The 21 Best Leadership Books Of All-Time

1. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t

Best Business Leadership Book

By Jim Collins

Jim Collins and his team of analysts selected 11 outstanding organizations that went from “good” to “excellent” performance. Also, Collins is the bestselling author of Built to Last. Good to Great provides a full foundation for success by exposing us to the time-tested business principles of Level 5 Leaders, The Hedgehog Concept, and A Culture of Discipline. Moreover, if there is a business book that everyone should read, this is it.

2. Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise

Top Leadership Book

By Horst Schulze with Dean Merrill

Horst Schulze is a well-known hotelier whose leadership style has influenced many people. This book focuses on enabling people to take charge of their own leadership. Further, The former Ritz-Carlton president is a strong supporter of pro-employee ideas such as: employees deserve control over the design of their own work; frontline associates often know what needs to be done better than their managers; and an employee, when fully empowered, can provide excellent customer service and hospitality.

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Best Leadership Book Of All Time

By Stephen R. Covey

This timeless book delves into Covey’s “character ethic,” which is founded on concepts of justice, integrity, honesty, and human dignity. Many of us are externally accomplished, yet we still struggle with our internal routines. Thus, enter popular author Stephen R. Covey’s seven habits, which will help us be more productive, establish stronger relationships, and stay focused on our goals.

4. Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust

Great Leadership Book

By Edgar H. Schein and Peter A.

Schein has long been regarded as a leading authority on corporate culture. Moreover, in this new book, Humble Leadership, Schein collaborates with his son and consulting partner, Peter, to look at what he has long stated to be the other side of the cultural coin: leadership. Also, he suggest that the reader “reframe the personal task of strengthening your leadership abilities into a social challenge of helping to enhance how your groups function” based on this assumption.

They call this sort of leadership “Level 2” and distinguish it from the old paradigm of leadership, which they criticise as hierarchical and reliant on individual heroic performance.

5. Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts 

Positive Leadership Book

By Brené Brown

 Dare to Lead is a book that teaches you about the importance of vulnerability and empathy in leadership. Moreover, Brené Brown, a renowned “courage and shame” researcher, argues that leadership is about seeing potential in people and ideas, not about rank or control. Thus, Dare to Lead is a handbook for being a fearless and confident leader.

6. How to Win Friends & Influence People

Influential Leadership Book

By Dale Carnegie

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is one of the most well-known business leadership books of all time. Also, the thoughts expressed in the book still ring true nearly a century after it was first published. Carnegie’s handbook for gaining favour in the corporate world is a soft-skills tutorial. Thus, resonating with people and gaining followers are crucial aspects of leadership.

Carnegie deconstructs the fundamentals of persuasion, explaining how to persuade people of your ability, persuade them of your vision, and reassure them that you have their best interests at heart. After all, analysing your audience’s thoughts and motivations and expressing that psychology and desire in your presentation is one of the most important aspects of effective persuasion.

7. Leading Change

Best Leadership Book to Read

By John P. Kotter

Every day, whether it’s personal or professional, change occurs. And, as John Kotter argues in his book Leading Change, we shouldn’t be scared of change; rather, we should learn how to make the most of it in order to maximise our potential. His renowned 8-step technique is designed for those who desire to not only deal with change, but also lead it inside their businesses.

8. On Becoming a Leader

Top Leadership Book

By Warren G. Bennis

Warren Bennis thinks that leaders are created rather than born. And, in these times of global instability, encouraging individuals to take up leadership roles has never been more crucial. On Becoming a Leader is a frequently-cited classic in the genre, providing crucial insights into what it takes to lead. Warren Bennis’ decades of experience (as President of the University of Cincinnati, Visiting Professor of Leadership at the University of Exeter, and counsellor to four US Presidents) qualify him to give leadership advice.

9. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

Leadership Lessons Book

By Ben Horowitz

Ben Horowitz isn’t afraid to tackle the toughest leadership challenges that even business schools don’t address. Indeed, The Hard Thing About Hard Things’ whole concept is upon issues that aren’t normally spoken openly, such as needing to terminate friends or poaching from competitors.

The difficulties that come with being a leader are broken down into three basic themes in this brutally honest book: being clear about what you want to be done, ensuring that others are clear about what has to be done, and addressing unpleasant questions early. Honesty and openness are at the foreground of this read, as are their good consequences on leadership.

10. The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership was written

Best Selling Leadership Book

By Bill Walsh

The book, which was published two years after Walsh’s death in 2007, is a semi-autobiographical guidance for any man or woman who wants to be a successful leader. The Score Takes Care of Itself is a detailed handbook on how to become, and continue to be, a successful leader of men, whether in business, academics, or football.

11. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations

Top Selling Leadership Book

By James Kouzes & Barry Posner

The Leadership Challenge is about how leaders organise others to achieve outstanding results inside their organisations. The authors describe their Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, which, when effectively implemented, enable leaders to bridge the gap between simply getting things done and truly accomplishing great things. It’s a must-read for everyone who wants to stay current, relevant, and productive in the modern workplace.

12. The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter

Great Leadership Book To Read

By Michael Watkins

The First 90 Days has become the world’s best-selling book on leadership and career transitions. Professor Michael Watkins of Harvard Business School gives a road plan for taking charge in the first 90 days of a new managerial role in The First 90 Days. Avoid frequent new-leader blunders, score early wins, and establish yourself in your new position.

13. Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

Must Read Book On Organizational Leadership

By John Wooden

John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach, describes the 15 principles of success and the attributes that successful leaders share. Wooden on Leadership is a collection of adages and wisdom from one of sports history’s most successful coaches. In summary, Wooden uses his motivating words centred on morality and ethics to teach business professionals how to construct a wonderful team that people want to be a part of. Overall, this is a must-read for anybody who wants to create a motivating, long-term team culture in their company.

14. Leaders Eat Last

Top Leadership Book To Read

By Simon Sinek

The book demonstrates that High-ranking officers eat after their soldiers, putting their reports’ needs first. According to Sinek, people-first leadership makes crews feel supported and valued. As a result of these impulses, employees feel driven to demonstrate devotion and go above and beyond. Sinek says that psychological safety and trust are the keys to success, and he backs up his assertion with a slew of examples from firms all around the world.

15. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

Best Executive Leadership Book

By Patrick Lencioni

Patrick shifts his attention to team leaders in this book after writing about CEOs and brilliant executives in his first two blockbusters. In the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, a CEO named Kathryn Peterson strives to bring her team together in the face of threats to her company’s survival. It’s a brave and intelligent leadership book that addresses the five issues that any team, no matter how good, must confront.

In addition to explaining the concerns, the author also provides proactive measures for resolving these obstacles and forming a successful team.

16. Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to

Empowering Leadership Book

By Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg became a global star when her book was published in 2013, and she made appearances on major TV shows, opinion pages, and the cover of Time magazine, among other things. Lean in became a slogan advocating women’s empowerment, particularly for those working in the corporate sector for years with uneven compensation and unrecognized efforts.

It’s a book on why women who are all supporters of workplace equality lose confidence when it comes time to ask for a promotion, increase, or even equal pay.

17. Developing the leader within you

Inspiring Leadership Book

By John C. Maxwell

Maxwell’s very successful and popular leadership book, which has sold over a million copies, employs biblical underpinnings to define leadership. Maxwell specifies ideas and practises for leaders from all areas of life, including church, family, business, and non-profit leaders, based on these foundations. According to the author, any leader may attain a lifetime of sustained success throughout time if they follow these timeless positive ideals.

18. Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization

Must Read Leadership Book

By Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright

Tribes are naturally occurring groupings of 20 to 150 individuals that make up any organisation. Until today, only a few leaders had the ability to recognize and grow their tribes, and those few were rewarded with loyalty, productivity, and industry-changing innovation. Tribal Leadership teaches leaders how to evaluate, define, and improve their tribes’ cultures one step at a time. As a consequence, the company is able to prosper in any economy.

19. Awaken the Giant Within

BBest Selling Leadership Book

By Tony Robbins

Tony Robbins, a world-renowned motivational speaker and coach, teaches readers how to break negative habits, retrain their attitude, and boost their happiness so they may achieve their full potential. Also, Awaken the Giant Within, published in 1991, is full with the passion and passionate language that one would expect from a young Tony Robbins.

This is an excellent read for executives unsatisfied with mediocrity, as a coach focused on pushing individuals to their greatest potential. Although this book is geared toward young entrepreneurs and new business owners, it is a must-read for everybody who aspires to lead amazing lives.

20. The Fifth Risk 

Best Leadership Book to Read

By Michael Lewis

The Fifth Risk, by Michael Lewis, is one of the most significant and topical nonfiction books written in the past year, and it has special importance when viewed through the lens of leadership. Moreover, it’s a surprisingly upbeat look at how long-tenured, middle-level employees in a large organisation (in this case, the federal government) can keep things running for their constituents/customers in the face of absentee leadership. The Fifth Risk provides a chance for any student of leadership or corporate culture to see these themes examined in Lewis’ brilliant way.

21. Turn the Ship Around

Must Read Leadership Book

By David Marquet

“Leadership should be about giving rather than gaining control, and about developing leaders rather than followers.” David Marquet, a veteran Navy officer, was no stranger to issuing commands. Thus, the actual account of how the Santa Fe went from worst to first in the fleet by defying the US Navy’s standard leader-follower style is told in Turn the Ship Around! Instead of fighting his tendencies to seize control, he succeeded in achieving the far more powerful paradigm of yielding control.