THIS MONTH'S PAGE-TURNERS ON BUSINESS AND BEYOND

Long regarded as an archetypal Hollywood “tough guy,” Terry Crews is breaking down his journey and sharing how he learned to ditch toxic toughness for healthy masculinity. In this edition of Readers & Leaders, catch a conversation with Crews about his life, his legacy, and what it really means to “be a man.” Don’t miss highlights from interviews on conformity bias, population rise, and more, plus this month’s bestselling business books, prepared exclusively for McKinsey by NPD BookScan. Itching for more good reads? Check out McKinsey on Books for the latest, and to get Readers & Leaders in your inbox monthly, click here to subscribe.

AUTHOR TALKS

Terry Crews wants you to know that it’s okay to ask for help. In a recent edition of Author Talks, the actor and former NFL player got candid about letting go of anger, embracing strength in vulnerability, addressing mental health needs in the Black community, and more from his new book, Tough: My Journey to True Power.

“I was involved in a very competitive world. From growing up among gang members and drug dealers all the way to sports and the NFL, I watched, and I became what I saw. It was about turning off your emotions, turning off what you’re feeling, turning off your pain compass. The revelation that came to me much later was that toughness is not the ability to throw a punch. A lot of times it’s the ability to take hard hits without hitting back.” Watch the full interview.

IT BEARS REPEATING

“For society to think that we can just have thousands of people leave the prison system, have some agency write them a résumé and get them a job, and then have them keep that job is kind of nutty because there are so many challenges. There’s so much support system you have to put around [formerly incarcerated people] to allow them to be resilient enough to do work. What I’m saying is that corporate America needs to think about this differently.”

–Tom Vozzo, CEO of Homeboy Industries and author of The Homeboy Way: A Radical Approach to Business and Life (Loyola Press, February 2022), in a recent edition of Author Talks

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Todd Rose implores us to speak up, even if it means going against the group: “Two-thirds of all Americans admit to self-silencing. How does a democracy function if most people can’t be honest with each other about what they actually think?” Watch the full interview.

Laura Watkins shares methods for having wellness and success go hand in hand: “On the performance curve, we’ve cracked the conundrum of how to have effectiveness and well-being—and have the two be mutually reinforcing. We’ve done that by building our inner capacity to deal with change and complexity.” Watch the full interview. 

Justin Gest explains how to honor American heritage without reproducing inequality: “What is an identity if everyone shares it? It’s not actually identifying, so there has to be some degree of exclusivity there. You need a minimal amount of exclusivity to create distinction, and you want to maximize inclusion within that. That’s a really tough needle to thread.” Watch the full interview.

Jennifer Sciubba prepares us for a planet of eight billion people: “One of the real fears that we have today is that urbanization trends won’t lead us to shiny, sparkling cities filled with skyscrapers but instead might lead us to a planet of slums. Research-wise, we still have a lot to learn about urbanization’s effects on politics and on the economy.” Watch the full interview.

Sandeep Dayal applies cognitive science to story-based marketing: “The human brain is wired to remember and react to stories much more than it is wired to react to lists or claims like ‘I’m better because I’m faster’ or ‘I’m better because I’m cheaper.’ People forget all that, but what’s the story? That narrative needs to be importantly woven into your brand.” Watch the full interview.

BUSINESS BESTSELLERS TOP

Grab your picnic blanket and head to the park with one of this month’s top business bestsellers in eight categories, prepared exclusively for McKinsey by NPD BookScan, and explore the full lists on McKinsey on Books.

BUSINESS OVERALL

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (Penguin Group USA)

BUSINESS HARDCOVER

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (Penguin Group USA)

DECISION MAKING

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell (Hachette Book Group)

ECONOMICS

COVID-19: The Great Reset by Thierry Malleret (Lightning Source Inc.)

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (Penguin Group USA)

WORKPLACE CULTURE

Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson (Penguin Group USA)

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Caste (Oprah's Book Club): The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House)

SUSTAINABILITY

Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take by Paul Polman and Andrew Winston (Harvard Business Review Press)

BOOKMARK THIS

If you’d like to propose a book or author for #McKAuthorTalks, please email us at Author_Talks@Mckinsey.com. Due to the high volume of requests, we will respond only to those being considered.

—Edited by Molly Liebergall, a digital editor in McKinsey’s New York office

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