“Leadership is influence.” — John Maxwell
This is a list of my favorite and noteworthy best leadership books.
When I think of leadership, I think of influence, change, connection, conviction, inspired action, empowerment, decisive action, forward-thinking, and vision.
The leadership books below help provide leadership skills, including mindsets, methodologies, and methods. I test many of the leadership books below while leading large scale programs, projects, and initiatives and distributed teams around the world.
I put the bulk of the list in categories so you can explore relevant leadership books and you can easily compare against your existing leadership books library.
10 Best Leadership Books
- Emotional Capitalists: The New Leaders, by Martyn Newman
- Flawless Execution
- Leadership Gold , by John C. Maxwell
- Leadership on the Line, by Ronald A. Heifetz
- Principle-Centered Leadership , by Stephen R. Covey
- The 5 Levels of Leadership, by John Maxwell
- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell
- The Essential Wooden, by John Wooden
- The Leadership Challenge, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
- The Leadership Test, by Timothy Clark
Best Leadership Books By Category
Getting Started
- Leadership 101, by John C. Maxwell
- Leadership on the Line, by Ronald A. Heifetz
- Principle-Centered Leadership , by Stephen R. Covey
- The 5 Levels of Leadership, by John Maxwell
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
- The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, by Stephen R. Covey
- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell
- The Leadership Challenge, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
- The Truth About Managing People…And Nothing But the Truth, by Stephen P. Robbins
Attitude
- 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class, by Steve Siebold
- Attitude 101, by John C. Maxwell
- Be the Hero, by Noah Blumenthal
Authenticity, Authentic Leadership
- True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership , by Bill George
Change
- John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do, by John P. Kotter
- Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, by Chip Heath
- The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, by Michael Watkins
Character
- The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, by John C. Maxwell
- The Right to Lead: Learning Leadership Through Character and Courage, by John C. Maxwell
Communication
- 20 Minutes to a Top Performer, by Alan Vengel
- Crucial Confrontations, by Kerry Patterson
- Crucial Conversations, by Kerry Patterson
- Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO, by Harrison Monarth
- The New Articulate Executive: Look, Act and Sound Like a Leader, by Granville Toogood
Daily
- Leadership Promises for Every Day, by John C. Maxwell
- Make Today Count, by John C. Maxwell
- The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day, by John C. Maxwell
Development, Leadership Development
- Developing the Leaders Around You, by John C. Maxwell
- Developing the Leader Within You, by John C. Maxwell
- Effective Succession Planning, by William J. Rothwell
- Harvard Business Review on Developing Leaders, by Harvard Business School Press
- On Becoming a Leader, by Warren Bennis
- The 360 Degree Leader, by John C. Maxwell
Effectiveness
- 180 Climbing the Two Ladders to Inner Strength & Outer Freedom, by Rob White
- Getting Results the Agile Way, by J.D. Meier
- Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, by Seth Godin
- Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead, by Charlene Li
- Secrets of Effective Leadership, by Fred A. Manske
- The Effective Executive, by Peter F. Drucker
- What Would Machiavelli Do? The Ends Justify the Meanness
Emotional Intelligence, Compassion, Heart, Empathy
- A Leader’s Heart: 365-Day Devotional Journal, by John C. Maxwell
- Emotional Capitalists: The New Leaders, by Martyn Newman
- Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman
- Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman
Ethics
- Ethics 101, by John C. Maxwell
Excellence
- Good to Great, by Jim Collins
- Greater Than Yourself, by Steve Farber
- In Search of Excellence, by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman
Execution
- Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, by Larry Bossidy
- Flawless Execution
- Know-How, by Ram Charan
- Rework, by David Heinemeier Hansson
- The Knowing-Doing Gap, by Robert I. Sutton
Executive Presence
- Emotional Capitalists: The New Leaders, by Martyn Newman
- Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO, by Harrison Monarth
