Resources for Growing Leaders
Books and tools that expand your capacity, deepen your self-awareness, and strengthen your ability to lead yourself—and others—well.
Great leaders never stop learning.
The books and tools on this page aren’t random recommendations—they’re resources John has used personally and with clients over 30+ years of leadership development. Each one is chosen because it delivers real insight, not just theory. Whether you’re looking to strengthen your emotional intelligence, build trust faster, or understand how you’re wired to work, you’ll find something here to move you forward.
Start with an assessment to know yourself better, or grab a book that speaks to where you are right now in your leadership journey.
Books for Leaders
Assessments for Self Development
Only 10 minutes to get a “freakishly accurate” description of who you are and why you do things the way you do.
The fastest-growing assessment for understanding yourself and your team. Discover your gifts. Transform your life.
1st Lead U Podcast Episodes
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Fight, Flight, Freeze or Fawn – The Four Fs of Responding – CHART – Ep 333
Pressure doesn’t create your character; it reveals your training. We dive deep into the four Fs—fight, flight, freeze, and fawn—and show how these hardwired trauma responses quietly shape decisions, meetings, and culture. Instead of shaming…
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Teamwork At The Highest Level
The holy grail of leadership isn’t a new tool or a louder pep talk. It’s a team that operates with clarity, trust, and speed—especially when the waters get rough. This episode helps leaders create real…
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Transparency: Clear Steps To Transparent Leadership – EP 331 – CHART
Leadership gets messy when silence lets rumors grow. We dig into practical transparency—the kind that earns trust, sharpens execution, and cuts through noise—without veering into oversharing. Starting from the twin meanings of transparency (letting light…
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Leading with Truth: CHART Ep 330
Want to lead with clarity when facts, feelings, and norms collide? We zoom in on truth as a leadership discipline—how to recognize what kind of truth you’re dealing with and how to communicate it so…
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Training – Everyone Needs It to Succeed – CHART Ep 329
Part of the leadership gap facing society today is as much a teaching gap as it is a lack of communication gap. In this episode we discuss how training, grounded in assessments and tailored to…
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Results Require Intentional Communication – CHART – Ep 328
We push past platitudes to the final R—RESULTS—tying identity, emotional intelligence, and clear “turn signals” to real execution. From apprenticeships to role‑flexing, we lay out practical ways to set goals, shift direction without whiplash, and…
