UChicagoReads: Self-improvement

UChicagoReads features books written by UChicago staff, faculty, students, and alumni or those written about University topics. Do you know of a book we should feature? Do you have a book of your own? Email us at uchicagointranet@uchicago.edu.

With the new year right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about new year’s resolutions. As you look for inspiration and motivation for 2025, consider this curated selection of self-improvement books authored by University of Chicago alumni and staff. We hope this edition of UChicagoReads will help propel you into a successful new year.

The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement

David Brooks
© 2011 | 424 pages

Synopsis

This is the story of how success happens. It is told through the lives of one composite American couple, Harold and Erica—how they grow, push forward, are pulled back, fail, and succeed. Distilling a vast array of information into these two vividly realized characters, Brooks illustrates a fundamental new understanding of human nature. The unconscious mind, it turns out, is most of the mind—not a dark, vestigial place but a creative and enchanted one, where most of the brain’s work gets done. This is the realm of emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, genetic predispositions, personality traits, and social the realm where character is formed and where our most important life decisions are made. The natural habitat of The Social Animal.

Drawing on a wealth of current research from numerous disciplines, Brooks takes Harold and Erica from infancy to school; from the “odyssey years” that have come to define young adulthood to the high walls of poverty; from the nature of attachment, love, and commitment, to the nature of effective leadership. He reveals the deeply social aspect of our very minds and exposes the bias in modern culture that overemphasizes rationalism, individualism, and IQ. Along the way, he demolishes conventional definitions of success while looking toward a culture based on trust and humility.

About the authors

David Brooks (AB’83) is a columnist for the New York Times and the author of, among other books, The Road to Character (2015) and The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life (2019). In addition to his work at the Times, Brooks has been a reporter and op-ed editor for the Wall Street Journal, a senior editor at the Weekly Standard, a contributing editor at Newsweek and The Atlantic, and a commentator on NPR and the PBS NewsHour. Brooks was a Senior Fellow at Yale’s Jackson Institute and currently serves as chair of Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C and as a senior advisor to the UChicago Leadership & Society Initiative.

Collaborative Crisis Management: Prepare, Execute, Recover, Repeat

Thomas A. Cole and Paul Verbinnen
© 2022 | 192 pages

Synopsis

Two experienced corporate crisis advisors offer a thorough and approachable guide to successful crisis management from anticipation to resolution.

All organizations face crises from time to time, and at a time when news, information (or misinformation), and rumors can spread quickly, a timely and thoughtful response to a crisis, is critical. In this book, Cole and Verbinnen offer a primer on how organizational leadership should prepare for and handle crises. The steps, plans, and cautions they offer show how organizations can deal openly and honestly with challenges while continuing to survive and prosper.

The book is organized around a broad range of discrete issues that need to be addressed in managing any crisis and provides the steps required to successfully address each of those issues. The authors urge crisis managers to focus attention equally on four phases of prepare, execute, recover, and then repeat (after reflecting on the results of the last crisis) with the next one. The emphasis is on preparation and planning, setting up the procedures, and organizing the teams that will respond to each crisis.

Unlike other crisis books that focus solely on communication, Collaborative Crisis Management goes further and in addition to communication, it discusses both the legal obligations and organizational challenges that accompany a crisis. The result is an indispensable guide for leaders, board members, and business students.

About the author

Thomas A. Cole, JD’75, is chair emeritus of the executive committee of Sidley Austin LLP, a global law firm. For several years, Cole taught a seminar on corporate governance at The University of Chicago Law School. He has also made time for civic engagement, serving on the University of Chicago Board of Trustees and previously chairing the board of Northwestern Memorial Healthcare, and is a devoted husband, father of four daughters and a grandfather.

The 9 Universal Laws of Success: A Pathway to Personal Wealth, Happiness, and Fulfillment

Christopher E.L. Toote
© 2019 | 78 pages

Synopsis

The 9 Universal Laws of Success compiles what the author believes to be the most powerful, comprehensive expressions experienced by humankind. Toote proposes that knowledge and activation of these laws initiate, foster, and create an inevitable oasis of wealth, success, and happiness, and applying these laws will fulfill a person's dreams and aspirations. The 9 Universal Laws of Success intends to help readers expand their thinking, explore creativity, tap their true potential, know their purpose, and live a fulfilled, successful, healthy, and happy life.

About the author

Christopher E.L. Toote is the executive director of UChicago Dining where he oversees a multifaceted dining services program that includes residential dining, retail operations, catering, and a commissary. In addition to his work in campus hospitality and higher education administration, Toote is also a pastor, inventor, and author. He has penned ten books on topics around leadership and faith. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, billiards, golf, and international affairs.