No #156 | December 1, 2024

by Matthew Boyd

Good morning, welcome to the weekly Lead It Cool newsletter.

It's December!

Christmas season is now in full swing. One of my favourite games this time of year is to see how long I can go without hearing Wham's Last Christmas in a public place (eg grocery store).

Last year I made it to December 3rd 😆.

Also, here is the perfect holiday zoom background. You're welcome.

In this week's Lead It Cool newsletter:

• 🎁2024 Book List
• 🔁Stay on Repeat
• 😁Circle Back
• 😎Cool Links

🎁2024 Book List

This past week, we had parent-teacher interviews for my teenage son. His English teacher gave us one very specific piece of advice to help him improve: read more books.

Honestly, that’s advice we could all take to heart.

I love reading, but I’ll admit I still struggle to make enough time for it. One thing I’ve learned over the years is this: if a book isn’t grabbing you, you’re not obligated to finish it. Life’s too short for books that you don't enjoy.

With that in mind, here’s a list of books I read this year that I thoroughly enjoyed and finished. I’d also love to hear your book recommendations, so feel free to share!

*Note that these books are necessarily from 2024, that's just when I read them

⚓The Wager (by David Grann). An unbelievable true story about survival and betrayal and tall ships!

🍀Small Things Like These (by Claire Keegan). I read this book in one sitting (it's a short book). It is a beautiful and haunting book that I still think about it often.

🐤Bird by Bird (by Anne Lamott). So you wanna write a book someday? This book is the perfect companion that will both energize and demoralize you 😂.

🏈The Score Takes Care of Itself (by Bill Walsh). If you have any interest in sports and why some teams have a good culture while others don't, this book is an encyclopedia of anecdotes and wisdom.

🔴Red Rising (by Pierce Brown). I'm not usually a fan of fantasy sci-fi, but a friend gave me this book and insisted I should read it, and he was right, it was an excellent adventure.

🐱‍🐉Dragon Teeth (Michael Crichton). I consider myself a pretty big Michael Crichton fan, so when I saw this book on the library shelf and I had never heard about it before I was both embarrassed and excited. It was written after his death by piecing together research that he'd done previously. It's super fun and super easy to read about dinosaur bone hunters in the wild west.

Happy reading, and if my son happens to be reading this, get your homework done!

🔁Stay on Repeat

A wise person once told me that as a leader if you're getting tired of saying something, that means that the listener is probably just starting to absorb it.

I stumbled on this quote from Jordan Montgomery and it's 🎯.

😁Circle Back

Folks we're getting very close to this time of year...

😎Cool Links

🤔Equal and Opposite. The degree of Resistance we feel will be EQUAL AND OPPOSITE to the power and importance of our dream.

🥌Crokinole. What is this game and why do people enjoy it so much?

📖Management by Walking Out of the Room: A Method from John F. Kennedy's Leadership Playbook. The best leaders are keenly aware that their very presence can stifle the free expression of ideas, debate, and innovation on their teams – even if when such powerful people are gracious, listen well, and encourage people to speak their minds, we all learn to be careful about what we say around those who wield power over our fates.

🔮Ten Predictions for 2025.

🎅The Christmas Movie Streaming Cheat Sheet.

💌Tell a friend to subscribe​

Thank you!

Let’s connect! 💬 You can find me on LinkedIn and Twitter