best book on how to form good habits and break bad ones. Better than Atomic Habits. 5/5.

Conflict Communication by Rory Miller. A basic and macho look at the animal inside all of us and how that relates to communication. I wish we hadn’t read this one in The Ruckus Maker Mastermind™. Most of the books have been “winners” over the years. This one was not. 2/5.

Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau. A helpful guide on how to be an ally to disabled people. 4/5.

Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna. Jerry is known as the “CEO Whisperer.” He is thoughtful and empathetic. This book is an inner journey, one that every Ruckus Maker must go on to be their best. 5/5.

No Hard Feelings by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy. You like to think that emotions aren’t part of our work (or ourselves) and that we could just rely on logic and be objective. Not true. A helpful guide on how to embrace emotions at work. 5/5.

2024

Build Leadership Momentum: How to Create the Perfect Principal Entry Plan (one of my books and explained in the first section).

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. This is my #1 favorite book of all time. A great book on mindset and how to thrive even when you face challenging conditions. The essential book on mindset and resilience. Every human on Earth should read this book multiple times. 5/5.

Books that have changed my thinking and/or helped me grow (but not on the mastermind list)

Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish. The best book written on decision making. 5/5.

The Great Mental Models Volumes 1-3 by Shane Parrish and Rhiannon Beaubien. Thining about your thinking and tools to make better decisions in the real world. 5/5.

Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charlie Munger. Shane Parrish said there is a billion dollar education found in this book. 5/5.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. Great collection of wisdom form science, investing, philosophy, and more … 5/5.

Crazy Good by Steven Chandler. The subtitle is a “book of choices.” Steve is a master coach. He challenges you to consider 20 different types of choices we all need to make. 4/5.

10x is Easier than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. BIG important ideas you need to consider. 5/5.

Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. Who can help you something is much more important than how to accomplish something. 5/5.

Steal like an Artist by Austin Kleon. One of my favorite books on creativity. 5/5.

Good Strategy. Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt. Important book on strategy. The bad and good news is the same: there is no template. But all good strategy has three components: a kernel (what is the problem you want to solve), a clear guiding policy, and coherent actions that support the policy and solve the problem. 3/5.

Coming Alive and The Tools by Barry Michels and Phil Stutz. Two books on mastermind the inner game and getting out of your own way. 5/5.

Snow Leopard by The Category Pirates. I put this in there for “edupreneurs” and writers. Here is how to stand out and serve at scale. 5/5.

One + One = Three by Dave Trott. Good stuff here on creative thinking. 5/5.

Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite by Paul Arden. I love books that ZIG when everyone else is ZAGGing. This book will get you thinking differently too. 5/5.

Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach. Tara is teaching me to be a meditation and mindfulness teacher and this is my favorite book by her.

The Wise Heart by Jack Kornfield. Jack is also teaching me to be a meditations and mindfulness teacher and this is his best book.

What I’m reading right now (Dec 2023)

Jewish Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. As an adult, I found out that 50% of my DNA is Ashkenazi Jewish. I wasn’t raised Jewish so I feel like I missed out on what Jewishness even is. One way to bridge that gap is to read, and this is one book I am reading right now on the topic. Growing up Catholic (how confusing given my reality!) it’s very interesting to see the discussion on Jesus and Christianity. Religion is fascinating. This book covers so much more that spiritual concepts and does a fantastic job covering culture and history as well. I’ve read 300 pages, have another 400 to go, and I’m enjoying every second.

I Am That by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Reading as part of my exploration of self. The author states, “Give us all questions except one: ‘Who am I?’ After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are. The ‘I am’ is certain. The ‘I am this’ is not. Struggle to find out what you are in reality.”

This is a struggle, but interesting to explore!

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. British, brilliant, and funny. A tale of a girl with magical powers fit to be a wizard, except women are usually witches, not wizards … Book 3 of the Discworld series. Over 80 million copies sold!

Striking Thoughts by Bruce Lee. Not only a badass, but a wise philosopher as well. Easy to read in spurts and return to when looking for inspiration.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Rereading this one to navigate some challenges! Also, my fifth book will be on the topic of Stoicism.

Heart Breath Mind by Dr. Leah Lagos. Dr. Michael Gervais taught me that on the world stage everyone is a hard worker … so at the elite level what people discuss is how best to recover. I always say “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” And at the heart of recovery is a concept called HRV. This book teaches a 10-week program to boost your HRV.

Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman. My father couldn’t believe that I didn’t take Physics in high school or college. So I figured it’s about time to learn something about physics from one of the greats. The author has a way of teaching named after him — The Feynman Technique — which means you don’t understand a concept unless you can explain it to a 4th grader. This book goes into the foundational parts of physics and science.

Think Like a Freak by Levitt and Dubner. I used to listen to these guys all the time and have long admired their work. Like Malcolm Gladwell, Levitt and Dubner have a great way of finding hidden truths and non-obvious insights in the world. That’s what I do in education. Ruckus Makers Do School Different™ so anything I can learn that will help me think in creative ways I do.

An Immense World by Ed Yong. You ever wonder how two different people can have two very different experiences during the same exact moment in time? Now add animals to the mix. How they experience the world is completely different than humans. I’m most excited to learn about dogs (because of my sweet Alba), but I can’t wait to read about all the animals. The introduction so far has been fascinating. And as a mindfulness student who is learning — experience is all there is — it’s fascinating to consider how experience is experienced by all the living beings on this planet.

Do you consider yourself a Ruckus Maker?

This post is about reading as leverage for your leadership growth.

Being a Ruckus Maker is about learning how to Do School Different™. There are a million ways you can do that. How you do it is up to you …

One leader I know boughtan amusement park and turnd it into a learning labratory.

Another got rid of finals and midterms.

And yet another elevated trust on campus so that teachers now tell the Superintendent, “We’re never leaving.”

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