15 Best Women Leadership Books for Every Women Leader (2024)

Play by the rules, but be ferocious.

Phil Knight, founder, Nike

Reading books helps in developing the leader within you; they are one of the best ways to learn, acquire a positive leadership style, grow your leadership strategy and tactics and provide many more endless benefits.

In this growing world, Women and women leaders need an arsenal of information in order to attain leadership in a work setting that is created for males in today’s society. Fortunately, there are many women leadership books and females who have blazed the path and can give guidance.

We must demand gender-balanced leadership now more than ever, recognise women leader’s contributions equally, and foster inclusive workplaces that allow women and girls to accomplish their goals. By adopting bold, pragmatic action to promote gender parity in our own realms of influence, we can become a leader within our own areas of influence.

Thereby we have listed 15 best Women leadership books for women that comprise leadership lessons by some renowned writers, which will teach you-

• leadership and self-deception
• positive leadership
• leadership strategy and tactics
• leadership lessons
• emotionally intelligent leadership
• Executive leadership

These books comprise –

• best books for female CEOs
• biographies of women leaders
• books on female leadership
• leadership books by women

This article contains:

• the best Leadership Books for Women leaders
• top Leadership Books for Women leaders
• good business leadership books
• executive Leadership Books for Women leaders
• the best Leadership Books for Women leaders and Lean Transformation

Here are Learn Transformation’s picks for the top 15 Best Leadership books:

1. I Am Malala

   By Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai, a young Pakistani lady from the Swat Valley, is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner ever. “I Am Malala,” tells her narrative of fighting for education rights, surviving a gunshot wound to the head, and speaking before the United Nations in New York. This book tells the narrative of a family displaced by global terrorism while also providing an understandable overview of Pakistan’s convoluted history. Malala Yousafzai became a global icon for nonviolent protests when she was 16 years old, and she continues to teach us all how one voice can change the world.

Find out more about: I Am Malala.

2.Lead From The Outside: How to build your future and make real change

    By Stacey Abrams

Stacey Abrams does not require an introduction. She discusses the problems that leaders confront in this book and offers special leadership advice to women of colour and other oppressed individuals. All of her counsel is based on her hard-won experience as a politician and in the business and charity worlds.

Find out more about: Lead From The Outside.

Read Also: 3 Best Books On Leadership To Overcome Top Leadership Challenges

3.Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

   By Sheryl Sandberg

One of the most widely read books about female leadership is Lean In. Sheryl Sandberg, a Facebook CEO, pushes professional women to speak out, take chances, and be more assertive in the workplace. Mentorship, negotiation, and work-life balance are among the subjects covered in the book.

Sandberg wants to assist women in overcoming their natural propensity to shrink or withdraw when confronted with opposition, encouraging female leaders to “lean in” and take command of the debate. Lean In is a credo promoting women’s empowerment and equal pay in the workplace. The book continues to inspire and motivate women executives even a decade after it was first published, and it continues to provoke discussions about gender at work.

Leader’s Tip
Never stop learning and developing: read widely, participate in leadership programmes, seek out a mentor, and welcome constructive criticism to hone your leadership abilities.

Find out more about: Lean In.

4.Unbound: My story of liberation and the birth of the me-too movement

    By Tarana Burke

Unbound is Tarana Burke’s memoir, the one who created the Me Too movement — that we’re talking about. Every woman has a narrative to tell, which means that every woman leader or woman aspiring to be a leader does as well. Burke’s book serves as a reminder of how women must put all of their identities together in order to show up.

Find out more about: Unbound.

Read Also: Transformational Leadership Books For Leaders

5.The Next Generation of Women Leaders

    By Selena Rezvani

‘’The Next Generation of Women Leaders” is a compilation of tales and recommendations for female business leaders. Rezvani offers 30 interviews with successful businesswomen from all walks of life. She speaks on gender dynamics, business classics, and the intersections of feminism, ambition, and success.

Find out more about: The Next Generation of Women Leaders.

6.More Than Enough: Claiming space for who you are (no matter what they say)

   By Elaine Welteroth

Welteroth’s work is a strange combination of memoir and message. She had a ground-breaking career as the editor of Teen Vogue, an accomplishment that took years to achieve as she rose through the ranks of the fashion industry. She goes beyond the highlight reels in this book to share her insights on what it was like to be a Black woman in the fashion industry and how she learnt to lead herself.

Find out more about: More Than Enough.

