Director of Professional Learning
MASA
One of my favorite summer traditions as a school leader was our administrative team book study.
Each summer, we gathered as a leadership team for a retreat. Part of our time together included conversation around a book we read in advance of the retreat. What made those conversations so valuable was the diversity of perspectives around the table. From the superintendent to the director of food service or buildings and grounds, from the transportation director to building principals, we came together around a shared learning experience – and we each brought a different frame to the discussion.
The books themselves were important, but the conversations were what made the experience meaningful. We learned together, challenged one another’s thinking, shared stories from our own work, and often found plenty of reasons to laugh along the way. Regardless of our role in the district, each of us walked away with new insights about leadership, new ideas for supporting the people we served, and a new appreciation for our colleagues.
A great leadership book creates a common language for a team. It provides an opportunity to step away from daily operational demands and reflect on how we lead, how we communicate, how we build trust, and how we develop others. The best books spark conversations that continue long after the final chapter has been read.
As you look ahead to summer planning, you may be considering a book study as part of a leadership retreat or leadership team development. To help get the conversation started, here are five books you might consider that offer ideas, practical applications, and meaningful discussion opportunities for leadership teams across school districts.
Forward Together: Moving Schools from Conflict to Community in Contentious Times by George Couros.
George was the keynote speaker at our most recent conference, so it seemed like a good idea to start with his book! Another great thing about George’s book – discussion questions at the end of each chapter already created and ready to go with your team! Here’s part of the Amazon summary for you:
Behind moments of tension in schools and communities lies an opportunity to build trust, strengthen relationships, and move forward with purpose. Drawing from his experiences as a teacher, technology facilitator, school and district administrator, and parent, George Couros offers a practical and deeply human guide for leading through challenging times. Through honest reflection, vulnerability, and purposeful humor, he shares lessons learned not only from success but from missteps, growth, and difficult conversations. Rather than relying on quick fixes or easy answers, Forward, Together focuses on how leaders create the conditions for collaboration, understanding, and shared ownership….
Throughout the book, Couros demonstrates what it means to lead with intention by knowing when to step forward, when to step back, and when to step aside so others can lead, grow, and recognize their own value. Forward, Together is a guide for school and community leaders who want to foster belonging, elevate voices, and build resilient communities where people feel valued, heard, and empowered to flourish together.
Schooltalk: Rethinking What We Say About and to Students Every Day by Mica Pollock
One of our colleagues is using this text with her team and it has resulted in some great conversations about how the words adults use matter. It also includes several “Action Assignments” and Think/Discuss prompts throughout the text for your use and convenience. Here’s the Amazon summary:
Words matter. Every day in schools, language is used – whether in the classroom, in a student-teacher meeting, or by principals, guidance counselors, or other school professionals – implying, intentionally or not, that some subset of students have little potential. As a result, countless students “underachieve”, others become disengaged, and, ultimately, we all lose.
Mica Pollock now turns to what it takes for those working in schools to match their speech to their values, giving all students an equal opportunity to thrive. By juxtaposing common scenarios with useful exercises, concrete actions, and resources, Schooltalk describes how the devil is in the oft-dismissed details: the tossed-off remark to a student or parent about the community in which she lives; the way groups – based on race, ability, and income – are discussed in faculty meetings about test scores and data; the assumptions and communication breakdowns between counselors, teachers, and other staff that cause kids to fall needlessly through the cracks; or the deflating comment to a young person about her college or career prospects.
Schooltalk will empower educators of every ilk, revealing to them an incredibly effective tool at their disposal to support the success of all students every day: their words.
Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant
I want to read anything Adam Grant writes, so this book also tops my list of possibilities for your team. The endorsement by Serena Williams also spoke to me. The idea of a “more joyful path to progress” seems like a worthwhile goal for all of us. Here’s her quote and the Amazon summary:
“This brilliant book will shatter your assumptions about what it takes to improve and succeed. I wish I could go back in time and gift it to my younger self. It would’ve helped me find a more joyful path to progress.”
—Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam singles tennis champion
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.
