Top 5 Books about Leadership

Are you an inspiring leader? These books can be extremely helpful, whether it be school or district leadership or unofficially providing veteran leadership at your school.

Reading books written about leadership can provide insights, strategies, and techniques that can be applied in real-world situations. In addition, these books often offer perspectives from experienced leaders who have faced similar challenges and have developed effective ways to overcome them.

These books focus on leadership in general rather than specifically on school leadership. However, thinkFives believes these principles are universal and will help educators find the best approach for them and their teams.

The Goal is a book that is perfect for people who are aspiring for leadership. It’s a story about a man named Alex who oversees a factory. But, unfortunately, the factory could be doing better, and Alex only has 90 days to fix it before it closes, and many people lose their jobs.

Alex meets a teacher named Jonah, who helps him think in new ways about how to fix the factory. Jonah teaches Alex about something called the Theory of Constraints which helps him understand what needs to be done. The book is a fun and exciting read, and it also has important lessons for people who work in businesses. It’s a great book to share with your friends and colleagues, and – fun fact – it is required reading for Amazon management.

“Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” is a popular book by Robert Cialdini that talks about how people think and make choices. The author explains how to use certain methods in a good way to convince others. The book covers six main ideas, such as giving something back, sticking to your choices, following the crowd, liking the person you’re talking to, listening to someone in charge, and wanting things that are rare.

Cialdini used 35 years of science and a 3-year study to write this book. It’s a helpful guide on how to use these ideas to change how other people act.

“Start With Why” is a popular book that talks about the importance of having a purpose at work. The author, Simon Sinek, believes that some people and organizations are more successful than others because they have a clear understanding of why they do what they do. The book also talks about how some leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr. and Steve Jobs, were able to inspire others and make a big impact because they understood their way.

The book suggests that if we start with our way, we will be more successful in leading organizations, movements, and inspiring people. It also introduces the idea of “The Golden Circle,” which is a framework for understanding how successful leaders think, act, and communicate. The book is a bestseller and has been widely popular, and it has also been the basis of one of the most popular TED Talks of all time.

Written by Stephen R. Covey, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” offers a holistic and integrated approach to solving personal and professional problems. It provides insights and examples to help readers understand how to live with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity. These principles can help us adapt to change and take advantage of opportunities that change creates.

The book suggests 7 habits that can help people become more effective in their personal and professional lives. It defines each and gives examples of how to implement them:

1. Be Proactive
2. Begin with the End in Mind
3. Put First Things First
4. Think Win-Win
5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the Saw

“Good to Great” is a management study by Jim Collins that examines the characteristics of companies that have transitioned from being just good to becoming great. The study identifies a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. The research team contrasted these companies with a set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap and discovered key determinants of greatness.

The findings include the importance of Level 5 Leaders, the Hedgehog Concept, a Culture of Discipline, Technology Accelerators, and the Flywheel and the Doom Loop. The study offers insights into management strategy and practice that can help companies achieve enduring greatness.

Do you have a book that you would recommend to an aspiring leader?