‘Best of’ Book List

Best Leadership Books

• HBR’s 10 Greatest Reads on Leadership – Harvard Business Review
  • Note: Without dispute, the best set of articles from leadership thought leaders, every leader should have this book on their shelf, with key lessons marked
• Leadership Challenge – Kouzes and Posner
  • Note: What the book lacks in theoretical explanations, it makes up for in application
• Leadership and Self-Deception – Arbinger Group
  • Note: One of the fable books that holds a reader’s attention and carries a relevant message
• Good to Great – Jim Collins
  • Note: While the companies used as examples suffered terribly during the financial collapse, the leadership ideas stand the test of time
• Please Understand Me II – Keirsey & Bates
  • Note: The MBTI analysis is a great foundation for self-awareness leading to self-leadership, and this book clarifies the application
• Leadership in Organizations – Yukl
  • Note: A densely written compendium of leadership theory. Great as a reference book for all things leadership.
• The Wisdom of Wooden – Coach John Wooden
  • Note: Coach Wooden’s leadership track record is unsurpassed

Best Management Books

• The Essential Drucker – Peter Drucker
  • Note: Best management book ever. Pardon his use of ‘he’, the book was written in the ‘60s when the use of ‘he’ made sense
• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There – Marshall Goldsmith
  • Note: Good ideas for individuals who rely on others to be successful
• GE Work-Out – Ulrich, Kerr, & Ashkenas
  • Note: Great template for getting buy-in and generating ideas for efficiency and effectiveness
• Skunkworks – Ben Rich
  • Note: A real life example of how to get big things accomplished
• The Goal – Goldman
  • Note: A novelette that shows how lean operations works
• Execution – Bossidy and Charan
  • Note: Good formulaic approach to strategic approach and direction

Best Persuasion / Influence Books

• Switch – Chip Heath and Dan Heath
  • Note: An approachable yet well-researched book that will show you how influence works
• How to Win Friends and Influence Enemies – Dale Carnegie
  • Note: A timeless approach to working well with others
• The Heart of Change – Kotter
  • Note: The importance of buy-in in order to influence behavior and create change is emphasized
• Learned Optimism – Martin Seligman
  • Note: Before positive leadership and primal leadership, there was learned optimism. It works.
• Becoming a Skilled Negotiator – Reardon
  • Note: A book that breaks out how to use negotiation to achieve influence
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – Cialdini
  • Note: The first and last word on persuasion. Geared toward sales.

Inspiring Books

• The Happiness Project – Gretchen Rubin
  • Note: Author has a self-deprecating style of writing that keeps things light, yet thoughtful
• The Story Factor – Annett Simmons
  • Note: A different way to look at connecting and communicating
• The Alchemist – Coelho
  • Note: There is a reason this book has sold over 60 million copies around the world.
• The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch
  • Note: This book is fine but the video is spectacular
• Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do – Robert Schuller
  • Note: We’ll all face hard times in our lives, this book is full of ways to deal with the inevitable tough times

Marvelous Memoirs

• In Pain We Trust – Kevin Whiting and Vicki Whiting
  • Note: Everyone who has read this book notes the significance of the story and the listening and advocacy lessons held within
•  The Unforgiving Minute – Craig Mullaney
  • Note:  Everyone in the US should read this book to understand the commitment of our troops. It’s not a war book as much as a boy to man book
• The Heart and the Fist – Eric Grietens
  • Note: Brings humanitarian efforts together with war efforts in a manner I had not considered
• It Worked For Me – Colin Powell
  • Note: An individual who has influenced many to achieve much
• My Stroke of Insight – Jill Bolte Taylor
  • Note: Interesting and engaging insight into how the brain works

Important Reads on Social Entrepreneurship

• The End of Poverty – Jeffrey Sachs
  • Note: Brilliant ideas from a brilliant scholar
• Half the Sky – Kristof & WuDunn
  • Note: An important book. Describes the heartbreaking plight of women throughout the world … and how to fix their plight
• Creating a World Without Poverty – Muhammad Yunus
  • Note: While Yunus didn’t create micro-enterprise, he did popularize the approach to poverty eradication
• Social Entrepreneurship – Bronstein
  • Note: The classic and foundational framework for social entrepreneurship

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Great Reads

• The Fault In Our Stars – John Green
  • Note: Profound, poignant, captivating.
• The Life of Pi – Yann Markle
• The Help – Katheryn Stockett
  • Note: Don’t rely on the movie to dive into this story
• The Giver
  • Note: Different lessons when read at different times in life.

Best Travel Books

• For Europe: Rick Steve’s Guides
  • Note: Author provides ideas for tours beyond traditional high traffic tourism spots
• For Southeast Asia: Lonely Planet Guides
  • Note: Recommendations are reliable
• 1,000 Places to See Before Your Die – Schultz
  • Note: Start brainstorming and dreaming

Best Books to Bring on a Journey

• The Tennis Partner – Abraham Verghese
  • Note: While I couldn’t make it through Cutting for Stone, this memoir captured my attention

Best Books if You Are Stranded on an Island

• Darwin Awards – Wendy Northcutt
  • Note: Your plight might not seem so bad in comparison
• Game of Thrones
•  The Bible – Various Philosophers

Best Books to Make You Smile

•  All Creatures Great and Small – Jame Harriot
• Leaving Home – Garrison Keillor
• Erma Bombenck