The only time in my life I stopped reading for fun was the three years I spent reading more than ever.

I started reading every book I could get my hands on as soon as I learned how, back in first grade, and I never really stopped. Then came law school. I spent hours every day buried in textbooks, and by the end of the night, more pages were the last thing I wanted.

Once law school ended, so did the drought. These days I read 50+ books a year. Some are audiobooks. Plenty are light and fun.

But a handful have made me better at my job. Here are five, with the lesson I took from each and how to put it to work in-house.

Workloads shift. Priorities change. Legal teams need ways to stay ahead without overextending themselves.

Latitude provides experienced former Big Law attorneys and in-house counsel who can step in on a flexible basis to support your team. Every Latitude attorney is thoughtfully vetted for skills, judgment, professionalism, and the ability to step in and contribute meaningfully to sophisticated and complex legal matters. 

With the right flexible legal talent in place, legal leaders can amplify strategic impact—leading nimble, high-performing teams that protect the business, fuel growth, and drive value across the organization. Latitude attorneys help in-house legal departments add capacity when workloads shift without sacrificing quality. Legal departments of all shapes and sizes rely on Latitude attorneys for leave coverage, backfill support, special projects, surge and overflow support, and fractional needs.

Connect with Latitude Partner Kyle Robisch to learn more.

The key takeaway: Most of us are busy with things that matter a little. McKeown argues that real impact comes from identifying the few things that matter most, giving them the bulk of your time, and deliberately saying no to plenty of good things.

How in-house lawyers can apply this in practice: Start with the business, not your inbox. Which two or three legal priorities would do the most to move the company’s goals forward this year? Put your best hours there. For everything else, decide whether to delegate it, automate it, or let it go. McKeown’s test helps: if a request isn’t a clear yes, treat it as a no. Read more of my thoughts in this previous issue: How to Set Legal Goals that Actually Drive the Business.

The key takeaway: Some leaders make everyone around them smarter and more capable. Others shut people down, often without realizing it. Wiseman calls them Multipliers and Diminishers, and her most useful point is that many Diminishers are accidental: the enthusiastic, always-has-an-answer leader who jumps in with a fix can be shrinking the team while trying to help it.

How in-house lawyers can apply this in practice: Lawyers are trained to have the answer. That’s an asset when a business partner needs a decision by Friday, and a liability when a junior lawyer needs to learn to make the call. Next time someone on your team brings you a problem, ask what they’d recommend before you share your view. Where the stakes allow, let their answer stand, even if you’d have drafted it differently. Your legal judgment got you here. Your team’s judgment is what lets you go further.