Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World , by Chris Lowney (ISBN: 978-0829421156).  Author Chris Lowney offers leadership lessons from the Jesuits, the renowned religious order whose originality and expertise have stirred admiration for nearly five centuries. (RADM Salerno’s choice)

Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships, by Daniel Goleman (ISBN: 978-0553384499).  A critique of society's creeping disconnection in the age of the iPod, constant digital connectivity, and multitasking. Goleman discusses the "toxicity" of insult and unpleasant social experience as he warns of the dangers of self-absorption and poor attention. Drawing on numerous studies, Goleman illuminates new theories about attachment, bonding, and the making and remaking of memory as he examines how our brains are wired for altruism, compassion, concern, and rapport. (VADM Brown’s choice)

Successful Leadership Today, by Douglas L. Drewry (ISBN: 978-1879123076).  A collection of time-tested common sense leadership skills for today’s successful leader.  Personal traits and habits, like the manner and style in which you talk and listen, are as important to leadership as the way you direct and lead others.  Leadership principles and concepts are interwoven with management and personal practices in this book.  (MCPO-CG Leavitt’s choice)

Ask the Chief: Backbone of the Navy, by J. F. Leahy (ISBN: 978-1591144601).  A compilation of leadership experiences by Navy Chiefs from the aviation, surface, submarine, and special warfare communities, this book provides words of wisdom to guide the Coast Guard and Navy Chief alike.  A Chief can enjoy just one story about another Chief’s daily life, or she/he can consume the entire book based on interviews of nearly 100 Chiefs.  (MCPO-CGRF Allen’s choice)

Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, by Ruth Haley Barton (ISBN: 978-0830835133).  This is a book that gets to the heart of the difficulties and struggles that leaders face.  Ruth's insights will, at the very least, strengthen the soul of your leadership.  (CAPT Weeden’s Chaplain of the Coast Guard choice)

The Armed Forces Officer, by the National Defense University (ISBN: 978-1597971676).  Educates officers of all services, as well as civilians, about the fundamental moral-ethical requirements of being a commissioned officer in the armed forces of the United States.

Predictable Surprises: The Disasters You Should Have Seen Coming, and How to Prevent Them, by Max H. Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins (ISBN: 978-1422122877).  Insisting theirs is not 20/20 hindsight, the authors explain how many disasters are preceded by clear warning signals that leaders miss or ignore. Characteristics of predictable surprises include when leaders know a problem exists and that problem does not solve itself and gets worse, the human tendency to maintain the status quo, and the reality of a small vocal minority (special interests) that benefit from inaction.

Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure, by Dennis N.T. Perkins, Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, and Catherine McCarthy.  (ISBN: 978-0814405437).  A former Marine lieutenant, Perkins introduces 10 key concepts he believes are essential to productive leadership with lively anecdotes from the adverse but ultimately successful expedition to the South Pole led by Ernest Shackleton in 1914 (his entire crew survived on the ice with almost no supplies or hope for rescue after their ship drifted off course and was crushed), which he contrasts with a disastrous Canadian expedition launched at almost the same time.

Coast Guard History and Culture Section

Lifeboat Sailors: The U.S. Coast Guard’s Small Boat Stations, by Dr. Dennis L. Noble (ISBN: 978-1574883367).  This the first book on the distinguished past, hazardous present, and uncertain future of an organization whose roots extend back nearly 200 years. Despite the fact that small boat stations are the very symbol of rescue upon the water, the public knows little about what takes place in them and about the professionals who put their own lives at risk in this way every day.