Good to Great
Leadership & People books
Books on how to lead people well: purpose and trust, feedback and coaching, culture, and the step up into management. The list runs from long-standing classics such as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Good to Great to modern guides like Radical Candor, Dare to Lead and The Coaching Habit.
33 books2 foundation / essentialFor managers, directors, founders and people leaders
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Start here
Featured picks in Leadership & People: good first reads.
All 33 Leadership & People books
Alphabetical by title, each with a short description. Open the details for related reads and courses, or go straight to Amazon.
Built to Last
Collins and Porras study long-lived, highly regarded companies to find what separates them from comparable rivals. They argue that a durable core ideology, combined with constant progress, matters more than a charismatic founder or a single great idea. Of interest to founders and senior executives.
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Dare to Lead
Brené Brown draws on her research into courage and vulnerability to argue that effective leadership depends on brave conversations, clear values and trust within teams. It offers practical guidance on difficult feedback and emotion at work. For leaders at any level who want more open cultures.
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Discover Your True North
Building on Bill George's thinking about authentic leadership, this book guides readers to examine their life experiences, values and motivations so they can lead in line with who they are. Suitable for people at any stage of a leadership career.
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Drive
Daniel Pink challenges the idea that rewards and punishments are the best way to motivate people doing creative or complex work, pointing instead to autonomy, mastery and purpose. Relevant for managers, HR leaders and anyone designing jobs or incentives.
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Extreme Ownership
Two former Navy SEAL officers draw on combat and training experience to argue that leaders must take complete responsibility for their team's outcomes. Battlefield stories are linked to principles of planning, discipline and communication. Suitable for managers who want a direct, accountability-focused approach.
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Good to Great
Jim Collins and his research team examine why a small group of companies moved from ordinary results to sustained, outstanding performance. Ideas such as disciplined people, humble leadership, the hedgehog concept and the flywheel feature prominently. Useful for leaders and strategists thinking about lasting improvement.
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Great by Choice
Why do some firms prosper when conditions turn turbulent and unpredictable? Collins and Hansen compare such companies with weaker performers and highlight habits including fanatic discipline, empirical creativity and productive paranoia. Relevant to leaders steering organisations through uncertainty.
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HBR's 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence
Gathers Harvard Business Review articles on emotional intelligence at work, looking at self-awareness, empathy and the social skills that help people lead and collaborate. Useful for managers and professionals wanting to understand why these abilities matter.
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HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leadership
A collection of Harvard Business Review articles on leadership, covering what effective leaders do and how they build the skills to guide people and organisations. Handy for managers who want several perspectives from different authors in a single volume.
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Leaders Eat Last
Good leaders, according to Simon Sinek, put the safety and wellbeing of their people ahead of their own comfort, which creates trust and cooperation. He draws on biology and military examples to explain why. Useful for leaders thinking about culture, loyalty and teamwork.
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Leadership and Self-Deception
In a narrative about a manager at work, this book examines how self-justifying thinking, and seeing colleagues as objects rather than people, undermines relationships and results. It suggests leaders start by examining their own mindset. Suits anyone facing conflict or poor collaboration.
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Leadership Is Language
L. David Marquet, a former US Navy submarine commander, looks at how the words leaders choose can either encourage people to think and take ownership or keep them dependent on instruction. Intended for managers who want everyday communication to build capable, engaged teams.
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Leading Change
John Kotter explains why many organisational change efforts fail and sets out an eight-stage process for leading transformation, starting with creating urgency. Aimed at senior managers and change leaders working on large-scale shifts in their organisations.
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Legacy
James Kerr studies the culture of the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby union team, and draws lessons for leadership in business and life, such as humility, personal responsibility and legacy. Useful for leaders interested in culture and consistently high standards.
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Multipliers
Liz Wiseman contrasts leaders who amplify the intelligence and capability of the people around them with those who unintentionally drain it, drawing on her research. She describes practical habits for becoming the former. Suited to managers who want to get more from their teams.
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On Becoming a Leader
Warren Bennis distinguishes true leaders from mere managers and argues that leadership can be learned through self-knowledge, experience and a willingness to keep growing. Examples from leaders he studied illustrate the ideas. Suitable for those developing their own style.
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Primal Leadership
A leader's emotional intelligence shapes how a team feels and performs, according to this book, because moods spread through groups from the top. The authors describe several leadership styles and when each works best. Helpful for managers who want to lead with greater self-awareness.
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Radical Candor
Kim Scott's central idea is that managers do their best work when they care personally about people while also challenging them directly. She shows how to give and receive honest feedback without being cruel or evasive. Written with managers and team leaders in mind.
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Start with Why
Purpose comes first in this book, which argues that inspiring leaders and organisations begin with why they exist before explaining how and what they do. Simon Sinek calls this idea the Golden Circle. A good fit for founders, marketers and leaders sharpening their message.
