Supervisor’s Reading List
Every LEO is a leader of sorts… otherwise they are in the wrong job! However, only a select few truly aspire to improve and progress their leadership. Those who want to lead from front need to READ. CA POST published a Recommended Reading List for Supervisors, and I am posting it here with all of the links to purchase. (It’s excellent for any LEO across the USA.) I hope this list inspires you and makes it easier to grab these fantastic books.
Yes, this list is recommended for Supervisors. But even if you were a rookie, the time to start this list is now, so when you apply for the stripes, you can inform the board: “I have read all of these books!”
Recommended Reading List for Supervisors
From the California Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training - (CA POST)
Revised with links and details by TacBook USA.
101 Ways to Energize Employees by Dr. Bob Nelson (1997)
A Higher Standard of Leadership: Lessons from Gandhi by Keshavan Nair (2003)
A Leader's Legacy by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (2006)
Being the Change by Sara K. Ahmed (2018)
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell (2007)
Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing by Edwin J. Delattre (1996)
Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler (2011)
Deadly Force Encounters: What Cops Need to Know to Mentally and Physically Prepare for and Survive a Gunfight by Loren W. Christensen (1996)
Discipline without Punishment: The Proven Strategy that Turns Problem Employees into Superior Performers by Dick Grote (2006)
Drive by Daniel H. Pink (2009)
Effective Phrases for Performance Appraisals by James E. Neal Jr. (2002)
Effective Police Leadership: Moving Beyond Management by Thomas E. Baker (2005)
EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing by Francine Shapiro (1997)
Emotional Intelligence in Action: Training and Coaching Activities for Leaders, Managers, and Teams by Marcia Hughes, James Bradford Terrell, and Bonita Patterson (2005)
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ by Daniel Goleman (2005)
Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement: A Guide for Officers and Their Families by Kevin M. Gilmartin (2002)
Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life by Paul Ekman (2007)
Every Officer Is a Leader: Transforming Leadership in Police, Justice, and Public Safety by Terry Anderson and Bruce Sokler (2002)
Everyday Ethics by Denise Cummins (2013)
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill (2015)
Force Under Pressure by Dr. Lawrence N. Blum (2004)
From Boomers to Bloggers by Misti Burmeister (2007)
Generations at Work by Ron Zemke, Claire Raines, and Bob Filipczak (2013)
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins (2001)
How Good People Make Tough Choices by Rushworth M. Kidder (2003)
How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey (2001)
I Brain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind by Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan (2009)
I Love a Cop by Ellen Kirschman (2007)
Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler (2007)
Into the Kill Zone by David Klinger (2006)
It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff (2012)
Keep the Beat by Ellis Amdur (1996)
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute (2010)
Leadership and the One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard, Patricia Zigarmi, and Drea Zigarmi (2013)
Leadership in Organizations by Gary Yukl (2012)
Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading by Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky (2002)
Leadership Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse (2018)
Leadership without Easy Answers by Ronald A. Heifetz (1998)
Leading at a Higher Level by Ken Blanchard (2009)
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (2006)
Management Generation Y by Peter Dean and Molly Shepard (2005)
Managing the Millennials by Chip Espinoza and Mick Ukleja (2010)
On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and Peace by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and Loren W. Christensen (2008)
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman (2009)
Overcoming the Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni (2005)*
Performance Appraisal Phrase Book by Corey Sandler (2003)
Pick Up Your Own Brass Kathleen McChesney (2011)*
Pocket Guide to the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act by Lawrence E. Bennett (1999)*
Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee (2013)
Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen R. Covey (1992)
Rules and Tools for Leaders by Perry M. Smith (1998)
Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership by James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick (2009)
Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman (2007)
Supervision of the Problem Employee by Michael A. Wade (1997)
Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage by Paul Ekman (2010)
The #1 Guide to Performance Appraisals by James E. Neal Jr. (2002)
The Art of War for Women: Sun Tzu's Ancient Strategies and Wisdom for Winning at Work by Chin-Ning Chu (2007)
The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership by Steven B. Sample (2002)
The Courageous Follower: Standing Up to and for Our Leaders by Ira Chaleff (2009)
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni (2002)
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow (2008)
The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (2017)
The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell by Oren Harari (2003)
The Loyalty Factor: Building Employee, Customer, and Brand Loyalty by Dianne Durkin (1999)
The Mentor's Guide by Lois J. Zachary (2012)
The New Leaders by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee (2002)
The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't by Robert I. Sutton (2007)
The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (2003)
The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability by Roger Connors, Tom Smith, and Craig Hickman (2010)
The Performance Appraisal Handbook by Sharon Armstrong (2012)
The Police Manager by Egan K. Green and Ronald G. Lynch (2008)
The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval (2006)
The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck (2003)
The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller (2014)
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (2013)
The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything by Stephen M. R. Covey (2008)
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell (2002)
The Trust Edge: How Top Leaders Gain Faster Results, Deeper Relationships, and a Stronger Bottom Line by David Horsager (2012)
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki (2005)
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (2005)
Time Management from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern (2004)
Toxic Coworkers: How to Deal with Dysfunctional People on the Job by Alan A. Cavaiola and Neil J. Lavender (2000)
Training Circular TC 3-21.5 (FM 3-21.5) Drill and Ceremonies by United States Department of the Army (2015)**
Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion by George J. Thompson and Jerry B. Jenkins (2013)
Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson (1998)
Winning by Jack Welch and Suzy Welch (2006)
Workplace Safety and Health Compliance Manual by David Galt (2010)*
I hope this list helps you on your journey.
Marcus - Team TacBook
*We did not find a few of these books in Amazon and Google searches, so we linked the author’s closest title or a reasonable alternative.
** If you need a better Drill and Ceremony Manual than the Army’s, find the one used by the United States Marine Corps – the world’s finest fighting force. Semper Fidelis.