Your 2024 summer reading list
Faculty and staff across the Warrington College of Business selected their recommendations for books to read this summer. See their selections and what you’ll get out of reading each in the list below.
Leadership: In Turbulent Times
By Doris Kearns Goodwin
From Pulitzer Prize–winning author and esteemed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, an invaluable guide to the development and exercise of leadership from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The book is also the inspiration for the multipart History Channel series Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
– Larry DiMatteo, Huber Hurst Professor of Contract Law & Legal Studies, Department of Management
The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony
By Jay J. Van Bavel and Dominic J. Packer
“Understanding how groups and group identities work is fundamental to leadership success. If you ever wanted to understand us vs. them at a deeper level and walk away with tactics to help bridge division, this is the book.
Jay’s research bridges the psychology and neuroscience of how people make group-based and collective decisions. Through this book, you’ll also acquire an understanding how you are influenced by and can influence groups.
From neurons to social networks, Jay’s research examines how social identities and morality shape the mind, brain, and behavior. His work addresses issues of group dynamics, cooperation, intergroup bias, social media, and public health. He studies these issues using a combination of neuroimaging, social cognition, and computational social science.”
– Adrian Gritz, Application Developer Analyst IV, Technology Solutions
Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events
By Robert J. Shiller
“‘Narrative Economics: How Stories Go Viral and Drive Major Economic Events’ by Robert J. Shiller is a compelling book, making it a valuable read for general readers interested in understanding the intersection of storytelling and economics. As a Nobel Prize-winning economist, Shiller brings a high level of expertise and authority to the subject. His previous work on behavioral economics and finance provides a solid foundation for the ideas presented in this book. Shiller introduces the concept of ‘narrative economics,’ a novel approach that examines how popular stories and narratives influence economic behavior and outcomes. This perspective challenges traditional economic models that often ignore the power of human psychology and cultural trends.”
– Liangfei Qiu, PricewaterhouseCoopers Professor, Department of Information Systems and Operations Management
By Sebastian Junger
“While not the typical book you may see on this list, ‘Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging’ by Sebastian Junger is an essential read for business students because it delves into the fundamental human need for community, trust, and shared purpose—key elements that are crucial for creating successful and resilient business teams, or any team for that matter.
This book tackles many topics and issues relevant to our students: the importance of sense of community/culture, how a strong mission strengthens groups and is critical to success, dives deep into the need for supportive work environments that prioritize mental health, how building a ‘tribe’ highlights the impact of trust and loyalty (which every future leader needs to know), and shares real-world stories related to resilience and adaptability. All of these things are key to business, and more importantly, to life and leadership.
Reading ‘Tribe’ will equip business students with a deeper understanding of human social dynamics and provide them with practical strategies to create strong, cohesive, and resilient teams in their future careers.
As a bonus, this is a quick (less than 200 pages- perfect for summer), but not easy (subject matter) read. Students can swing by my office for a copy.”
– Houston Bailey, Associate Director, Graduate Business Career Services
The Creative Act: A Way of Being
By Rick Rubin
“Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn’t, he has learned that being an artist isn’t about your specific output, it’s about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone’s life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities.
The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distills the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime’s work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments—and lifetimes—of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us.”
– Jamie Kraft, Director, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center
The Predictive Edge: Outsmart the Market using Generative AI and ChatGPT in Financial Forecasting
By Alejandro Lopez-Lira
In ‘The Predictive Edge: Outsmart the Market Using Generative AI and ChatGPT in Financial Forecasting,’ renowned AI and finance researcher Dr. Alejandro Lopez-Lira delivers an engaging and insightful new take on how to use large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT to find new investment opportunities and make better trading decisions.
In the book, you’ll learn how to interpret the outputs of LLMs to craft sounder trading strategies and incorporate market sentiment into your analyses of individual securities. In addition to a complete and accessible explanation of how ChatGPT and other LLMs work, you’ll find:
- Discussions of future trends in artificial intelligence and finance
- Strategies for implementing new and soon-to-come AI tools into your investing strategies and processes
- Techniques for analyzing market sentiment using ChatGPT and other AI tools
– Alejandro Lopez-Lira, Assistant Professor, Department of Finance
By Patrick Lencioni
“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great book for better understanding what makes teams successful. It is a short read, coming in at under 250 pages.
The book is separated into two main sections. The first three-quarters of the book tells a fictional story of a new CEO working with a struggling executive team. The final portion of the book relates the story to actual leadership and team building theory. This book was a staple in the UF leadership department’s class on leadership within groups and teams.”
– Heath Davis, Student Engagement Coordinator, UF MBA Program
Elon Musk
By Walter Isaacson
“In this book, you’ll learn about creativity vs. leadership, the value in challenging rules and regulations to differentiate the necessary from the bureaucratic, how to embrace failure and learn from setbacks, and dream big and persist in the pursuit of your goals.”
– Judy Callahan, Associate Instructional Professor, Department of Management
