See What’s on SMA Weimer’s Reading List
See What’s on SMA Weimer’s Reading List
The Association of the U.S. Army has published a list of books Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Weimer recommends to leaders across the Army.
Weimer, the Army’s top enlisted leader since Aug. 4, credits his family with encouraging him to read voraciously, ask questions and be inquisitive. “You’re not going to PowerPoint me to death in a brief. I’m asking questions, we’re going to have a discussion, because my time is the most valuable thing I have outside of my relationships, so I want a dialogue,” Weimer said in a conversation with Lt. Col. Joe Byerly on his “From the Green Notebook” podcast.
Weimer said he and his wife, Kimberly, are avid readers who left their vast library in storage when they moved to the Washington, D.C., area after he was selected to become the sergeant major of the Army because “the weight is insane. We’ll have a medium-size library in our retirement home.”
In addition to at least one spiritual book that he and his family count on, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World, by Michael Horton, Weimer said he is reading Peak Mind: Find Your Focus. Own Your Attention. Invest 12 Minutes a Day, by Amishi Jha, because he’s “curious about mental aptitude” and wants to “make sure my brain is working as well as my deadlift.”
Journaling, he said, is an important counterpart to reading. He urged soldiers to take time to write things down at least once a day, as he does.
Here is a look at Weimer’s first published reading list.
- Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life, by James Kerr, is about the principles behind the extraordinary success of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.
- Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for A Complex World, by retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, offers his personal insights from his experiences leading the Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq.
- A Message to Garcia, by Elbert Hubbard, discusses leadership and duty. Its timeless message emphasizes the importance of self-motivation, communication and unwavering commitment to duty.
- The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell, introduces a concept called the “tipping point,” the moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold and begins its sweep across a particular population.
- The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How, by Daniel Coyle, teaches the fundamentals of developing skills effectively and presents a compelling argument that nurture can often be more reliant than nature.
- The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, also by Coyle, highlights what it means to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and accomplish the mission from some of the best—kindergarteners.
Read the list here.