From backpack to bookshelf: Books every emerging leader should read

Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada

Book 1: John Amaechi’s The Promises of Giants

I have a tendency to bring non-fiction on my travels. When I hiked the Camino across Spain in 2006, sought out by many for its spiritual promise, I read The Collapse of Globalism by John Ralston Saul by headlamp, lying in albergues at night, listening to the symphony of snorers (fellow hikers who had retired their feet for the day).

Two decades and many trips later, the habit has stuck. It’s become a running joke on my annual canoe trips with friends. Several are devoted to historical fiction, passing around the latest immersive series that transports them to worlds afar. I tend to show up with something more concrete, pen in hand, ready to underline, annotate, and fold corners with abandon.

Our 2024 Algonquin canoe trip was no exception. Tucked into a Ziploc bag was The Promises of Giants: How YOU can fill the leadership void by John Amaechi. It was a cold, windy trip, and we spent much of our rest day reading. I lay in my hammock, donning two pairs of socks, a toque, camping poncho, cocooned in my sleeping bag, devouring Amaechi’s words. (Photo evidence above!)

What makes Amaechi’s book so powerful for emerging (and really all) leaders is the way he decouples leadership from the leader: “...leadership is never about the needs or desires of the leader or the external pressures that influence that leader. Leadership is not about the leader at all” (xviii). And yet, drawing on a hilarious New Year’s Eve dancefloor fiasco, where his ‘giant’ frame unintentionally landed someone in the hospital, he reminds us of the power we hold. “We are all giants to someone.” With that power comes responsibility to act (or dance) with vigilance and care.

Amaechi lays out a series of Promises leaders must make: to themselves (vigilance against bias, embracing discomfort), to those they lead (seeing potential, being fully present), and to the organization as a whole (examining culture truthfully and critically). The thread throughout is that ‘there are no pivotal moments’. Everything you do, “even humdrum, seemingly trivial engagement can be transformative” (79).

The book forced me to confront the excuses I’ve heard (and told myself): that my hands were tied, that it’s the system, the bureaucracy, the lack of infrastructure. I can’t change the culture. While acknowledging organizational constraints, Amaechi refuses to let leaders off the hook. “We are all custodians of the culture, and as giants we must promise never to turn our backs on that responsibility” (154).

At once humbling and responsibilizing, the book also delivers a sharp critique of unconscious bias and the workshops that often substitute for real change. Amaechi doesn’t mince words, and his wit had my camping companions asking more than once if I’d switched to a novel.

It now sits atop my bookshelf, weathered by Algonquin’s winds, bristling with post-its. It’s a steady reminder of my responsibilities as a leader (and dancer) and a must-read for all emerging leaders.

(His latest, It’s Not Magic: The Ordinary Skills of Exceptional Leaders, accompanied me to Siem Reap last December. One might say John has become a travel companion.)