My high school cross country coach gave me a copy of “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac for high school graduation. While I received dozens of other thoughtful gifts for this occasion, this one still sticks out to me because it helped inspire my first few steps on the new path I was taking.
That’s the power of a good book. Reading can help:
- Open your mind and refresh your perspective
- Build your ability to empathize with others
- Illuminate new ways of thinking, doing, and being
If you’re like me, you’re starting to receive invitations to graduation celebrations. It’s an exciting time, isn’t it, to share in someone’s important milestone? While we know our grads love cold, hard cash as gifts, why not also consider giving them a book that you can write a nicely inscribed message inside that – with hope – they’ll carry with them forever?
If you’re wondering what book to give, start by thinking about a book that was important to you in your youth – a book that shaped you, challenged you, and inspired you. There’s nothing more personal than passing along these thoughts and ideas to your grad.
If you’re coming up short of ideas, I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend any of Courtney’s and my books:
- Leading from the Front: No Excuse Leadership Tactics for Women
- SPARK: How to Lead Yourself and Others to Greater Success
- Bet on You: How to Win with Risk
All three books are written for leaders at any stage of their life or career.
Courtney and I appreciate all that you’ve done to commit to developing your personal leadership skills. Here’s to helping grow and inspire that next generation – when we have better leaders, we have a better world.