Hidden Potential offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Adam Grant weaves together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid storytelling that takes us from the classroom to the boardroom, the playground to the Olympics, and underground to outer space. He shows that progress depends less on how hard you work than how well you learn. Growth is not about the genius you possess—it’s about the character you develop. Grant explores how to build the character skills and motivational structures to realize our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities for those who have been underrated and overlooked.
Many writers have chronicled the habits of superstars who accomplish great things. This book reveals how anyone can rise to achieve greater things. The true measure of your potential is not the height of the peak you’ve reached, but how far you’ve climbed to get there.
Nice Bike – Making Meaningful Connections on the Road of Life – 2nd Edition by Mark Scharenbroich
We actually used the first edition as part of our work together and I really enjoyed it. It’s an easy read with a lot of relatable, inspirational content. It’s a nice one to use if you’re just starting out this work with a leadership team and want to “ease” into conversation and community building. Here’s the Amazon summary:
The Nice Bike book, by keynote speaker and author Mark Scharenbroich, is a collection of stories based on making meaningful connections with others in both work and in life. It’s about being a part of a community, knowing that contributions matter and experiencing a greater affiliation with others. Nice Bike can help you with your daily interactions, create more meaningful relationships and add more joy in your journey of life. When you have a better understanding of how to make meaningful connections, you can live a life filled with a greater success. Acknowledge, honor and connect and you will change the world, one person at a time. The Nice Bike book is a great read for all ages. The Nice Bike stories will have you laughing, learning and bring a tear to your eye.
The Upside of Uncertainty: A Guide to Finding Possibility in the Unknown by Nathan Furr and Susannah Harmon Furr
If you ever feel like your crystal ball is cloudy, and you’re not always sure what path to take, here’s a book to help you find the “upside” to not always knowing everything.
Whether you’re searching for courage to start a new project, change careers, launch a business, develop an idea, or reinvent yourself after a disappointment or life change, you will face uncertainty—that ambiguous and uncomfortable state that often makes us feel confused, anxious, and afraid to act. Though these moments are difficult, they offer opportunities for personal growth, innovation, and creativity.
In The Upside of Uncertainty, INSEAD professor Nathan Furr and entrepreneur Susannah Harmon Furr provide a sweeping guide to embracing uncertainty and transforming it into a force for good. Drawing from hundreds of interviews, along with pioneering research in psychology, innovation, and behavioral economics, Nathan and Susannah provide dozens of tools—including mental models, techniques, and reflections—for seeing the upside of uncertainty, developing a vision for what to do next, and opening ourselves up to new possibilities.
In our fast-paced, ever-changing world, uncertainty is on the rise. We face it every day. But few of us have been taught the techniques to navigate it well. The Upside of Uncertainty provides the inspiration, tools, and strategies you need to thrive through the inevitable plot twists in your life and career.
Bonus Book!
Beyond the Surface: Understanding the Students Who Appear to Have Everything Under Control by Eric Hudspith (Superintendent of Waseca Public Schools)
If you want an author close to home who really gets the work you do, look no further than Waseca! Dr. Eric Hudspith has a new book out – here’s the Amazon description:
Some students ask for help loudly.
Others carry questions, pressure, uncertainty, and quiet struggles in ways adults rarely see.
They show up. They do their work. They stay involved. They earn trust. From the outside, they appear to have everything under control. Because they are not creating concern, we often assume they do not need support.
But what if that assumption is incomplete?
Beyond the Surface invites educators and parents to slow down and consider the students who rarely demand attention but are still deeply shaped by the adults around them. Told through the voice of a student navigating school, expectations, identity, relationships, and the quiet weight of figuring out who they are becoming, this book offers a perspective that often goes unnoticed in conversations about student success.
Rather than offering quick fixes or checklists, this book creates space for reflection. Through realistic, student-centered stories, readers are encouraged to consider important questions:
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- Which students in our schools and homes may be quietly carrying more than we realize?
- How often do we mistake responsibility for certainty or consistency for confidence?
- What changes when students feel truly seen, not just managed or praised?
Written for educators, parents, counselors, coaches, and anyone who works alongside young people, Beyond the Surface is a reminder that being “fine” is not always the same as being fully seen.
Sometimes, the students who seem the most okay are still waiting for someone to notice them anyway.
