12 Leadership books

HOW THE MIGHTY FALL JIM COLLINS

This is not Jim Collin’s best-known book.  How the Mighty Fall is a study of why once great companies collapse. Collins isolates five stages of decline and doom for once-great companies (including some of his Good to Great companies). The five markers are a chilling reminder of how success goes awry. Collin’s insights into the hubris born of success and the undisciplined pursuit of more are haunting and a great window into the soul and ego of everyone who leads anything.

For anyone who’s leading anything that’s growing or successful, this is a must-read.

Here’s the link.

GOOD TO GREAT JIM COLLINS

This is Collin’s best-known book and for good reason. From “first who” to ‘confront the brutal facts’ to the ‘flywheel principle’ to ‘level 5 leadership’ and the defining role that humility plays in greatness, Collin’s insights have shaped me and the teams I lead deeply.

Here’s the link.

THE ADVANTAGE PATRICK LENCIONI

If you’re not familiar with Pat’s writings, this is a great place to start because it’s kind of a summary of all his previous work. And being a non-fiction guy, this is one book that doesn’t have a fable (which I appreciate…Pat says everyone else loves the fables...so I’m weird that way.)

You will find the section on mission, vision and values to be game-changing.

Here’s the link.

LEADING CHANGE JOHN KOTTER

This is now a classic from Harvard’s John Kotter that I picked up shortly after its release in 1996. And thank goodness.

Kotter is brilliant on the psychology and dynamics of leading change.

This book was so impactful that I later wrote my own book on change called Leading Change Without Losing It, crediting Kotter and adapting some of his principles to the church/non-profit world.

Here’s the link to Kotter’s classic.

THE FIVE LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP JOHN C. MAXWELL

Of course, there had to be a John Maxwell book on the list. Again, this isn’t his best-known work, but it’s an absolute must-read for anyone who wants to understand how influence works.

It’s a fascinating book because you can instantly recognize how you gain and lose influence as a leader, and what the next step is for you in your development. His framework also shows you why you find some people you work with compelling and others not compelling in their leadership.

Here’s the link.

PREDICTABLE SUCCESS LES MCKEOWN

Every once in a while your life flashes before your eyes when you read a book, and this was one of those books.

Les outlines 7 stages of growth and decline that organizations go through, and again, his framework (the fun stage, whitewater stage, treadmill stage)  has worked its way into my everyday leadership vocabulary because it is so incredibly descriptive of the real-world dynamics of leading anything.

Here’s the link.

I’ve had the privilege of interviewing Les McKeown twice on my leadership podcast. To hear about the seven stages of the life-cycle of an organization, listen here. For his brilliant work on creating true synergy on a team, listen here.

ESSENTIALISM GREG MCKEOWN

The first books on this list are leadership books for the organizational side of your leadership.

Now onto some that will shape you as a leader. So let’s start with Greg McKeown’s Essentialism. McKeown deals with the problem of overwhelm in leadership in a very powerful and direct way.

Most leaders are running at 100 mph and McKeown shows you exactly why that’s so dangerous and how to stop leading that way.

My biggest takeaway? If it’s not a 9 out of 10, it’s a zero. It’s a key to the disciplined pursuit of less. Again, we talk about that concept all the time on our team. It’s become part of our decision-making framework. Hard to live by, but so worth it.

Here’s the link.

THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE STEPHEN R. COVEY

This perennial best-seller is not overhyped. Read it. Then read it again. Begin with the end in mind has become axiomatic for a generation of leaders, but it’s still so rare. And read to the end to learn about sharpening the saw. So good.

Here’s the link.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE DANIEL GOLEMAN

This book was a gamechanger in 1995 when it was released, and it still is today.

It gives a penetrating insight into self-awareness and will help you also see why so many people get stuck.

Hiring for EI has become part of the lexicon in leadership because of this book, and indeed, your emotional intelligence is one of the greatest predictors of your success in life and leadership.

Here’s the link.

MARGIN RICHARD SWENSON

While its analogies are a bit dated, the principles are not. It opened up a new way of thinking for me about rest, self-care and what happens when you create space in your life.

In a world that’s only gotten busier and louder since Swenson wrote Margin, this book is even more essential today.

Here’s the link.

THE GENESEE DIARY HENRY NOUWEN

Again, not one of his well-known works, The Genesee Diary is just what it suggests, Henri Nouwen’s diary from a six month period in the 1970s.

Nouwen was a professor in NYC whose career was taking off. Caught up in success, ego and the trappings of advancement, he took a sabbatical at a Trappist monastery in Upstate New York to find his soul.

His diaries are refreshingly honest, peculiar and at times mundane, but in them, you see a man wrestling with God and God winning.

In many ways, what you find in this little book is the beginning of the man that would emerge from the struggle, a writer that generations of people who want to get closer to God would go on to love.

Here’s the link.

ENEMIES OF THE HEART ANDY STANLEY

So apparently I’m pretty good at putting relatively unknown books on my list.

Andy has written many books that have gone onto become widely read best-sellers. This is one most leader haven’t heard about.

I talk to leaders all the time who say they can’t really afford to counsel. If that’s you, buy the book instead to get started.

It will move you through all the emotions and twisted craziness you feel when you encounter guilt, anger, greed and jealousy. I promise you if you read it and apply it, you will never struggle with those emotions in the same way again.

Game-changing for me.

Here’s the link.