On Leading from the Inside Out— Read Together June 2026

Read Together · June 2026

On Leading from the Inside Out

Four books — one picture book, one for teens, two for adults — woven around what it means to lead from the inside out.

June's books came together around a question I keep coming back to: what does leadership actually look like when it's lived, not performed?

Not the title. Not the corner office. Not the person who talks the loudest in the room. But the quieter, more honest kind — the kind that starts with knowing who you are and what you're here to do. The kind that shows up in how you treat the people around you before anyone is watching. The kind that, once you find it in yourself, you can't help but want to nurture in the people you love.

These four books approach that from very different places — a child protecting a single idea, a teenager learning to build her life with intention, a woman becoming herself on one of the most public stages in the world, and a researcher asking why the greatest leaders are the ones who put others first. All four left me thinking about who I want to be — not just what I want to do.

No pressure to finish any of them. No pressure to get it right. Just an open space to read, reflect, and grow — together.

The through line thread

Leadership doesn't begin with influence over others. It begins with the decision to show up honestly for yourself — and to protect what you believe in long enough to find out what it can become.

That's the thread running through every book this month. Hold onto it.

Picture book · Ages 2–6

What Do You Do With an Idea?

Kobi Yamada

"For every child — and adult — who has ever had an idea they weren't sure was worth keeping."

A child has an idea. It's small and a little strange and the world doesn't seem to know what to make of it. The child isn't sure either. But something about the idea keeps drawing them back — and slowly, carefully, they begin to protect it. To feed it. To believe in it.

This book is one of the most quietly radical picture books I've ever read. On the surface it's about creativity. Underneath, it's about the courage it takes to lead with something you believe in before anyone else can see it yet. Read it with your little one and then ask yourself: what idea have you been carrying that you haven't let breathe yet?

The thread: every act of leadership starts with one idea you were brave enough not to let go of.

Young reader · Ages 12–18

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

Sean Covey

"The book that gives teenagers the vocabulary to build a life on purpose."

Sean Covey takes his father's landmark framework and brings it all the way down to earth — to the hallways, friendships, family dynamics, and daily decisions that shape who a teenager is becoming. The seven habits aren't a productivity system. They're a way of thinking about yourself in relationship to the world around you: what you can control, how you show up for others, and what it means to keep growing.

What I love about this book for this age group is that it doesn't talk down to teenagers. It takes them seriously. It says: you are already capable of leading your own life. Here's how to start. That message — at thirteen, at fifteen, at any age — is one worth hearing.

The thread: learning to lead your own life is the foundation for everything else.

Adult · The anchor read

Becoming

Michelle Obama

"An honest account of what it costs — and what it gives — to step fully into who you are."

Michelle Obama's memoir is many things at once: a coming-of-age story, a portrait of a marriage, a record of one of the most scrutinized lives of our time. But what stayed with me most wasn't the White House. It was the girl from the South Side of Chicago who kept asking herself what she was worth — and refused to let anyone else answer that question for her.

Becoming is a book about influence in its truest sense: not power handed down from above, but the kind that grows from the inside out, shaped by family and community and the quiet decision to keep showing up as yourself even when the world has strong opinions about who you should be. Read it slowly. There is so much here.

The thread: becoming a leader begins with the long, ongoing work of becoming yourself.

Adult · The anchor read

Leaders Eat Last

Simon Sinek

"The book that reframes everything you thought you knew about what makes a great leader."

Simon Sinek opens this book with a question: why would anyone follow you into uncertainty? His answer, drawn from military culture, neuroscience, and decades of organizational research, is both simple and radical — the leaders people trust most are the ones who make others feel safe. Who put the wellbeing of the people around them before their own comfort. Who eats last.

Paired with Becoming, this book creates a remarkable conversation about leadership from two very different angles — one deeply personal, one structural. Together they'll leave you thinking not just about how you lead, but about the kind of leader you want to be for the people in your life. Your children, your community, your team. The people who are already watching you.

The thread: true influence is built on safety, trust, and the willingness to put others first.

The reading ritual

How to read these together

Begin with What Do You Do With an Idea? — read it aloud, slowly, even if it feels too simple for the room. It isn't. Pay attention to what happens on your child's face when the idea finally takes flight. After you close it, ask them: do you have an idea right now that you're not sure what to do with? Then just listen. Don't fix or redirect. Just hear it.

The 7 Habits works well as an independent read for your young reader, but it also makes a wonderful shared read for a parent and teenager working through it together — one chapter at a time, a conversation at the end of each one. If that feels like too much of a commitment, the discussion question below is a soft place to start. Don't lead with "what did you think?" Lead with the question.

For the adult reads, I'd suggest reading Becoming first — let it settle over the first half of the month, a chapter or two at a time. Then move into Leaders Eat Last in the second half and notice how differently you're reading it having just spent time with Michelle Obama's story. One book shows you leadership lived from the inside. The other shows you the science of why it works. Together they'll change how you think about every room you walk into.

The common thread this month isn't just about leadership in the professional sense. It's about the leadership that happens at the kitchen table, on the school run, in the friendships you invest in and the ones you let fade. By the end of June, if you've been paying attention, you'll be asking yourself a different question — not what do I want to achieve, but who do I want to bring with me.

Discussion prompts

One question for each reader in your life — or all three for yourself.

For your little one

In the book, the child almost gave up on their idea because other people didn't understand it. Have you ever had an idea that felt special to you, even when no one else got it yet? What did you do with it?

For your teenager

Sean Covey talks about being proactive — choosing how you respond to things instead of just reacting. Think about something that happened recently that frustrated you or felt unfair. What did you do? And if you could go back, is there anything you'd choose differently?

For you

Both Michelle Obama and Simon Sinek describe leadership as something rooted in service — to your values, to the people around you, to something bigger than your own ambitions. Where in your life right now are you leading? And where might you be holding back from it — and why?

A note on where to buy

Every book mentioned here links to Bookshop.org — buying through these links supports independent bookstores in your community, not a warehouse. Same books, same price, a better place for your money to land.

There's no right place to begin. Just the place you're drawn to today.

Start where you are.

Read what you can.

Reflect in your own way.

I'd love to know which of these you're reaching for first — and if any of them are a reread for you, I'm especially curious: is leadership landing differently the second time through? Sometimes a book finds you at exactly the right moment, and sometimes you have to grow into it first. Leave a comment below and let me know where you are with it.

Here's to growing together this month.

A deep breath in a beautiful life.

— Britt