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen Covey sets out seven habits that build personal character and effectiveness, moving from self-mastery towards working well with other people. His principle-centred approach suits managers and individuals who want lasting change in behaviour rather than quick productivity tricks.
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The Advantage
Organisational health, meaning a cohesive leadership team, clarity and consistent communication, gives companies a bigger edge than cleverness alone, according to Lencioni. He sets out four disciplines for building it. Aimed at executives and leadership teams looking for practical priorities.
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The Coaching Habit
A compact guide to coaching in everyday management. Michael Bungay Stanier offers seven questions that help leaders stay curious, give less advice and let colleagues find their own answers. Handy for busy managers who want to coach without lengthy, formal sessions.
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The Culture Code
Daniel Coyle visits high-performing groups, from elite sports teams to military units and creative companies, to find what makes their cultures work. He highlights safety, shared vulnerability and a clear sense of purpose as building blocks. Practical for anyone shaping how a team behaves.
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The Dichotomy of Leadership
As a follow-up to Extreme Ownership, this book frames leadership as a balance between opposing qualities, such as being confident without being cocky. Willink and Babin illustrate each balance with military and business stories. Of use to leaders wanting to avoid overcorrecting.
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The First 90 Days
Michael Watkins offers a structured approach for leaders starting a new role, focusing on learning quickly, securing early wins and building the right relationships. It covers joining a new organisation as well as promotion from within. Helpful for new managers and executives.
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The First-Time Manager
A practical handbook for people stepping into management for the first time, covering the shift from doing the work to leading others, along with everyday tasks such as delegating, motivating and handling difficult situations. Suited to newly promoted supervisors and team leaders.
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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Patrick Lencioni uses a business fable to describe five obstacles that stop teams working well together: lack of trust, fear of conflict, weak commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results. A practical model for team leaders who want to diagnose and address team problems.
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The Infinite Game
Business is treated as a game with no final winner in this book, which urges leaders to play for long-term endurance rather than short-term victories over rivals. Simon Sinek introduces ideas such as a just cause and trusting teams. Suited to executives thinking about purpose.
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The Leadership Challenge
Starting from research into what people do when they lead at their best, Kouzes and Posner identify five practices of exemplary leadership, including modelling the way and inspiring a shared vision. A practical, research-based guide for new and experienced leaders alike.
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The Motive
This book examines why some leaders take on the role for the wrong reasons and so neglect its harder responsibilities. Patrick Lencioni contrasts a reward-centred outlook with a responsibility-centred one. A prompt for self-reflection for aspiring and current leaders.
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Trillion Dollar Coach
Based on interviews with colleagues and the people he coached, this book portrays Bill Campbell and the way he supported executives in Silicon Valley, from building teams to giving candid advice. Of interest to technology managers and senior leaders curious about coaching and trust.
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True North
Bill George, a former chief executive of Medtronic, argues that the best leaders are authentic, guided by personal values and the experiences that shaped them. Interviews with many leaders show how character develops over time. Good reading for aspiring and established leaders.
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Turn the Ship Around!
David Marquet recounts how he handed control to the crew of a US Navy nuclear submarine instead of issuing every order himself. The resulting leader-leader approach aims to build capability and ownership throughout a team. Valuable for anyone moving from directing people to developing them.
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Courses to go with Leadership & People reading
Turn the ideas into skills with self-paced video courses. Each shelf shows the books it pairs with.
Udemy courses
Leadership skills
Courses on leading people: communication, motivation and building trust.
Browse Leadership skills coursesUdemy courses
First-time manager
Courses for stepping up into your first management role.
Browse First-time manager coursesUdemy courses
Emotional intelligence
Courses on self-awareness, empathy and working well with others.
Pairs well withDare to LeadHBR's 10 Must Reads on Emotional IntelligenceLeadership and Self-Deception
Browse Emotional intelligence coursesUdemy courses
Coaching & feedback
Courses on coaching your team and giving useful feedback.
Browse Coaching & feedback coursesUdemy links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you enrol, at no extra cost to you.
Put it to work
Choose one leadership idea and use it in a real conversation, feedback moment or team ritual this week.
Common questions
- How many Leadership & People books are on this list?
- This page lists 33 Leadership & People books, 2 of them marked Foundation / Essential.
- Which Leadership & People books should I start with?
- Good first reads are the featured picks: Good to Great by Jim Collins and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.
- Who is this Leadership & People reading list for?
- Managers, directors, founders and people leaders.
- Are there courses to go with these Leadership & People books?
- Yes. This page lists 4 Udemy course shelves for Leadership & People: Leadership skills, First-time manager, Emotional intelligence, and Coaching & feedback. Udemy links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you enrol, at no extra cost to you.
- How are the books chosen?
- The Business Reading Room curates its library by topic and groups titles into collections: Foundation / Essential, Core / Recommended and Recent / New thinking.
- Where can I buy these books?
- Each book links to Amazon through an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Editions, formats and prices are shown on Amazon.