Reading Lists Archives - From the Green Notebook

What Reading Taught Me About Living in 2023

By Joe Byerly

Essayist Maria Popova recently wrote, “To look back on a year of reading is to be handed a clear mirror of your priorities and passions, of the questions that live in you and the reckonings that keep you up at night.”

Since 2018 (2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022) I have dedicated a few days at the end of each year to hold up a mirror to my priorities and passions. I do this by reflecting on and summarizing the lessons I have learned from the books I have read.

2023 was one of my busiest years. Despite leading an extremely fast-paced organization, going on family trips, and writing my own book project, I managed to read 43 books. Where do I find the time? To quote Seth Godin in The Song of Significance, “We don’t need more time. We simply need to decide.” I made a conscious decision to prioritize reading, writing, and reflection.

This year, I would like to share some valuable insights that books have imparted to me during the early hours of the morning, small slivers of time throughout the day, or the few minutes before bedtime.

AI Picked 25 Books Military Leaders Should Read

by Jasper AI (with oversight from Joe Byerly and Jack Hadley)

A Note from Joe and Jack: Recently From the Green Notebook leadership has been playing with artificial intelligence (AI) tools for artwork, branding, and social media posting. To assess the capabilities of one specific AI tool, Jasper, we asked it to recommend books to military leaders. We simply told it, “Write a list of 25 books military leaders should read and tell us why we should read them.” Here’s what Jasper said.

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4 Reading Recs For Holistic Self-Development

by Jack Hadley

Military professionals’ reading for self-development tends to fall into two general categories. First, well, military professional reading. This genre is flexible, but generally includes things like A Message to Garcia (and other classic military fiction), World War II histories, and modern geopolitics. Second, we read self-help literature, primarily written for business people. For example, Good to Great, Atomic Habits, or Thinking, Fast and Slow. Both these genres are full of excellent and informative books.

There are other books less read in military circles, yet with transformative potential. Here I offer four examples. They are oblique recommendations, from off the beaten path. They offer new insights for holistic self-development. First, a quirky science journalist’s chronicle of his (self-)experimentation with breathing. Next, a women’s business book written for more than just women. The third isn’t really a book at all. And finally one written by a well-known military author—but it’s mostly about creativity. These works may not fit easily into military standard self-development reading lists. But they are eye-opening in new and robust ways, benefiting leaders of all kinds, and helping you unlock your full potential.

What Reading Taught Me About Living in 2022

By Joe Byerly

Lesson #1: The finish line is never fixed

Several authors warned about the dangers of hitching our happiness to goal achievement. Too many of us spend years doing things we don’t enjoy while sacrificing the things that bring us fulfillment, all in the name of achieving success in the future. Some of us even think we’re managing success, but in actuality, success is managing us. That’s because the finish line of ambition is never fixed. It moves on us each time we cross it.

In his book, From Strength to Strength, Arthur Brooks points out that it’s too easy to find ourselves running life on the Hedonic Treadmill. The dopamine high that achievement brings quickly dissipates after we get our hands around it. We’re left wanting to feel it again, so we chase after more. We expect to feel contentment on the other side of our goals, only to find the desire to chase our next success. He writes, “No matter how fast we run, we never arrive.” In The Earned Life, Marshall Goldsmith also commented on the dangers of living solely for ambition, writing that it gives us a rinse and repeat rhythm to life which doesn’t necessarily equate to happiness or fulfillment.

Seven Books Every Company Commander Should Read

by Dan Vigeant

Leaders worth following are readers. This is not an original, or even new thought. Countless General Officers, business professionals, and thriving entrepreneurs laud the benefits of reading for personal and professional growth. From the Green Notebook even publishes a monthly reading list for the sole purpose of developing aspiring leaders (if you’re not already a subscriber, I highly recommend you click here). However, with the number of books dedicated to leader development and the Profession of Arms, knowing what to read can sometimes feel daunting.

To be clear, I am no expert on the subject. I am, however, a student of the Profession of Arms and sincerely believe commanders owe the Americans they serve the best version of themselves. As such, and in preparation for receiving the guidon, I embarked upon an eclectic reading journey focused on one central theme: leadership. The following is a short list of some of those books that prepared me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for company-level command. My hope is that this list will assist in your preparations for what will be the most rewarding, albeit challenging, experience of your career.

Read Voraciously: General Miller’s Reading Recommendations

By Joe Byerly

During my recent interview with General Scott Miller, he said, “If you are a serious practitioner in the military, you have to be a voracious reader. If you’re not well-read, it becomes readily apparent.”

