Top Leadership books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Leadership books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Leadership

Understanding the concepts of Leadership starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Primal Leadership

"Primal Leadership" by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee explores how effective leaders use emotional intelligence to motivate others and build strong relationships. It offers insights and strategies for developing these skills and creating a positive work environment.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

True North

True North (2007) is a guide to discovering your inner compass and staying true to yourself, all while developing the skills you need to be an authentic leader. By uncovering your values and motivations, you'll gain the tools you need to build a professional life that remains true to who you are.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

How to Win Friends and Influence People

How to Win Friends and Influence People is a 1936 self-help book written by Dale Carnegie. Over 30 million copies have been sold worldwide, making it one of the best-selling books of all time. Carnegie had been conducting business education courses in New York since 1912

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Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us is a non-fiction book written by Daniel Pink. The book was published in 2009 by Riverhead Hardcover. It argues that human motivation is largely intrinsic and that the aspects of this motivation can be divided into autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

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Think and Grow Rich

Think and Grow Rich is the number-one inspirational and motivational classic for individuals who are interested in furthering their lives and reaching their goals by learning from important figures in history. The text read in this audiobook is the original 1937 edition written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by Andrew Carnegie, and while it has often been reproduced, no updated version has ever…

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The coaching habit (summary) : say less, ask more & change the way you lead forever

The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier is a management book that teaches how to ask effective questions and provide impactful feedback to help team members solve their own problems and reach their goals.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Additional Leadership Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Leadership, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

“Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” by Simon Sinek offers a fresh perspective on leadership and organizational success. By understanding the power of starting with “why,” leaders can inspire action, build trust, and foster meaningful connections with their teams and customers.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

On becoming a leader

Providing essential and timeless insights for generations of readers, On Becoming a Leader delves into the qualities that define leadership, the people who exemplify it, and the strategies that anyone can apply to achieve it.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

“Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts” by Brené Brown is about leadership – but leadership with a human face. She doesn't talk about productivity techniques for outstanding results; she talks about the psychology of relationships in a business environment.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: 30th Anniversary Edition (The Covey Habits Series)

This beloved classic presents a principle-centered approach for solving both personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and practical anecdotes, Stephen R. Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity—principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Unbreakable: Building and Leading Resilient Teams

They highlight four team resources that are essential to any resilient team, including: team confidence, teamwork roadmaps, capacity to improvise, and psychological safety. These four resources are brought to life through compelling stories of teams that performed well in the face of adversity—and a few that didn't.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Leading Lightly: Lower Your Stress, Think with Clarity, and Lead with Ease

Leading lightly is about looking at what you do through a radical new lens. It’s a way to powerfully transform your performance, make better decisions, gain greater self-awareness, and develop the capacity to manage your work and life with enduring ease and clarity. An alternative to the everyday stress, pace, challenges, and burdens that weigh you down, Leading Lightly shows you how to shift …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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