In my humble opinion, the Chief of Staff position is one of the most exciting in business. The years I spent as Chief of Staff were some of the most rewarding in my own professional experiences. I learned so much working alongside our company’s Chief Executive Officer and the rest of the leadership team.

As a leader, you want to get things done. (Duh!) Maybe you’re looking to grow your company, make changes to its culture, or push boundaries with a new product. Whatever your goal, communicating well is one of the most important skills in your leadership toolkit. Without good communication, even the most talented teams will fall short.

So why exactly do leaders need effective communication skills? And what can you do to become a more effective communicator?

As an executive leadership coach, I’m a big advocate for lifelong learning. Reading is a great way for any leader to learn and grow, be exposed to new ideas, and gain an edge on the competition. Great leaders know they always have more to learn.

Here are my top recommendations for the best books for leaders for 2024.

Last week I talked about the danger of routines devolving into ruts, and how ruts make time speed up.

And I offered one way to jolt yourself out of your ruts: every three months or so, introduce some novelty! Go somewhere new. See something new. Make your brain perk up and re-engage.

This week, I have another novel jolt to offer.

There is great power in building strong habits, but the B-side of that hit record is that quite often we allow our routines to devolve into mindless ruts.

We succumb to tunnel vision. We check the same boxes, day in and day out, and while we may be productive, we aren’t nearly as effective and creative as we might be.