In 2021, I stretched beyond my comfort zone and sharpened the way I do what I do. And that opened the doors to new ways of thinking, new goals and new prospects in 2022. What prepared me for this hopeful and resilient foray are revolutionary ideas from some of the best minds in the field of leadership, psychology and anthropology. Some of them are new-age thinkers who have helped me update my approach to life. These leadership books are niche ideas offering valuable lessons of our time and teaching us new ways to do things. This list of some of the best leadership books can help you change your perspective and give you a new vision. So here is a list of some of the best leadership books and authors that can help 2022 to be an exciting year.
Top leadership books in 2022
1. Act Like A Leader, Think Like A Leader
About the Author
Herminia Ibarra is an expert on professional and leadership development. She served as Cora Chaired Professor of Leadership and Learning at INSEAD. And currently, Herminia Ibarra FBA is an organisational behaviour professor at London Business School
About the book
Act Like A Leader, Think Like A Leader by Herminia Ibarra is an unconventional book based on the perks of leadership and ways to augment management skills in competitive ways. The author tries to disseminate the idea of how one should experiment, explore, and take risks instead of being hesitant or uncertain.
Key Takeaways
The author tries to assert the idea of experimentation and exploration, shaping learning leadership skills through direct experience. In the light of this, such a strategy might end up solidifying your team, while encouraging them to be confident amidst the crowd, outshining their competitors.
2. On becoming a Leader
About the Author
Warren Bennis was an American scholar, organizational consultant, and author, who was widely regarded as the pioneer of the contemporary field of leadership. He served as Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California, as chairman of the Advisory Board of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and as a consultant to multinational companies and governments throughout the world.
About the book
On Becoming a Leader by Warren G. Bennis (Basic Books, 1989) is a path-breaking “timeless classic”, defines the true meaning of leadership and the struggle that goes into the making of a leader. The author pinpoints the needed core values required in leadership along with the difference between ‘managing’ and ‘leading’. Such a book is indeed thought-provoking, indicating how one should embrace leadership in ways that seem professional and helpful simultaneously.
Key Takeaways
The author allows us to shed some light on how core qualities like; integrity, and sincerity at work is a key to inspiring others. Leadership should not seem like a compulsion or an entitled duty but a willingness to lead with the utmost desire and dedication to build something big.
3. Turn the ship Around
About the author
L. David Marquet, a top graduate of the US Naval Academy, commanded the nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine USS Santa Fe from 1999 to 2001, transforming it from the worst-performing submarine in its fleet to the best.
About the book
Turn the Ship Around by L.David Marquet is a must-read leadership guide, narrating the real-life story of the former commander of the US Navy Submarine speaking about how things turned haywire and risky when the crew turned the ship around while letting the reader question the idea of leadership and authority in such situation. Not only does the author discuss the valuable insights from a vantage point, but he tries to trace his journey, describing the unprecedented decisions, risks and so much more.
Key Takeaways
The book tries to mention the lessons and learnings of his life respecting his tenure in leadership and how one must not be fearful of raising authority when needed or required. Moreover, the book delves deeper into the idea of leading, and that too with the help of the right leader.
4. Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust & Get Extraordinary Results
About the author
Judith E. Glaser is the CEO of Benchmark Communications, Inc., and the Chairman of The Creating WE Institute, whose clients include American Airlines, American Express, Cisco, Coach, Exxon, and IBM.
About the book
Conventional Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust And Get Extraordinary Results by Judith E. Glaser specifically mentions the art of initiating the right set of conversations, which can help you drive potential benefits and desired results. In this business leadership book, the author has stated three levels of conversation, namely; transactional, positional and transformational, which can entirely shape our interactions, art of thinking or beliefs. Not only does it teach us to exchange necessary information, or listen to others’ opinions but trains us to shed some light on a part of the transformational conversation that can allow us to yield for real change.
