{"id":81675,"date":"2018-01-23T12:14:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T18:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=81675"},"modified":"2026-10-06T13:32:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T18:32:19","slug":"leaders-reading-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #373: The Leader’s Bookshelf"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been said \u201cLeaders are readers.\u201d But what should a leader read?<\/span><\/p>\n

My guest today<\/span> set out to answer that question by polling 4-star generals and admirals in the U.S. military to get their best recommendations. <\/span><\/p>\n

His name is Admiral James Stavridis. He’s served as the commander of US Southern Command, US European Command, and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He now serves as dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. In his book, The Leader\u2019s Bookshelf<\/a>,<\/i> Admiral Stavridis explains why reading is fundamental for all leaders and provides a list of 50 books suggested by senior officers. <\/span><\/p>\n

We begin our conversation by discussing the culture of reading amongst military officers past and present, including Generals James Mattis and George Patton. Admiral Stavridis then shares tips on how to read more even with a busy schedule and how to get more out of your reading. We then dig into the list of 50 books military brass recommend most and the lessons on leadership they provide. <\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re going to be adding a lot of books to your reading list after listening to this podcast.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been said \u201cLeaders are readers.\u201d But what should a leader read? My guest today set out to answer that question by polling 4-star generals and admirals in the U.S. military to get their best recommendations.  His name is Admiral James Stavridis. He’s served as the commander of US Southern Command, US European Command, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":195552,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42384,42376,156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-culture","category-podcast"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"\nThe Best Leadership Books | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s been said \u201cLeaders are readers.\u201d But what should a leader read? My guest today answered that question by polling generals and admirals in the military.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #373: The Leader's Bookshelf | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s been said \u201cLeaders are readers.\u201d But what should a leader read? My guest today answered that question by polling generals and admirals in the military.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-23T18:14:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-06T18:32:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #373: The Leader’s Bookshelf\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-23T18:14:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-06T18:32:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":199,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/373.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Books\",\"Culture\",\"Podcast\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2018\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Best Leadership Books | The Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/373.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-23T18:14:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-06T18:32:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832\"},\"description\":\"It\u2019s been said \u201cLeaders are readers.\u201d But what should a leader read? My guest today answered that question by polling generals and admirals in the military.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/373.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/373.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/leaders-reading-list\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast #373: The Leader’s Bookshelf\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men's Interest and Lifestyle\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832\",\"name\":\"Brett\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/artofmanliness.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/author\\\/brett\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Best Leadership Books | The Art of Manliness","description":"It\u2019s been said \u201cLeaders are readers.\u201d But what should a leader read? My guest today answered that question by polling generals and admirals in the military.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Podcast #373: The Leader's Bookshelf | The Art of Manliness","og_description":"It\u2019s been said \u201cLeaders are readers.\u201d But what should a leader read? My guest today answered that question by polling generals and admirals in the military.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/","og_site_name":"The Art of Manliness","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness","article_published_time":"2018-01-23T18:14:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-06T18:32:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Brett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@artofmanliness","twitter_site":"@artofmanliness","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brett","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/"},"author":{"name":"Brett","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832"},"headline":"Podcast #373: The Leader’s Bookshelf","datePublished":"2018-01-23T18:14:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-06T18:32:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/"},"wordCount":199,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373.png","articleSection":["Books","Culture","Podcast"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2018","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/","name":"The Best Leadership Books | The Art of Manliness","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373.png","datePublished":"2018-01-23T18:14:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-06T18:32:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832"},"description":"It\u2019s been said \u201cLeaders are readers.\u201d But what should a leader read? My guest today answered that question by polling generals and admirals in the military.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/373.png","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/leaders-reading-list\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Podcast #373: The Leader’s Bookshelf"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/","name":"The Art of Manliness","description":"Men's Interest and Lifestyle","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832","name":"Brett","sameAs":["http:\/\/artofmanliness.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/author\/brett\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}