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.

Tribes

Tribes by Seth Godin is a leadership book that argues in favor of creating a loyal and engaged following to achieve any type of goals. It offers tips on how to identify and nurture a tribe, build trust and inspire action.

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.

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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 Five Dysfunctions of a Team

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team outlines the root causes of politics and dysfunction on the teams where you work, and the keys to overcoming them. Counter to conventional wisdom, the causes of dysfunction are both identifiable and curable. However, they don't die easily.

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The Art of Possibility

The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander is a transformative book that teaches us to shift our perspective in life from scarcity to abundance, resulting in an increased sense of possibility with practical tools and inspiring stories.

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Leaders Eat Last

Leaders Eat Last' by Simon Sinek is a thought-provoking book on how great leaders create a circle of safety in the workplace, inspiring trust, cooperation, and peak performance. He explains how a leader putting the needs of the team first can create a culture of success.

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.

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 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

Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, Second Edition

An INFLUENCER replaces bad behaviors with powerful new skills. An INFLUENCER makes things happen. This is what it takes to be an INFLUENCER. Whether you're a CEO, a parent, or merely a person who wants to make a difference, you probably wish you had more influence with the people in your life.

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

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

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.

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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