“He who thinks he knows everything has a lot to learn.”
Leadership books, tools and resources
I read widely across leadership, human behaviour, performance, business, psychology and personal development. Some of these books have changed the way I coach. Others have changed the way I think about teams, work, relationships or life.
Rather than create another list of “must-read” books, I’ve pulled together the ones I’ve found genuinely useful and added a short note on what I took from each.
My favourite and most useful books:
A New Earth - Awakening to Your Life's Purpose — Eckhart Tolle
This is my favourite book of all time. I’ve listened to it 7 times and counting – each time a new lesson and insight emerges. Highly recommended.
12: The Elements of Great Managing — Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter
First, Break All the Rules — Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
It’s the Manager — Jim Clifton and Jim Harter
Strengths Based Leadership — Tom Rath and Barry Conchie
Wellbeing at Work — Jim Clifton and Jim Harter
Nine Lies About Work — Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall
Love + Work — Marcus Buckingham
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team — Patrick Lencioni
Working With Gen Z — Santor Nishizaki and James DellaNeve
Never Split the Difference — Chris Voss and Tahl Raz
Atomic Habits — James Clear
Deep Work — Cal Newport
Mindset — Carol Dweck
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance — Angela Duckworth
Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman
Learned Optimism — Martin E. P. Seligman
Scaling Up — Verne Harnish
Buy Back Your Time — Dan Martell
Reentry: SpaceX, Elon Musk, and the Reusable Rockets That Launched a Second Space Age — Eric Berger
Elon Musk — Walter Isaacson
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike — Phil Knight
Steve Jobs — Walter Isaacson
Professional Library
Business, Systems & Scale
Business Stripped Bare — Richard Branson
Delivering Happiness — Tony Hsieh
Good to Great — Jim Collins
More Important Than Money: An Entrepreneur’s Team — Robert Kiyosaki and contributors
Remote — Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Rework — Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Scrum — Jeff Sutherland
The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life — Steven Bartlett
The E-Myth Revisited — Michael E. Gerber
The Knack — Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham
The Tom Peters Seminar — Tom Peters
Me, Inc. — Gene Simmons
The 4-Hour Workweek — Tim Ferriss
Coaching, Influence & Communication
Daring Greatly — Brené Brown
“I define vulnerability as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. With that definition in mind, let’s think about love. Waking up every day and loving someone who may or may not love us back, whose safety we can’t ensure, who may stay in our lives or may leave without a moment’s notice, who may be loyal to the day they die or betray us tomorrow—that’s vulnerability.” ― Brené BrownHow Full Is Your Bucket? — Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton
The 48 Laws of Power — Robert Greene
The Wolf of Wall Street — Jordan Belfort
Innovation & First-Principles Thinking
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future — Ashlee Vance
The Book of Elon — Eric Jorgenson
The Ten Faces of Innovation — Tom Kelley
The Art of War — Sun Tzu
Leadership, Strengths & Teams
Lean In — Sheryl Sandberg
Maverick! — Ricardo Semler
Start With Why — Simon Sinek
The Leadership Code — Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood and Kate Sweetman
The Seven-Day Weekend — Ricardo Semler
Trillion Dollar Coach — Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle
Marketing, Sales & Positioning
Strengths Based Selling — Brian Brim
Performance, Focus & Behaviour
Eat That Frog! — Brian Tracy
Get It Done — Ayelet Fishbach
Hidden Potential — Adam Grant
How to Break Up With Your Phone — Catherine Price
Hyperfocus — Chris Bailey
Limitless — Jim Kwik
Little Voice Mastery — Blair Singer
Noise — Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R. Sunstein
Outliers: The Story of Success — The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
For those of us who feel like our peers are more gifted and talented than we are, this book proves that being ‘gifted’ is just the foot in the door of success. The other 90% is hard work and persistence.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — Stephen R. Covey
The Power of Less — Leo Babauta
The War of Art — Steven Pressfield
Tools of Titans — Tim Ferriss
Work Smarter, Not Harder — Jack Collis
Personal Development & Perspective
Be Useful — Arnold Schwarzenegger
Ego Is the Enemy — Ryan Holiday
Resilience, Wellbeing & Health
10% Happier — Dan Harris
Can’t Hurt Me — David Goggins
Do Hard Things — Steve Magness
Never Finished — David Goggins
The Obstacle Is the Way — Ryan Holiday
Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements — Tom Rath and Jim Harter
Wider Bookshelf
Money, Investing & Property
7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness — Jim Rohn
Cashflow Quadrant — Robert T. Kiyosaki
Happy Money — Ken Honda
Money: Master the Game — Tony Robbins
The Barefoot Investor — Scott Pape
The Money Habit — Mike Michalowicz (partly read)
Think and Grow Rich — Napoleon Hill
Unshakeable — Tony Robbins
Performance, Focus & Behaviour
365 Days of Getting Sh*t Done — Daniel W. Kuss
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself — Joe Dispenza
Comfort Zone: Stepping Beyond — Russell C. James
Meditations for Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself — Joe Dispenza
Unleash the Power Within — Tony Robbins
Unlimited Power — Tony Robbins
Who Moved My Cheese? — Spencer Johnson
Personal Development & Perspective
12 Rules for Life — Jordan B. Peterson
As a Man Thinketh / From Poverty to Power — James Allen
Becoming Supernatural — Joe Dispenza
Beyond Order — Jordan B. Peterson
Inspired Destiny — John Demartini
Living an Exceptional Life — Jim Rohn
Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor E. Frankl
Meditations — Marcus Aurelius
Mind Power for the 21st Century — John Kehoe
Mind Power Home Study Program — John Kehoe
Quantum Warrior — John Kehoe
The Alchemist — Paulo Coelho
The Daily Stoic — Ryan Holiday
The Magic of Thinking Big — David J. Schwartz
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari — Robin Sharma
The Mountain Is You — Brianna Wiest
The Power of Now — Eckhart Tolle
The Power of Positive Thinking — Norman Vincent Peale
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck — Mark Manson
Understanding Life — Lawrence West
Relationships & Parenting
Raising Men — Eric Davis and Dina Santorelli
Strengths Based Parenting — Mary Reckmeyer
The Tantra Experience — Osho
This life is a gift from existence, to be lived and enjoyed. But with the seemingly impossible and conflicting demands of society, morality, and culture, people struggle with feelings of unfulfilled potential, frustration, and guilt rather than living full lives.The world of tantra has no division between higher and lower. The simple, ordinary things of life are transformed into great things when we enter into them totally - be it car fixing, floor cleaning, or lovemaking. Osho shows how, by living this vision, new heights of consciousness and freedom are realised.
Resilience, Wellbeing & Health
Exercised — Daniel E. Lieberman
The Joy of Living — Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
You Are the Placebo — Joe Dispenza
Younger Next Year, 2nd Edition — Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge