Braveheart Standard / Book Club

Leaders Are
Readers

One book per month. Monthly discussions. A reading list built from the shelves of generals, SEALs, and history's most effective commanders.

Currently Reading

This Month's Selection

The 5 AM Club
Robin Sharma
Active Read

The 5 AM Club

Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life. — Robin Sharma

A 10-week leader development program built on Sharma's morning mastery framework. The core method — 20 minutes of movement, 20 minutes of reflection, 20 minutes of learning — trains leaders to own their morning and build the discipline, mental toughness, and habits that separate average performers from exceptional ones.

Morning DisciplineMental Toughness20/20/20 FormulaElite HabitsLegacy Leadership
Next Discussion Session
Saturday, 20 June 2026 — 0800 hrs
Virtual — Microsoft Teams | Link TBD  •  Chapters 5–8 for this session
Prepare for Discussion

Standard Questions

These five questions guide every book club session. Come prepared with specific examples from your own experience.

Q1

What is the author's core leadership principle, and how does it apply to your current role?

Q2

Describe a situation in your unit where this principle was either followed or violated. What was the outcome?

Q3

What was the most challenging concept in this section for you to accept? Why?

Q4

How would you implement one lesson from this book in your section or platoon next week?

Q5

What would you change or challenge in the author's argument?

Reading Pipeline

Up Next

July 2026
Team of Teams
Gen. Stanley McChrystal
How JSOC reinvented itself in Iraq — adaptable organizations in complex environments.
Suggested Reading

The Reading List

Books every leader in this program should have on their shelf. Read at your own pace — bring them into discussion when relevant.

Colin Powell
My American Journey
Colin Powell with Joseph Persico
Powell's autobiography — from the South Bronx to National Security Advisor. A masterclass in perseverance, service, and servant leadership across five decades.
It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership
Colin Powell
13 rules distilled from 35 years of military and government service. Direct, practical, and battle-tested guidance for leaders at every level.
Jocko Willink
Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual
Jocko Willink
The operational doctrine for building discipline — sleep, diet, exercise, and mental toughness. No excuses, no shortcuts.
Leadership Strategy and Tactics
Jocko Willink
A field manual for leaders at every level. Tactical guidance on building trust, handling weak links, and leading up and down the chain of command.
Essential Reading
Call Sign Chaos
James Mattis & Bing West
A combat leader's memoir on learning to lead through failure and adaptation — from platoon to Supreme Allied Commander.
It's Your Ship
Capt. D. Michael Abrashoff
Lessons from turning the worst-performing ship in the Navy into the best — by giving sailors ownership of their work.
Leaders Eat Last
Simon Sinek
Why some teams pull together and others don't — the biology and culture behind great organizations that protect their people.
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
A psychiatrist's account of surviving the Holocaust and the discovery that meaning — not comfort — is the ultimate source of human resilience.
Library

Past Selections

Extreme Ownership
Willink & Babin
Extreme Ownership
Willink & Babin
Two former Navy SEAL officers explain how to apply battlefield leadership principles — accountability starts at the top.
Q2 2025
The Dichotomy of Leadership
Willink & Babin
The Dichotomy of Leadership
Willink & Babin
Finding the balance between aggression and restraint, confidence and humility.
Q1 2025
On War
Carl von Clausewitz
On War
Carl von Clausewitz
The foundational text of military strategy — friction, fog, and the nature of conflict.
Q4 2024
Gates of Fire
Steven Pressfield
Gates of Fire
Steven Pressfield
A historical novel of the Battle of Thermopylae and what makes a warrior.
Q3 2024