![]() ![]() Local units are encouraged to solicit ideas from local personnel about implementing the Professional Reading Program. There are also many options for purchasing the books in hard copy or digital format. Many local libraries offer digital access to digital books and audio books to their members. Reading and reflection are two of the ways we can work on the mental aspect of leadership and get better at implementing the physical aspects of being a good leader. Leadership skills need to be continuously learned, refined, and practiced, and there is a mental component as well as a physical component. Self-development is an important part of being a leader, and reading and reflection are valuable tools in the kit that can help you improve your leadership skills. Some might be more relevant and applicable at the identified leadership level. ![]() However, this shouldn’t limit the reader’s choice of books, as all of the books on the list can be useful at all levels of leadership. Each book will be associated with the leadership level that would most benefit from the information and topics in the book. This year we are working to integrate the Wildland Fire Leadership Levels with the reading list. The important part is to read, think about it, and talk about it! You don’t have to agree with the authors, or even like what they have to say. Feel free to use these discussion questions or come up with your own. For each of this year’s titles, we’ve put together a basic “why should I read this” document with some simple questions meant to spark discussion. You don’t need to read all the books on the list, although that’s great if you do. ![]() Most professional organizations maintain some sort of reading program, and reading followed by reflection is a valuable tool for leadership development. It’s a tool available for anyone to use as they see fit. There’s no right or wrong way to read or to use this program. Let this be your roadmap to an enjoyable and rewarding reading program. Many of the books will be hard to put down. The selected titles have been chosen for their intrinsic excitement as well as their content. These readings will provoke reflection, discussion, and debate. This is not busy work this is not drudgery. How many of our young firefighters know what happened at South Canyon? How many have read anything that discusses the principles of sound leadership? How many have read stories from other disciplines or endeavors that describe leaders in action? For several hundred dollars, a fire organization can put together a good library from the titles on this list and implement a reading program on their home unit. Many corporations have required readings for their supervisors and managers. “Few people changed more lives than Howard Zinn.All branches of the United States military have professional reading programs and a key part of those programs is the recommendation that every leader read at least two books a year. She has a knack for going to the root of our planetary crises and explaining how we arrived here, and what to do about it.” “Harsha Walia doesn’t peddle easy solutions or liberal bromides. "Taylor has absconded from the ivory tower to break down the current Movement for Black Lives, arguing that it holds the potential to reignite a broader push for black liberation." “Arundhati Roy is one of the few great revolutionary intellectuals in our time." ![]() “José Olivarez’s work shines a spotlight on the often-overlooked stories of Mexican-Americans in the Midwest-the all too familiar feeling of being ni de aqui, ni de alla (not from here, nor there).” “Aja Monet’s poetry offers us textures of feeling and radical shifts of meaning that expand our capacity to envision and fight for new worlds.” "Naomi Klein has become the most visible and influential figure on the left–what Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky were thirty years ago." "Ignore Eve Ewing at your own intellectual, political, and cultural peril." “Mohammed El-Kurd’s poetry is a home returned to us.” “Before the world knew what intersectionality was, the scholar, writer and activist was living it, arguing not just for Black liberation, but for the rights of women and queer and transgender people as well.” ![]()
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