Key Takeaways
The author here draws a picture, where the right conversation or the power of words can lead you to catapult desired results. Furthermore, it allows the readers to understand the significance of communication in enhancing their leadership skills and so much more.
5. Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization
About the author
John Wooden (1910-2010), guided the UCLA Bruins to ten NCAA basketball championships over 12 years, including four perfect seasons and an 88-game winning streak. He was named ESPN’s “Greatest Coach of the 20th Century” and voted “#1 Coach of All Time” by The Sporting News.
About the book
Wooden outlines the mental, emotional, and physical qualities essential to building a winning organization. He also shows you how to develop the skill, confidence, and competitive fire to “be at your best when your best is needed” – and teach your organisation to do the same.
Key Takeaways
The focus is on Wooden’s 12 Lessons in Leadership and his acclaimed Pyramid of Success. It outlines the mental, emotional, and physical qualities essential to building a winning organization, and shows you how to develop the skill, confidence, and competitive fire to “be at your best when your best is needed” and teaches your organization to do the same.
Top leadership books for workplace dynamics
1. Hostage at the Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others, and Raise Performance
About the author
George Kohlrieser is an organizational and clinical psychologist. He is a professor of leadership and organizational behaviour at the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and a consultant to global organizations around the world.
About the book
When I coach managers and C Suite leaders on relational intelligence, I often hear a familiar problem. Though the leaders need to lead teams towards common goals, they struggle to communicate with the team and hold them accountable. If you’re one of these leaders, then veteran hostage negotiator George Kohlrieser has some advice to offer — 7 key factors to access the skills you need to create trust and generate results and positivity.
Key Takeaways
According to Bill George, this brilliant book offers a unique and penetrating perspective on how people can free themselves from being held hostage to their self-imposed limitations.
2. Playing Big: Find Your Voice, Your Mission, Your Message
About the author
Tara Mohr has an MBA from Stanford and an undergraduate degree from Yale. Mohr has been a columnist with the Huffington Post since 2010 and has been featured on the Today show, in MORE, ForbesWoman, Harvard Business Review, Whole Living, The Financial Times, and numerous other media outlets. She lives in San Francisco.
About the book
Many of us spend far too much of our time pandering to others’ expectations and lock away our potential to truly make a difference. Tara Mohr helps women with big dreams but a daunting inner critic unhooks the tangles dear and achieves the greatness they know at heart that they are destined for.
Key Takeaways
A groundbreaking women’s leadership expert and popular conference speaker gives women the practical skills to voice and implement the changes they want to see—in themselves and the world.
3. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
About the author
Patrick Lencioni is an American author of books on business management, particularly about team management. He is best known as the author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, a popular business fable that explores work team dynamics and offers solutions to help teams perform better.
About the book
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick M.Lencioni publishes the secrets to effective leadership and ways to avoid the loopholes, which can hamper a team’s performance at large. In addition, the book lays out five fundamentals that can surely uplift employees’ growth, and enable them to address the challenges (that come on their way) while assisting them to address the pitfalls gracefully.
Key Takeaways
The author tries to share his vision of leadership, the idea of effective team-building, allowing the leader to manage in a way that seems accountable and comfortable for the team of employees.
4. All In: How obsessive leaders achieve the Extraordinary
About the Author
Robert Bruce Shaw helps business leaders build companies and teams capable of superior performance. He holds a PhD in organisational behaviour from Yale University and is the author of highly regarded books on leadership and organisational culture.
About the book
All In demonstrates to CEOs and aspiring leaders how obsession can fuel extraordinary achievement while also taking a toll on a leader’s family and coworkers. Breakthrough leaders share a fervent commitment to attaining their goals that borders on obsession at times. All In demonstrates how obsession can be both essential and productive if properly focused and managed. Advances in any activity nearly always rely on a small core of people who are entirely devoted to the goal at hand. Everyone benefits from these leaders’ singular concentration and persistent drive when they and their teams succeed.