He went on to say that intentionally devoting time to reading helps him understand the potential consequences of his actions beforehand. General Miller mentioned a number of books, both fiction and non-fiction, that are worth reading.

Read Eclectically: Stan McChrystal’s Book Recommendations

MG JP McGee Recommends Five Books All Leaders Should Read

Major General J.P. McGee, Army Talent Management Task Force Director, briefs candidates of Cohort 1 of the Colonel Command Assessment Program on what the expectations are of both the candidates and cadre at Fort Knox, Kentucky, September 10, 2020. The Army is using programs like CCAP to take a multidimensional view of its top performing offices to complement the Centralized Selection List board and add new, relevant information. (U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Daniel Schroeder, Army Talent Management Task Force)

In the third episode of our second season, From the Green Notebook sits down with the Director of the Army Talent Management Task Force, Major General JP McGee, to discuss the purpose, construct and future of the Commander Assessment Program, as well as the results of the Army’s most recent Battalion Commander’s Assessment Program released January 21, 2021. Most importantly, MG McGee shares his leadership perspective and provides some great advice for leaders.

During the podcast, we asked Major General McGee to recommend some books for leaders he finds useful for self-development. Below, you will find a few of the titles he believes are important to develop your leadership skills and understand the nuances of leadership at the more senior levels.

General Votel Recommends Leaders Read these 5 Books

From the Green Notebook sat down with former CENTCOM Commander, General Joseph Votel (U.S. Army, Retired), recently to discuss his leadership perspective, as well as his experience leading a combatant command in the first episode of our podcast’s second season.

General Votel provides a candid discussion on the challenges of strategic decision-making and risk management. He also emphasizes the importance of role modelling in leadership, highlighting some of the role models who shaped his career.

During the podcast, we asked General Votel to share some of the books he recommends to leaders for self-development. Below, you will find a few of the books he believes are important in the current environment to develop your understanding of the world and leave a lasting impact on those you lead.

The FTGN Top 10 Most-Read Articles of 2020

What I Learned from Books in 2020- A Reading List

This post was originally shared in the FTGN Monthly Reading List Email.

By Joe Byerly

I like to read a lot. I have a strong love of learning and I’ve found the easiest way for me to expand my repertoire is to open a book when I first wake up or listen to an audiobook during a morning commute. Since 2013, I’ve published a year-end reading list as an effort to promote a practice that I’ve found so valuable over the last decade. A few years ago, I morphed this list into an annual reflection of reading. It’s honestly my favorite post to write every year.

So, as I reflect on 2020, I’ve identified five lessons from books that stood out to me this past year. I hope that in sharing these with you, you might decide to take a few moments to reflect on your own lessons or maybe even purchase one of these great books.

4 Books to Read Before Ranger School

Ranger-School

by 2LT Oren Abusch and 1LT Jack Hadley

It’s 0200. Our platoon Charlie 1 is struggling to establish a patrol base. We have just completed a seven kilometer night ruck march, over half of which involved carrying multiple (simulated) casualties. It’s early April in Dahlonega, GA, and the temperature dips into the low 40s. We’re very tired. The Ranger Instructors (RIs) keep making us redo parts of the patrol base process. Finally, at 0400, the RIs tell us to eat dinner. At 0415 we go to sleep, with a wakeup scheduled for 0500.

At 0430, we wake up to one of the RIs firing off an unmanned machine gun, yelling.

“Is this how we maintain security, Rangers? Is this a joke? Security keeps your soldiers alive! Do you not care if your soldiers are killed in combat?” He lets his words sit there for a second, as our minds race to shake off the grogginess and understand what’s going on. He then accused us of purposely sabotaging security because we didn’t care. We were then told to stand up, with our gear ready, and wait for sunrise.

And so we stood there, as the sun slowly rose over the Appalachian mountains.

How do you prepare for such a moment? For the most part, you can’t. Many of the experiences of Ranger School must be lived to understand them. Yet during Ranger School the two of us found ourselves returning over and over to several books we had read before reporting. These books, four of which we discuss here, helped us understand the nature of the trainee-trainer relationship, remember that others before us had overcome the same (and worse) challenges, and – perhaps most importantly – some helped us find meaning on the hardest days.

Lead with the best version of yourself.

Lesson #1: The finish line is never fixed

The FTGN Top 10 Most-Read Articles of 2020