All leaders
are readers.

My name is John Shufeldt; for more than five decades, I have been an avid reader. Harry Truman's words have always stayed with me: "Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." Over the years, I have done my best to catalog many of the books I have read, many of which have profoundly shaped the way I think, lead, and live.

My personal mission statement

To live a life in service of others, leave the world better than I found it, and remain in a constant state of beta — always learning, improving, and evolving.

Browse the Library Find your next book →

703

Books read & cataloged

40

Years in medicine

19

Companies founded

Start with these

See all 703 →

If I could hand you a dozen books from my shelves, these are the ones — the books I return to and give away most often.

Cover of Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't

Cover of Outliers: The Story of Success

Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell

Cover of Man's Search for Meaning

Man's Search for Meaning

Cover of Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Cover of The Hard Thing About Hard Things

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Cover of Endurance: Shackelton's Incredible Voyage

Endurance: Shackelton's Incredible Voyage

Cover of Zero To One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Zero To One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

Cover of Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Cover of A Gentleman in Moscow

A Gentleman in Moscow

Cover of 1776

David McCullough

Cover of When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air

Cover of Team of Rivals

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Cover of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Cover of The Obstacle is the Way

The Obstacle is the Way

From My Desk

Books I wrote

More about my books →

Entrepreneur Rx cover

Entrepreneur Rx

The Physician's Guide to Starting a Business · Forbes Books

Amazon Audible

Ingredients of Outliers cover

Ingredients of Outliers

A Recipe for Personal Achievement · The Outlier Series

Amazon Audible

Ingredients of Young Outliers cover

Ingredients of Young Outliers

Achieving Your Most Amazing Future · The Outlier Series

Amazon Audible

LeadershipYOU cover

LeadershipYOU

Your Future Starts with You · The Outlier Series

Amazon Audible

Browse by shelf

"Leaders are readers. Every company I've built, every patient encounter I've improved, every dumb mistake I've avoided twice — there's a book behind it."

— John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA

Newest on the shelf

Browse everything →

Cover of The Book of Elon: A Guide to Purpose and Success

The Book of Elon: A Guide to Purpose and Success

Cover of 1929

Andrew Ross Sorkin

Cover of Cry Havoc

Cover of Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

Cover of The Flipside: How to Invert Your Perspective and Turn Fear into Your Superpower

The Flipside: How to Invert Your Perspective and Turn Fear into Your Superpower

Michelle "MACE" Curran

Cover of The Greatest Sentence Ever Written

The Greatest Sentence Ever Written

Walter Isaacson

Cover of History Matters: Essays on the Importance of the Past

History Matters: Essays on the Importance of the Past

David McCullough

Cover of Masters of Uncertainty: The Navy SEAL Way to Turn Stress into Success for You and Your Team

Masters of Uncertainty: The Navy SEAL Way to Turn Stress into Success for You and Your Team

Cover of The Old Breed... The Complete Story Revealed: A Father, A Son, and How WWII in the Pacific Shaped Their Lives

The Old Breed... The Complete Story Revealed: A Father, A Son, and How WWII in the Pacific Shaped Their Lives

W. Henry Sledge

Cover of Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again

Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again

Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson

Cover of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

Cover of Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War

Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War

Cover of Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run

Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run

Peter Ames Carlin

Cover of War