Breadcrumb
President's Bookshelf
President Callahan is pleased to share a selection of books that have been especially meaningful to him, both personally and professionally. Spanning leadership, business, psychology, sociology, history, political science, philosophy and more, these titles reflect the diverse ideas and perspectives that have shaped his thinking over the years. In the reflections below, he shares what makes each book memorable and how its lessons have influenced his approach to leadership.
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't
Jim Collins
Book Club Selection: Spring 2022
Jim Collins’ seminal work, “Good to Great,” is my all-time favorite leadership book. Collins provides clear pathways on how to take a good organization and make it a great one. It is filled with concepts that resonate deeply with me, and that I rely on in decision-making on a daily basis.
The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux
Cathy N. Davidson
Book Club Selection: Fall 2025
The new education has influenced my thinking on higher education more than any book written in the past decade. Professor Cathy Davidson has visited Pacific to discuss engaging 21st century teaching methods for 21st century learners.
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Angela Duckworth
The psychology professor makes a compelling argument for why "grit"—the combination of passion and long-term perseverance—is a greater determinant of long-term success than talent.
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor Frankl
The author writes about the horrors of living through Nazi death camps and how those experiences led to his psychological theory that people's primary motivation is their search for meaning in life.
True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership
Bill George
A former corporate CEO draws on 125 interviews with top leaders to show how finding and staying true to your values, beliefs and passions results in the most impactful leadership.
Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman
Daniel Goleman has written more than a dozen books on EQ. Raised in Stockton, his mother was a long-time sociology professor at Pacific and his father was a humanities professor at Delta College.
The Emotionally Intelligent Leader
Daniel Goleman
Book Club Selection: Spring 2024
Published in 2019, “The Emotionally Intelligent Leader” is a compilation of three of Goleman’s early Harvard Business Review articles: “What Makes a Leader?” (HBR, 1998), “The Focused Leader” (HBR, 2013) and “Leadership That Gets Results” (HBR, 2000).
Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day
Daniel Goleman and Cary Cherniss
Book Club Selection: Spring 2024
Emotional intelligence is central to our relationship-based leadership style and culture. Goleman’s latest book talks about how to operationalize EQ strategies and tactics every day.
Leadership in Turbulent Times
Doris Kearns Goodwin
One of the most important and prolific historians of our time writes about how crises helped mold the leadership styles and beliefs of four American presidents: Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and LBJ.
I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times
Monica Guzman
Book Club Selection: Fall 2024
Part of first-year common read, this book emphasizes the importance of shared experience, intellectual engagement and community building.
Transforming a College: The Story of a Little-Known College's Strategic Climb to National Distinction
George Keller
Book Club Selection: Fall 2021
The story of how a secondary, regional institution—Elon College—grew into one of the nation’s best small comprehensive universities.
Thinking About Leadership
Nannerl O. Keohane
The former president of Duke University writes about leadership from the perspective of her discipline, political science, weaving in theories of the great leadership thinkers over time.
Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer
Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell
Book Club Selection: Fall 2020
The leadership of arctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton is based on a simple characteristic: optimism. “Shackleton’s Way” has helped inform my leadership thinking over the years. I have found his leadership through optimism quite inspiring, especially in challenging times.
Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us
Daniel Pink
Book Club Selection: Spring 2021
Daniel Pink’s work has had a great influence on my thinking about motivation and leadership. He synthesizes a body of research to explore factors that truly motivate people, arguing that money and other extrinsic motivators are less powerful than intrinsic values of autonomy, mastery and purpose.
Lean-In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead
Sheryl Sandberg
The long-time COO of Facebook explores the obstacles women still face in leadership positions, and how to overcome them. A book that is equally important for men as women.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Simon Sinek
Why do we do what we do? The author writes about how people won't follow an enterprise, company, movement, product or idea until they understand the "why" behind it.
The Art of War
Sun Tsu
Written in the 5th century B.C., this ancient Chinese military handbook has remarkably simple but powerful lessons for 21st century leaders far beyond the battlefield. It has been a favorite of leaders from Douglas MacArthur to Bill Belichick.
