By
Curated suggestions from our EVP, Strategy and Marketing, Brooke Ossenkop
Summer is an opportunity to step back and recharge. This pause brings perspective, forms new ideas, and renews energy to move forward.
If we've chatted, you might remember my overflowing bookcase. The books I share this summer go beyond leadership or business. They challenge us to consider how we support ourselves and others, use technology responsibly, gather intentionally, protect time to think, lead with hope, and create meaningful work.
These books are helping shaping the way I think about the future of workforce health, wellbeing, and organizational performance.
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1. AI for Good
How Real People are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter
By Josh Tyrangiel
AI can feel big, noisy and overwhelming. This book brings the conversation back to practical human impact. It looks at how real people are using AI to improve everyday systems and solve meaningful problems.
Why I picked it:
The future of wellbeing will not be technology alone. It will be technology that helps people, employers, and partners make better, faster and more personalized decisions.
A question to reflect on:
Where could technology help your people feel more supported, not more managed?
2. The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters
By Priya Parker
So much of work happens through gatherings: meetings, webinars, town halls, employee events, manager conversations, client meetings and leadership off-sites. Priya Parker challenges us to think more intentionally about why we gather and how to create experiences that actually serve a purpose.
Why I picked it:
Connection does not happen just because people are in the same room, on the same call or invited to the same event. It happens when we design moments with purpose, care and clarity.
A question to consider:
Are the moments you create for employees helping them feel more connected, or just adding more noise?
3. A Minute to Think: Reclaim Creativity, Conquer Busyness, and Do Your Best Work
By Juliet Funt
This book feels especially relevant for leaders navigating constant urgency. Juliet Funt focuses on reclaiming space for thinking, creativity and better work in environments that often reward speed, responsiveness and packed calendars.
Why I picked it:
A healthier organization is not only one that offers resources. It is one that protects the conditions people need to think clearly, solve problems and do meaningful work.
A question to consider:
Where is busyness being mistaken for progress in your own daily routine?
4. Hope Is the Strategy: The Underrated Skill That Transforms Work, Leadership, and Wellbeing
By Jen Fisher
A practical guide for HR and people leaders, Jen Fisher connects hope, leadership and wellbeing. She explores how systems can accidentally create burnout even when trying to help.
Why I picked it:
Hope is not soft. It is a leadership practice. When people believe things can get better and see a path forward, they are more likely to engage, contribute and keep going.
A question to consider:
How can you reposition questions or an approach to create more possibilities?
5. Love + Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life
By Marcus Buckingham
Marcus Buckingham has long focused on strengths and human performance. In Love + Work, he explores how people can identify what energizes them and how leaders can help create conditions that enable people to do their best work.
Why I picked it:
Engagement is not created solely by incentives. People are more likely to thrive when they feel connected to their strengths, their contribution and the work that gives them energy.
A question to consider:
What would change if you designed your work around what gives you energy, not just what needs to get done?
6. Don’t Feed the Elephants! Overcoming the Art of Avoidance to Build Powerful Partnerships
By Sarah Noll Wilson
This one is especially meaningful to me because Sarah’s work has shaped the way we think about leadership at Navigate. In Don’t Feed the Elephants!, Sarah Noll Wilson explores one of the most common challenges inside organizations: avoidance. Her work focuses on helping leaders name what is unspoken, navigate conflict with courage and compassion, and build stronger partnerships.
Why I picked it:
The health of an organization is often shaped by what people are willing, or unwilling, to talk about. Strong cultures are not conflict-free. They are built by leaders and teams who can approach hard conversations with curiosity, honesty and care.
Bonus health strategy read
The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine Is in Your Hands
By Eric Topol, MD
This is the bonus read I’d include for any client thinking deeply about healthcare, prevention and the future of the patient experience. Eric Topol makes the case for how digital technology can shift more power, information and agency into the hands of individuals.
Why I picked it:
When I started at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska, our then CEO gave all new hires this book to think bigger about the role we played in the current and future state of healthcare. In this book, you’ll find his predictions – many of which are powerful breakthroughs today. This book is a helpful lens for thinking about what happens when people are better equipped to understand and act on their health.
A question to consider:
Are we designing health and wellbeing experiences around the system, or around the person trying to use it?
Closing note from Brooke
The common thread across these books is intentionality.
The future of work and wellbeing will not be solved by more programs, more technology or more communication alone. It will be shaped by leaders who are willing to make work more human, make health easier to act on and build systems that help people feel connected, supported and capable of moving forward.
That is the kind of leadership I’m thinking about this summer, and I hope these books spark meaningful conversations for you and your teams, too.
Do good things,
Brooke
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