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This list of reading recommendations from association experts helps business executives and association leaders tackle the challenges of 2021. A guest on The Association Podcast recommended each resource. In our first 11 episodes, we asked each guest to share a recommendation that has influenced them recently.

These recommendations reflect the many challenges of a year dominated by a global pandemic and all that has brought with it. There are reflections on life, hope, building positive cultures, confronting racism, and building inclusive cultures. While many of these books and resources are focused on business and leadership, there are escapes into nostalgia and celebrity.

The Association Podcast

Episode 2: Jake Fabbri Chief Marketing Officer and Board Member at Fonteva

Trailblazer Audiobook By Marc Benioff, Monica Langley cover art

Trailblazer
The Power of Business as the Greatest Platform for Change
By: Marc Benioff, Monica Langley

Episode 3: Gretchen Steenstra, Strategic Consultant, DelCor

No Time Like the Future Audiobook By Michael J. Fox cover art

No Time Like the Future
An Optimist Considers Mortality
By: Michael J. Fox

Positive Intelligence Audiobook By Shirzad Chamine cover art

Positive Intelligence
Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours
By: Shirzad Chamine

Talking to Strangers Audiobook By Malcolm Gladwell cover art

Talking to Strangers
What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know
By: Malcolm Gladwell

Trillion Dollar Coach Audiobook By Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle cover art

Trillion Dollar Coach
The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell
By: Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle

Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility Audiobook By Patty McCord cover art

Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility
By: Patty McCord
Narrated by: Patty McCord, Alex Hyde

The Coddling of the American Mind Audiobook By Jonathan Haidt, Greg Lukianoff cover art

The Coddling of the American Mind
How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
By: Jonathan Haidt, Greg Lukianoff

Episode 4: Michael Hoffman Founder and CEO of Gather Voices

The Sum of Us Audiobook By Heather McGhee cover art

The Sum of Us
What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
By: Heather McGhee

Episode 5: Jeff Cooper, Former President and CEO, ExpoLogic

The Psychology of Money Audiobook By Morgan Housel cover art

The Psychology of Money
Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness
By: Morgan Housel

Episode 6: Patrick Dorsey EVP Marketing at Impexium

Beastie Boys Book Audiobook By Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz cover art

Beastie Boys Book
By: Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz

Episode 7: Andrea Chang, VP Project Delivery at Adage and Craig Peake, Sr. Director, Enterprise Programs Manager at AMS GEEK

Craig’s reading:

Deep Work Audiobook By Cal Newport cover art

Deep Work
Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
By: Cal Newport

Andrea is reading:

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Audiobook By Mark Manson cover art

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
By: Mark Manson

Quit Like a Woman Audiobook By Holly Whitaker cover art

Quit Like a Woman
The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol
By: Holly Whitaker

The Ride of a Lifetime Audiobook By Robert Iger cover art

The Ride of a Lifetime
Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
By: Robert Iger

Episode 8: Larissa Fair, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications at U.S. Energy Storage Association

The Push Audiobook By Ashley Audrain cover art

The Push
A Novel
By: Ashley Audrain

Episode 9: Eric Thurston, CEO, TCP Software and Former CEO, Personify

The Book of Satoshi Audiobook By Phil Champagne cover art

The Book of Satoshi
The Collected Writings of Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto, 1st Edition
By: Phil Champagne

Episode 10: Ryan Costello, Chief Strategy Officer, MemberSuite

Episode 11: Rick Bawcum, Founder, and CEO of CIMATRI

The Core Value Equation Audiobook By Darius Mirshahzadeh cover art

The Core Value Equation
By: Darius Mirshahzadeh

Conscious Capitalism Audiobook By John Mackey, Raj Sisodia, Bill George cover art

Conscious Capitalism
Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business
By: John Mackey, Raj Sisodia, Bill George

They Ask, You Answer Audiobook By Marcus Sheridan cover art

They Ask, You Answer
A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today’s Digital Consumer, Revised & Updated
By: Marcus Sheridan

Joe Post, VP Strategy & UX at Adage Tech

Leading Digital Audiobook By George Westerman, Didier Bonnet, Andrew McAfee cover art

Leading Digital
Turning Technology Into Business Transformation
By: George Westerman, Didier Bonnet, Andrew McAfee

Made to Stick Audiobook By Chip Heath, Dan Heath cover art

Made to Stick
Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
By: Chip Heath, Dan Heath

Jake Toohey, Senior Digital Consultant at Adage Tech

Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition Audiobook By W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne cover art

Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim 

This Might Get Me Fired: A Manual for Thriving in the Corporate Entrepreneurial Underground by [Gregory Larkin]

This Might Get Me Fired: A Manual for Thriving in the Corporate Entrepreneurial Underground Kindle Edition
by Gregory Larkin

Ben Muscolino, CEO AMS Geek, and CEO at Breezio

Greenlights Audiobook By Matthew McConaughey cover art

Greenlights
By: Matthew McConaughey
Narrated by: Matthew McConaughey

Is there a book or resource that’s made a difference for you recently? Share in the comments below.

Image Credit: El mundo social : Cortada, Juan : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/AK092 via @internetarchive