THURSDAY FIRE

Rogers provides professionals with a year’s worth of inspiring messages as part of his “mission to build an army of Disciplined Leaders.”

In these pages, anecdotes from the author’s life, career, and participation in sports exemplify his teachings, which extol the virtues of integrity, timeliness, humility, discipline, a positive attitude, and continual improvement (Rogers focuses on Thursdays because he emailed his first motivational message to coaching clients on that day in 2019). The author cites his father and his high school football coach as his greatest mentors, but he also highlights other people as examples of excellence, like his popular barber—Rogers notes his barber’s success isn’t due to his haircutting savvy but to his personality. The author also praises various businesses, like the Markel Group, a company that emphasizes honesty, fairness, and even humor in their work style. Among Rogers’ original concepts is “Treadmill Accountability,” which takes the idea that treadmills don’t lie and uses it as a metaphor for brutal honesty with oneself in the personal and professional spheres. The aphorism “God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason” inspires the author’s command to “Respect the Ratio,” meaning leaders should listen more than they talk. Rogers cautions against “The Waiting Place,” a state characterized by hesitation and procrastination in which progress dies. He concludes with a reminder that there’s “no finish line” to self-improvement. (As an extra motivational push, Rogers signs off each message with “Average sits on the bench.”) The book’s short chapters and weekly reading structure will make it easy for leaders to stay inspired. Rogers also infuses his advice with humor: One of his team’s “three simple rules” is “Do not be f****** late.” The author unabashedly encourages black-and-white thinking, and some observations (“We all know the professionals execute the boring while the amateurs lie to themselves”) lack nuance. The sports metaphors may seem excessive and unrelatable to those uninterested in professional athletics.

An effective weekly dose of leadership coaching for go-getters.