7. In the Company of Women

   By Grace Bonney

Grace Bonney’s “In the Company of Women” lays forth the elements to success with practical and uplifting guidance. The book highlights women from all around the world who have decided to embrace entrepreneurship and creativity in their professional life. It is aimed at entrepreneurs and makers. Through interviews and photographs of their workspaces, a varied group of over 100 women is showcased.

Find out more about: In the Company of Women.

Read Also: Charismatic Leadership – The Best Playbook for all Leaders (2024)

8. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

   By Carol S. Dweck

Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist, spent a decade researching the influence of people beliefs and shares her results in a book that has become a dog-eared staple on many C-suite shelves. This book gave birth to the concepts of “fixed mindsets” and “growth mindsets.” Mindset is the small engine that might revolutionise whole enterprises by providing up-to-date information and ideas.

Find out more about: Mindset.

9.How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job

   By Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith

The book identifies major stumbling blocks for women in the workplace and recommends habits and tactics to help female leaders advance more rapidly. The book examines 12 harmful practices that keep women from achieving their professional objectives and offers solutions. Perfectionism, people-pleasing, and a reluctance to self-promote are addressed in chapters, and female readers are given advice on how to make more effective professional choices.

Find out more about: How Women Rise.

10. Know Your Value

     By Mika Brzezinski

Mika Brzezinski offers “Know Your Value,” a critical look at how women today become noticed, successful, and rewarded, inspired by her own experience as co-host of “Morning Joe.” She tells anecdotes from accomplished women like Valerie Jarrett, Susie Essman, Nora Ephron, Sheryl Sandberg, and Joy Behar in a caustic and accessible tone. She raises concerns about the patterns that discourage women from negotiating, as well as the consequences of doing so and the gender wage disparity.

Find out more about: Know Your Value.

11. Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office: Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers       

 By Lois P. Frankel

Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office aims to dispel the misconception that being nice, caring for others, and never making trouble is the route to female success. Women are encouraged to be agreeable and self-conscious about other people’s judgments from a young age. This book exposes the established habits and attitudes that keep women from progressing in their careers, as well as techniques for overcoming them. Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office focuses on self-destructive practices such as taking on too many duties, expecting to be recognised automatically, or failing to speak up for yourself, and provides more effective alternatives.

Find out more about: Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office.

12. How Remarkable Women Lead

     By Joanna Barsh

This book is based on five years of study into what motivates and maintains great female leaders. This book offers a hopeful look at women’s leadership methods and prospects, raising “provocative themes like whether feminine leadership attributes (for both men and women) are better suited for our fast-changing, hyper-competitive, and more complicated society.” She explains Centered Leadership and includes personal tales from Alondra de la Parra, Andrea Jung, Ruth Porat, Eileen Naughton, and Julie Coates.

Find out more about: How Remarkable Women Lead.

13. That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together       

By Joanne Lipman

The book takes a ground-breaking approach to the treatment of women in the workplace. The gender gap is addressed in this book, as well as the ways in which traditional diversity efforts might fall short. Rather than putting the burden of seeking equal treatment completely on women, the book speaks to males and offers persuasive arguments about how equality might benefit male co-workers. Women can utilise this logic to more quickly and successfully resolve problems and negotiate.

Leader’s Tip
Leaders should devote time to introspection, learning about themselves and how they may best serve their teams.

Find out more about: That’s What She Said.

14. Becoming

     By Michelle Obama

One of the most popular biographies of female leaders is Becoming. Michelle Obama chronicles her life journey from the South Side of Chicago to the White House in her biography, highlighting the leadership skills she acquired along the way. The book talks about issues such as racism, parenting, and female accomplishment, as well as flaws and achievements. Becoming is both inspirational and honest, as well as educational. Michelle is a role model for strong women, teaching readers how to follow in her footsteps while forging their own paths.

Find out more about: Becoming.

15. The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

      By Samantha Power

Power is a well-known human rights activist and international policy specialist. She tackles the good power of what one person can achieve in her storey. Power delivers significant insights and stories while retaining her objectives for female leaders who aspire to be in the corridors of again power.

Women leadership books are manuals that assist women in obtaining and excelling in management and executive positions. Dealing with prejudice, speaking out and being heard, and winning the respect of direct reports, colleagues, and supervisors are all subjects covered in this genre. These books will help women to develop their management skills and leadership skills.

Find out more about: The Education of an Idealist.

Key Takeaways

• Leadership books can help inspire and guide leaders on their journey by providing valuable ideas, frameworks, and real-world examples.
• They provide actionable advice on how to strengthen teams, handle difficult decisions, encourage creativity, and propel good change.
• Dedicating time to reading about leadership can help you develop as a leader, increase your depth of understanding, and hone your techniques for sustained success.