Soup: A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture, by Jon Gordon, is a simple, easy-to-read (or listen to) book. It provides basic organizational culture strategies through the “stirring” story of a young female CEO struggling to revitalize her company only to realize the key ingredients after talking with the Grandma-in-Chief at Grandma’s Soup House, a nearby restaurant always with a bustling crowd.

The foundational leadership concepts are simple enough for novice leaders and powerful, quick reminders for expert leaders. It resounds that the person stirring the soup matters and that relationships (e.g. people) are the root key to everything we do in business and service. While the table of contents is long, each chapter lasts only a few minutes; you can finish the book in about 2.5 hours, and since the chapters are short, it is an easy book to read while commuting.

While it wasn’t a part of my business school curriculum, I am sure it is a part of someone’s, and this would be a great book for any new leader or a new leader development book club. All-in-all, Soup is an imaginative read with practical implications.