Leadership Bites: An Approachable Handbook for Emerging Leaders

by Ian J. McCoog

Becoming a leader in your field can be a huge professional and personal adjustment. If you are called to the task, this Approachable Handbook for Emerging Leaders—blending academics and narrative storytelling—may be the resource you need. Key themes Growth and Reflection in your career and personal life; Care and Compassion, which increases the likelihood you will do great work; and Evolution of theories around leadership from trait to behavior to emotion.

In Leadership Bites, Dr. McCoog traces the history of leadership theory beginning in the 1880s up to the modern day, while pairing theory with inspirational, eclectic, and sometimes personal short stories spanning the worlds of psychology, sports, education, and contemporary culture.

176 pages, Paperback

Published January 28, 2025

About the author

Ian McCoog is a professor and author from Scranton, PA. He teaches leadership theory, narrative medicine, and medical humanities at Geisinger College of Health Sciences. A native of the Coal Region of Pennsylvania, his creative works often focus on rural life and complex characters finding their way to fit into the larger world.

Leadership Bites, a narrative nonfiction for everyone, is his first book. It received Honorable Mention at the 2025 New York Book Festival. He is working on a second book, a novel tentatively titled The Goldfish Baseball Club.

Reviews

[Laura (thenerdygnomelife) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Leadership Bites" provides quite a lot of depth on leadership theories and a number of frameworks that leaders can apply in business. It's billed as an "approachable handbook for emerging leaders" but I think it may be better suited to intermediate leaders who have some basic leadership instincts and are ready to refine their skills. Ian McCoog is a professor and it shows — his book is largely an academic review of different leadership theories. While it's well researched and can give a well-rounded understanding, the number of different philosophies included may leave emerging leaders lacking a clear path forward. In my line of work, I have coached a number of brand-new leaders, and this would be quite a bit for them to muddle through. Still, for those who are patient enough to build their understanding and apply that to their own unique scenarios, there's benefit to be gained here.

3.5 stars rounded down. Thank you to Rootstock Publishing and Ian J McCoog for an advance copy for honest review.

[Nova81 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshing view on what leadership actually looks like. Not your boilerplate instruction manual.

[Eli Yemzow · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lawyer, a Marine Corps Officer, and an overall student of life, I have read my fair share of books on leadership. Of the books I have read, Dr. McCoog’s Leadership Bites has been a refreshing new take. He succinctly and with clarity meshes the theoretical with the practical while not compromising credibility. Perhaps the book’s greatest quality is its ability to be picked up and read at any part for quick insights in a variety of leadership principles. Anyone from any walk of life will benefit from the book!