What EffectivExec read in 2026 (and what I read in 2025)

Reading is a core executive competency and should be part of every executive’s day. Though (almost) any reading is a good thing, true growth comes from reading the ‘right’ material. Each person’s definition of ‘right’ will obviously differ, but for me, it primarily consists of thought inspiring, mind opening, adventurous, and historical books.

Below is a list of what I read last year and hopefully it inspires you to pick up at least one good, new book this year.

2025 Wrap Up – How I consumed content

Last year I started tracking my reading and listening habits in a more detailed manner. So this year, I have summary statistics to look back at my consumption habits. Though I didn’t actually ready any full books on the Read on reMarkable feature, I did find it helpful for shorter works.

Clearly Audible (and a little Spotify) were the dominate ways I consumed books in 2025. This is likely due to training for the Grand Traverse and a few longer run projects.

Business books were the primary type of book I read in 2025, which shouldn’t be a surprise given the focus of this blog.

EffectivExec’s 2026 Reading List

Title	Author	Medium	Type	Category	Notes / Take Aways
Great CEOs are Lazy	Jim Schleckser	Audible	Nonfiction	Business	Great CEOs concentrate on the primary constraint in their business and work to reduce the constraint by wearing one of the 5 hats ( player, learner, architect, coach, and engineer); need to move dynamically through these roles and delegate everything that isn’t CEO work to others
You’re in Charge, Now What?: The 8 Point Plan	Thomas Neff, James Citrin	Paper	Nonfiction	Business	8 point plan to maximize the value of the first 100 days in a role (especially a CEO role) – prepare during count down, align expectations, shape core team, craft strategic agenda, start work on culture, communicate, and avoid pitfalls; this really boils down to spending enough time to listen to the team and make your presense known
EOS Life (Entreprenurial Operating System)		Audible	Nonfiction	Business	The key to finding statsis between a rewarding personal life and driven professional life is taking a deliberate approach to building systems. Don’t do $25/hour work – outsource to others to free yourself up to do higher level tasks. Create an energy container of how much you want to work (is ideal for you to work) and then fit work into that bucket. Figure out who drains your energy and get them out of your life.
On Wings of Eagles	Ken Follett	Paper	Nonfiction	History	Book club #1 book. Story of Ross Perot and EDS team getting their people out of Iran in the late 1970s after the fall of the Shah. Ross Perot was willing to sacrifice his whole company to take care of his people. Hired a Green Beret to get his people out (COL Bull Simmons). COL Simmons expereince in developing nations to know that when the revolution happened, people would free political prisoners. Importance of always carrying cash (and the danger in some cases of carrying a weapon).
Unit X	Raj Shah	Kindle	Nonfiction	Current events	Book club #2 book – the defense procurement process isn’t well situated for rapid acquisition of new technology, especially software. Fundamental changes are needed to allow DoD to be more nimble and cost effective.
Red Notice	Bill Browder	Kindle	Nonfiction	Business	Bill Browder took advantage of the post Soviet period to invest in re-capitalized companies, only to find his fund Hermitage at the cross hairs of the Russian government. After his lawyer Sergei was killed in a Russian prison, he took on the task of finding ways to punish bad actors through travel restrictions.
The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper	Roland Allen	Audible	Nonfiction	History	The notebook (and the process of writing and refining on paper) have transformed the world and individual performance. This can be see through how art was transformed with the sketchbook, business was transformed with the Italian ledgers, and how literature was transformed with common placing. It’s one of our most important thinking and communication mechanisms
Love & Whiskey	Fawn Weaver	Kindle	Nonfiction	Business	Nearest was an enslaved person that taught Jack Daniels how to make whiskey (and how to perform the Tenn. mellowing process); Fawn tirelessly uncovered his story and that of his decendents through networking in the community around Lynchburg and eventually started Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey to celebrate his legacy
Fiber: the coming tech revolution and why America might miss it	Susan Crawford	Audible	Nonfiction	Business	Fiber optic internet has become ubiquitous in many parts of the world but not America (lack of government support, system built by cable giants). Investing in this basic infrastructure can enable a host of growth and cost savings
99% Invisible	Roman Mars	Audible	Nonfiction	Business	Most of the built environment is diligently made to be inconspicuous or is actually hidden. Buildings as utility substations, colors of underground markings, struggle to find balance in urban changes
Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle	Dan Senor and Saul Singer	Audible	Nonfiction	Business	The power of experience of young age parentheses military service and parentheses, and a culture where dissent is valued. Case study on the Challenger versus Apollo 13 situations – value of debrief to continue learning. Two types of organizations – one that is orderly and standard space, the other that is experimental and always learning.
Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future	Reid Hoffman	Kindle	Nonfiction	Business	This book is a proponent for the rapid development of AI because iterative deployment and user feedback will likely influence and create guard rails for its development. Reid argues that similar to the development of the automobile laws and regulations will naturally come out versus tying development at the front end of the development curve.
Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness	Scott Jurek and Steve Friedman	Kindle	Nonfiction	Fitness	Junker achieved greatness in ultra marathoning bc of his ability to grind for longer, train harder, and eat better than most people.
Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue	Buddy Levy	Kindle	Nonfiction	History	This book reads almost like a fantasy or fiction work, but it’s actually a history of exploration to the North Pole by aircraft. Airships were used to perform some of the initial trips to the arctic and eventually were the first to get to the North Pole. Walt Wellerman (news correspondent) tried for the pole and built much of the initial knowledge base. Eventually Roald Amudsen reached the North Pole in 1926 with the help of Italian airship designed Nobile.
Abundance	Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson	Audible	Nonfiction	Current events	Potentially one of the best books of 2025. The book ‘Abundance’ explores why we have loads of cheap consumer goods but not the really hard things (e.g., clean power, better transportantion) that would actually improve our lives. Part of the book is about the issues of over-regulation and part is about how the efforts (or lack thereof) of the Democratic Party have destroyed the party’s narrative.
Madhouse at the end of the Earth	Julian Sancton	Kindle	Nonfiction	History	One of my absolute favorite books. This is a story of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897 to reach the South Pole. It is a story of poor leadership, survival, endurance on the ice, and some learning along the way. I find the poor deicsion making and communication with the crew to be participarly expelary of how not to lead people.
Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs	Luis Elizondo	Kindle	Nonfiction	Current events	A really interesting take on the potential for extraterrestials to be stalking humankind by a Pentagon insider. While the author works hard to establish his credability, I actually found his discussions of the potential intersections between military officers and these sightings really interesting.
48 Laws of Power	Robert Greene	Audible	Nonfiction	Business	An absolute tome of a book. This dense work provides Robert’s perspective on the tools and tricks that powerful people use to get and maintain power over others. I found some of this book to stray into the manipulative (e.g., citing the works of con artists as “power”) but much of it is practice advice. A few of the laws I found particularly inspiring: 45 – preach change while not changing things too quickly 39 – stir up the water to catch fish 13 – when asking for help, appeal ot people’s self interest, never their mercy or gratiude 41 – avoid stepping into a great man’s shoes
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy	Rachel Adams	Audible	Nonfiction	Business	Two main lessons: 1 – shitty people attract other shitty people 2 – the role of the board of directors to look out for shareholders was not performed in American Entertainment & CBS. The boards failure to act with the evidence stacking up against Les Munvez was unforgivable.
Revenge of the Tipping Point	Malcomn Gladwell	Kindle	Nonfiction	Current events	Malcomn Gladwell’s follow up to his orignial best seller. The main point of this book was that outliers have an outsized impact on overall systems. His example of a superspreader during the COVID epidemic drives how the point that these outliers can ‘tip’ the system from one state to an entierly new one. He then goes deeper to talk about how a social movement picks up steam (e.g., the LA bank robberies of the 1980s)
The Fiber Optic Association Fiber To The Home (FTTH) Handbook: For Planners, Managers, Designers, Installers And Operators Of FTTH – Fiber To The Home … Reference Textbooks On Fiber Optics Book 6	Jim Hayes	Paper	Nonfiction	Technical	Handbook laying out the basic principles and design considerations for building an FttH network from scratch. Trace & CC&E reading to better understand basic network design
Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric	Thomas Gryta, Ted Mann	Spotify	Nonfiction	Business	Discussion of the difficult days for General Electric during Jeff Immult’s tenure as CEO of the legendary company. He faced a couple of interesting issues, including reacting to changes in the aviation market following 9/11, the over-indexing toward GE Capital, and the struggles to grow through acquisition. The books highlights the danagers of weak governance when a board cannot fully check the actions of the CEO.
The Caesars Palace Coup: How a Billionaire Brawl Over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street	Max Frumes, Sujeet Indap	Spotify, Paperback	Nonfiction	Business	Apollo and TPG bought Ceasar’s Palace and Harrah Enterainment with massive leverage in 2007; their mismanagement, a downturn in the economy, and over leveraging put the company in a terrible position to survive (much less grow). Apollo led a series of underhanded moves to reduce their exposure to ~$18B of debt. The book demonstrates the heights of Private Eqiuty greed and desception. The second half of the book is dedicated to the legal case where 2nd Lien Debt Holders prosecuted a case to recover as much as possible from Apollo. My favorite part of this book is when the independent examiner provides overtly negative judgements of David Sanbur of Apollo because he’s an absolute ass to other business people and lawyers.