Key Takeaways
The book shows individuals and organisations how to manage the disadvantages of obsession while appreciating the benefits of attempting to create something that genuinely matters, and will appeal to any reader of entrepreneurial biographies.
5.Coaching Skills for Leaders in the Workplace, Revised Edition: How to unlock potential and maximise performance
About the Author
Jackie Arnold founded the Brighton & Hove Speakers club which is part of Toastmasters International (TM). She is a member and tutor for The Voice Care Network UK and a former BBC broadcaster and Presenter. Jackie coaches senior executives in leadership skills and is an international voice coach and presentations skills trainer. She has presented at several international conferences and gives keynote speeches on a wide variety of topics
About the book
This book will provide you with the knowledge and skills to distinguish between coaching, supervision, and mentoring. It will show how effective coaching programmes can improve behaviours and retain key personnel. How it can lower recruitment costs, improve employee well-being, and provide a strong return on investment.
Key Takeaways
As a leader, senior manager or executive, you are often called on to act as coach or mentor to your staff. This book will enable you to set up the coaching programmes that will make a significant difference to your organisation. It offers leaders and managers proven behaviours as well as insights into new methods. It also introduces innovative and creative coaching and supervision models and techniques that can be adapted for any environment.
Top leadership books For Self development
1. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
About the author
Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., is the founder and medical director of the Trauma Center in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is also a professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and director of the National Complex Trauma Treatment Network.
About the book
Our painful experiences show up even when we don’t realise it and impact the way we project ourselves and how we affect those around us and close to us — our teams, families, clients and associates. Bessel van der Kolk explores this and shows each of us that we can heal ourselves of trauma and regain a sense of agency.
Key Takeaways
In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity.
2. Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less
About the author
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is the founder of the Restful Company and a visiting scholar at Stanford University. His previous books include Empire and the Sun and The Distraction Addiction. He lives in the Silicon Valley.
About the book
I’m a firm believer in the power of rest to improve focus and create space for the new in your life, so I am glad Alex Soojung-Kim Pang wrote a book to explain why resting is sometimes the most productive thing you can do. Its valuable advice for those planning to stretch physically, psychologically, financially and spiritually this year.
Key Takeaways
This book is going to undertake the readers on a journey to finding a perfect balance, self-growth, success and whatnot. In addition, it consists of scientific research, factual descriptions along with tips and tricks from eminent personalities, from different walks of life.
3. Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up
About the author
Jerry Colonna is an executive coach who uses the skills he learned as a venture capitalist to help entrepreneurs. He draws on his wide variety of experiences to help clients design a more conscious life and make needed changes to their careers to improve their performance and satisfaction
About the book
The higher up the ladder we go, the more difficult it is to be successful in our relationships and our overall well-being. Many leaders I speak with don’t realise this as they pursue their ambitions — they often act without empathy and forget self-care. But Jerry Colonna forces you to pursue radical self-enquiry instead and consider the baggage that’s holding you back. And that helps you reset to truly become who you want to be with others while achieving your dreams.
Key Takeaways
This book is one of the best leadership books that emphasise the need for self-talk to uncover the potential, and realise what it means to be a leader. In addition, this book indeed reflects insightful perspectives, where wisdom talks and requires people to be better human beings before being a leader.
4. Smarter Faster Better: The secrets of being Productive in Life and Business
About the author
Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times and the author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better. He is a winner of the National Academies of Sciences, National Journalism, and George Polk awards.
About the book
Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg is deemed to be one of the best leadership books, which identifies the necessary challenges in leadership and solutions to avoid these recurring problems. For instance, the book documents and articulates rich experiences of the leaders worldwide and how they were able to cope with the issues faced by them in their respective domains.
Key Takeaways
The author of the book wilfully mentions minute observations and valuable insights, from the leaders belonging to different parts of life. In total, it is all about helping you make the right decision and the needed difference as expected of a leader.
5. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad One’s
About the author
James Clear is an expert on habits and decision making. He made his name as the author of one of the fastest-growing email newsletters in history, which grew from zero to 100,000 subscribers in under two years.
About the book
Almost everyone I meet during my training and coaching sessions tells me, “I know I have to start exercising/stop saying yes to everything/start voicing my thoughts during meetings but… it’s just crazy at work/home right now.” This book could help them, and you, start small and easy when it comes to making life changes. The results are anything but atomic — each tip from James Clear helps you reach your goals by getting one per cent better every day
Key Takeaways
In this ground-breaking book, Clear reveals how these small changes will help you get 1 percent better every day. He uncovers a handful of simple life hacks (the forgotten art of Habit Stacking, the unexpected power of the Two Minute Rule, or the trick to entering the Goldilocks Zone) and delves into cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain why they matter
Top leadership books for Young Leaders
1.The Making of a Leader by Tom Young
About the Author
Tom Young is a performance psychologist (C.Psychol, HCPC) who specialises in team dynamics and leadership. His academic research began at the University of Lancaster and continued at the University of Liverpool John Moore, where he completed a globally recognized master’s program in Sport Psychology. He has worked as an advisor to both the Belgian national football team prior to the World Cup in Russia and the winning European Ryder Cup team in Paris. Was 2018 .
About the book
The Making of a Leader by Tom Young is no less than an eye-opening motivational guide that shares valuable insights on effective leadership philosophy. In addition, it aims to drill the minds of aspiring leaders by communicating the nitty and gritty of high-performance culture or educating them on how to thrive under pressure by remaining focused or responding to the challenges, gracefully. In this book, the former shares how professional sports became a gateway to teaching him the importance of performance and management. Not only did he closely work with the sport’s elites, who worked on pins and needles, but even learnt how they added value to their team by remaining observant and creating a culture that drives the entire team to success. As a cherry on top, this book even consists of interviews with professional leaders, who have outshone others in the field of sports.
Key Takeaways
The book consists of thought-provoking questions and personal accounts of renowned figures, who have incorporated the best practices in managing teams and leading them. It unveils the first-hand experiences of leaders, who are ready to teach you ways to instil confidence among others and lay a foundation for a strong team. In addition, get expert advice straight from the horse’s mouth, and allow yourselves to translate this knowledge into practice. After all, James Kerr rightly mentioned how The Making of a Leader is a valuable addition to the high-performance literature.
Dare to Lead,” by Brené Brown’
About the Author
Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston and chair of the Huffington Foundation donation at the Graduate School of Social Welfare. Brenney has also been studying courage, vulnerability, shame and empathy for the past 20 years. She is the author of six New York Times # 1 bestseller and host of two award-winning Spotify podcasts, Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead.
About the Book
Dare to Lead by Brené Brown is an exceptional novel, which justifies the essence of leadership and calls for change makers to ascend their ideas and put them in motion. In the light of this, the author explains how leadership is not always an entrusted duty, but an inherent desire to be able to lead, foster potential and mould it in the best interest of others. In reality, this book is for everyone, who chooses to step up the ladder of success and wishes to make a difference. After all, the title of the book raises a challenging statement and asks the readers to not just manifest, but translate it into practice. Additionally, the author is trying to convey the idea of courage, which can help aspiring leaders to be a part of this daring leadership. In a nutshell, she asks the individuals to come out of their shells and be brave enough to lead.
Key Takeaways
Dr Brené articulates the need to unleash one’s potential and channel emotions like courage, empathy and vulnerability. She pens down the importance of defeating the comfort zone and being a part of self-growth. In addition, she focuses on igniting motivation and feeling of self-help for the leaders, who are led by internal battles and are not brave enough to face them. Hence, Dr Brené teaches us to dare and rise strongly. After all, she rightly mentions how- A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.
