If there’s someone on your shopping list who likes success books and biographies, here’s a couple of recommendations.

OPEN by Andre Agassi

“Open” by Andre Agassi is one of the best autobiographies I’ve ever read.  I prefer “Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight, but “Open” is right up there.  I’m not a fan of Andre Agassi, I don’t even watch tennis, but the book is not as much about tennis as it is about life, winning and losing, and recovering from massive setbacks.  Andre is completely open with details of his greatest triumphs as well as his crushing defeats, both in tennis and in life.   If you like biographies you’ll love “Open.”

The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni

I heard Patrick Lencioni’s name mentioned a few times in leadership podcasts.  His name, and particularly his book, “The Ideal Team Player,” seemed to be synonymous with building a company culture focused on teamwork.  So I picked up a copy, and couldn’t put it down.  It’s written as a fable – a story about a leader who has to turn around a struggling company and deliberately build a team-based culture.  In the course of the story, Patrick Lencioni artfully outlines the three essential virtues necessary for an ideal team player.  I really enjoyed this book and have already given copies to several friends; in fact, “The Ideal Team Player” is my most recommended book of 2018.

The Way of the Seal by Mark Divine

“The Way of the Seal” is another book I had heard mentioned on leadership podcasts, and it has great reviews online, but unfortunately I struggled to finish it.  In this book, Mark Divine shares some fantastic principles for success, including leading from the front, how to access your intuition, and how to achieve 20X more than you think you can.  However, I think he just tried to put too many ideas into this one book, making for a difficult read.  I certainly learned a few things, but it’s not one of my favourite books.

Have you read any great books in 2018?

I’m looking for more books I can read in 2019, so please share your recommendations in the comments below.