- The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, by Michael Watkins
Failure, Setbacks
- Failing Forward, by John C. Maxwell
Influence, Rapport
- Becoming a Person of Influence, by John C. Maxwell
- Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, by Guy Kawasaki
- Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, by John C. Maxwell
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion , by Robert B. Cialdini
- Influence Without Authority
- Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, by Kerry Patterson
- Insider’s Guide To The Art Of Persuasion, by Dr. Rick Kirschner
- Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, by Seth Godin
Interpersonal Skills
- Be a People Person, by John C. Maxwell
- Get Them On Your Side, by Samuel B. Bacharach
- Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi
- Winning with People, by John C. Maxwell
Leadership, Lessons in Leadership
- Leadership (Harper Perennial Political Classics), by James MacGregor Burns
- Leadership, by Rudolph W. Giuliani
- Leadership (Tom Peters Essentials), by Tom Peters
- Leadership 101, by John C. Maxwell
- Leadership and the One Minute Manager, by Ken Blanchard
- Leadership Gold, by John C. Maxwell
- Leadership Is an Art, by Max De Pree
- Leadership Lessons From THE BOOK, by Bill Bliss
- Leadership on the Line, by Ronald A. Heifetz
- Leading at a Higher Level, by Ken Blanchard
- Management Rev Ed, by Peter F. Drucker
- Maxwell Leadership Bible, by John C. Maxwell
- On Leadership, by John William Gardner
- The Essential Wooden, by John Wooden
- The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick Lencioni
- The Leader in You, by Dale Carnegie
- The One Minute Manager, by Ken Blanchard
- The Truth about Leadership, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
- The Truth About Managing People…And Nothing But the Truth, by Stephen P. Robbins
Learning, Growth
- The Fifth Discipline, by Peter M. Senge
- What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, by Marshall Goldsmith
Principles, Practices, Strategies, Tactics
- It’s Not About the Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks
- Lead or Get Off the Pot!, by Pat Croce
- Principle-Centered Leadership, by Stephen R. Covey
Purpose, Passion, Motivation
- Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh
- Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel H. Pink
- Start with Why, by Simon Sinek
- Sun Tzu Was a Sissy
- The 3 Keys to Empowerment
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
- The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, by Stephen R. Covey
- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell
- The 48 Laws of Power, by Robert Greene
- The Art Of War, by Sun Tzu
- The Leadership Challenge, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
- The Powell Principles: 24 Lessons from Colin Powell, by Oren Harari
Reflection, Inner-Engineering
- 180 climbing the two ladders to inner strength & outer freedom, by Rob White
- Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within, by Robert E. Quinn
- Zengage, by David Zinger
Servant Leadership
- Built to Serve, by Dan Sanders
- Servant Leader, by Ken Blanchard
- Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, by Robert Greenleaf
- The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership, by James Hunter
Situational Leadership
- Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership, by Ken Blanchard
- Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Self Leadership, by Ken Blanchard
Strengths
- Go Put Your Strengths to Work, by Marcus Buckingham
- StandOut: The Groundbreaking New Strengths Assessment from the Leader of the Strengths Revolution, by Marcus Buckingham
- Strengths-Based Leadership, by Tom Rath
- Transformational Leadership, by Gary Vurnum
Strategy
- Strategy, by B.H. Liddell Hart
- The Art and Discipline of Strategic Leadership, by Mike Freedman
- The Lords of Strategy, by Walter Kiechel
Teamwork
- Teamwork 101, by John Maxwell
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable , by Patrick Lencioni
Trust
- The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything, by Stephen R. Covey
Vision, Mission, Values
- A Simple Statement: A Guide to Nonprofit Arts Management and Leadership
- Flawless Execution
- Leadership on the Line, by Ronald A. Heifetz
- Principle-Centered Leadership, by Stephen R. Covey
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
- The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, by Stephen R. Covey
- True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership , by Bill George
- Vision: Your Pathway to Victory, Gordon D’Angelo
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