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Last year I made a goal to basically read a book a week throughout the entire year. The idea behind this is that I would write a review for each book I read on this blog. While I did read a LOT of books last year, the reviews sadly didn’t happen as originally intended. I discovered it was a lot easier to take time to read over taking time to write. With that in mind, I’m going to give an overview of my books from the last year (some of which you can find I did end up reviewing on DAPS MAGIC) and share some of my highlights.
The top book of 2019 for me was written by Disney CEO and Chairman Bob Iger. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company is as much a book on leadership as a look at the career of Bob Iger at ABC and then Disney. It gives some tangible tips that can be used in leadership and also pulls back the curtain of the man at the helm of the biggest entertainment company in the world.
Throughout the course of of this book Iger takes a hard look at the lessons he learned as he went through the ranks of ABC and then Disney. It isn’t just a book that trumpets his successes. It also shares some of the challenging moments he faced as he made his way through his career. It was nice to see the candor that he shared about the pros and cons of his career.
This is a book I would suggest that anyone who aspires to be a better leader reads. It is also a great book for any Disney fan looking to learn more about the leader of the house of mouse!
Continuing on with the Disney theme, I also read several books by current and former Imagineers, a book that was released leading up to the opening of Epcot, multiple books about Disney movies released in 2019, and several historical books from different figures in The Walt Disney Company. Of all of these, Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career by Kevin Rafferty was definitely my favorite. In fact, it ranks right up there after the Bob Iger book.
I also read some history books throughout the course of last year and some other leadership books. While most of these were good, there were definitely several duds as well that were hard to finish. Just before the end of the year I read Rejection Proof twice with a leadership group I lead. It was a fun and interesting book but probably doesn’t go in my top five leadership books to date. That will have to be another blog at another date though. In the fiction realm, I did read some Star Wars books, mainly due to my friend Chris giving me some for my birthday. I found myself really enjoying them though and wouldn’t mind reading more of them in the future!
In 2020 I intend to continue on reading and learning new ideas. As I pondered 2019 and the leaders I’ve known that went before me, I continued to recognize the important of taking time to both read and think. New ideas (that are sometimes even awesome) come out of these important times. I’m hoping to not only continue to read more books this year, but also read some books I wouldn’t normally read as well. If you have any suggestions for favorite books I should read, please let me know in the comments below! I’m always looking for more books to read and books that come with a recommendation would be even better!
What are you looking forward to read in 2020?
The Power of Five for Network Marketing by John Maxwell…so far it’s fantastic!
Awesome! Going to order it now then! Thanks!