Letters to a Young Leader: A New Leadership for a New Generation
About the Author
Robert B. Denhard is an exceptional leader in leadership education and currently directs the boutique consulting and publishing company Denhardt Leadership. He was also a professor and director of leadership programs at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California, USA.
About the Book
Letters to a Young Leader by Robert B. Denhardt is an inspiring book for aspiring leaders, which centres around a fictional story, starring the experiences of two students in leadership, highlighting the deep-rooted issues that come with it. This book is your one-stop destination to inquire into the idea of what contemporary leadership is and what influence it has on those you lead. Moreover, it piques your curiosity and allows you to delve deeper into the learnings of stepping up your professional endeavours and giving them a shape. Regardless of this, it lets you go on a self-explanatory journey and helps you find out more about yourself along the way. With this, Robert even specialises in the art of storytelling and shares valuable lessons with young leaders. In total, it depicts a very realistic understanding of the hindrances faced by the leaders of today.
Key Takeaways
Letters to a Young Leader by Robert B. Denhardt is a dream come true, for anyone and everyone, who wishes to decipher the what, why and how behind the idea of leadership today. It gives you real-time advice, honest opinions and the best ways to advance in your professional career. Moreover, this book is extremely unique from other self-help books, because of its creative narrative and stories. It will hook your attention and allow you to think wisely.
Lead with We: The Business Revolution That Will Save Our Future by Simon Mainwaring
About the Author
Simon Mainwaring is the founder and CEO of WeFirst, a strategic consultancy that advances the growth and impact of purpose-driven brands. He is a member of the Sustainable Brands Steering Committee, the Forbes Business Council, and a part of the Royal Society of Arts. He was named one of the World’s Top 50 Keynote Speakers by Real Leaders in 2020. As a cherry on the cake, His first book, We First, boomed in the markets as a New York Times bestseller and was felicitated with Marketing Book of the Year by Strategy + Business.
About the Book
Lead with We: The Business Revolution That will Save Our Future by Simon Mainwaring is an extraordinary book that has garnered the utmost appreciation in disseminating the essence of collaborative leadership and a roadmap to transforming the power of business rapidly. This book strives to inspire business leaders to recreate an inclusive and undivided space for all. In addition, it publishes a new perspective on the role of the business age and how it can transform our lives. Moreover, this book mentions how business leaders should not only aim for a meaningful change but even thrive for the collective good, as a community. With this, he mentions how businesses have the power and resources to lead the revolution in extraordinary ways. In a nutshell, his book teaches us to grow and work in harmony while preserving the natural systems on which our future relies.
Key Takeaways
Lead with We: The Business Revolution That will Save Our Future by Simon Mainwaring is essential reading, especially for leaders, as it can teach you ways to thrive in today’s job market and witness incredible growth. Along with this, the author shares a blueprint, involving key strategies, that would help in doing fairer business in today’s competitive world.
Leadership book For Women
STEP UP
Even as women scale the ladder to reach the C Suite or venture out on their own, a lot of external barriers still work together to bring most of us down. To me, it became clear that confronting these barriers was impossible unless we first tackled the inner, psychological barriers. If you are ready to confront your limiting beliefs in 2022, What are the STRETCHES you wish for in 2022?
Get started by asking yourself:
- Physically- What stretch goal can I set for myself?
- Psychologically- What could challenge my mind?
- Spiritually- How can I get connected to my inner spirit?
- Emotionally- How can I earn more and give more?
- Financially- How can I earn more and give more?
Get the free excerpt of the book by clicking here.
Click here to buy it on Amazon.
I wish you STRETCH with ease, care, and guidance with some of these best books to read on leadership in 2022. These leadership books will definitely spark new ideas within you!
Sailaja Manacha, a Master certified Coach from ICF, is known for her programs and coaching methods that combine psychology with leadership practices. In her work, Sailaja draws from Psychology, Ontology, NLP and Spiritual frameworks as well as rich, real-world experiences.