I Hate Most Leadership Books. That’s Why I Wrote One

I caved the other day and bought another leadership book. The hook was brilliant—a problem we all face. But soon it slipped into the same tired formula: rehashing the latest research on personal and organizational psychology. Ninety percent of readers will try the tips. Five percent will stick with them. Then they’ll be on to the next book, chasing the “8 steps to 12 habits of success.” And don’t even get me started on leadership types.

Blech!

Most of these books follow the same script: “Most people think ___, but it’s actually ___. Here’s the path to get ___.” Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Then I read Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink, a Navy SEAL Commander. Real missions. Real failures. Real accountability. No theory—just lessons paid for in blood. That’s leadership. I’m not a SEAL, but I know what it’s like when things go terribly wrong and you have no choice but to own it.

And then there’s Brené. Her voice isn’t mine, but her message always hits home. Vulnerability. Courage. Truth. Same principles, different language—like NA and AA. Different rooms, same wisdom.

They’re storytellers. They earned what they teach.

That’s why I wrote The Path of Rocks and Thorns: Leadership Lessons from a Prison Cell. My story is tragic, hopeful, and full of hard-won lessons. Readers call me in tears, telling me it feels like I wrote their story too.

That’s the power of good storytelling. It doesn’t hand you steps—it invites you to transform, to live your own leadership story, and to pass those lessons on.

Good stories don’t make people read leadership books. They make people become them.

So read mine. Or Jocko’s. Or Brené’s.
Then go write your own.

Next
Next

In Prison, There Are No Imposters