📚 Recommended Reading
“I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book” - Groucho Marx
At around 16 years old I started gaining an interest in Psychology, I even began an in-depth study of hypnosis, reading every book I could find on the subject; the internet wasn’t a thing back then.
By the time I started University, other interests took precedence and psychology was left at the wayside. Those were the days of Lycos, Netscape and Geocities!
A number of years ago I was fortunate to participate in an inspiring, hands-on leadership course, thanks to the company in which I’ve been working.. This reignited my passion in psychology and leadership and I’ve been reading about this subject ever since.
As I’m often asked about books I’ve read and would recommend, I decided to list my top must-read titles here and will try to keep this updated from time to time.
If you’re interested in discussing any of these, or would like to recommend others, let me know, via Twitter.
So, enough waffle, here are my top recommendations…
How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
Originally published in 1936(!), whilst a little old-fashioned in examples, the messages are as relevant to today as when it was first written.
7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Steven Covey
A classic that brings the messages of Covey to more modern times, providing a framework that can be be used and reused through life.
Never Split the Difference - Chris voss
Previously the FBI’s leading international hostage negotiator, Voss brings all that he and his teams have learnt over the years about communication and negotiation with facinating real life stories. A must-read for anyone wanting to improve communication.
Drive - Dan Pink
In-depth analysis of the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, giving insight into the factors that can increase or diminish people’s desire to take actions. Ideally, read this in tandem with Mindset…
Mindset - Dr Carol Dweck
A great companion to Drive, Dweck discusses the differences between fixed and growth mindsets and how to help transition to the preferred, growth mindset. The examples are plentiful, perhaps a little repetitive, but the messages are invaluable.
When - Dan Pink
A facinating study of the best times to do things; from taking naps to being up for a parole hearing(!), when events occur can make a big difference to the outcome, in surprising ways.
The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni
An easy and enjoyable book as Lencioni takes the reader through a ficticious, dysfunctional company that is clearly based on relatable issues for anyone that works with people. Ideal for anyone working in a team and wanting to understand how to build Psychological Safety.
Start With Why - Simon Sinek
With a background in Cultural Anthropology, Sinek identifies how companies that know their reason for being, their Why, are much more successful than those that lead with what they do. If you enjoy Sinek’s popular TED Talk on this subject, you’ll love this book.
Leaders Eat Last - Simon Sinek
The secret to great leaders are those that care for the people they lead. People don’t want to be ‘Managed’, leaders don’t choose their followers and anyone can lead. Sinek details how to be a great Servant Leader.
The Infinite Game - Simon Sinek
An interesting insight into the difference between infinite vs finite mindset of companies where, finite is focussed on the near term and trying to compete with others, whilst infinite mindset companies look to the distant future, with an eye on a ‘Worthy Rival’ and are in it for the long term.
Radical Candor - Kim Scott
Having been a coach to various Silicon Valley CEOs, Scott begins on the importance and methods of giving feedback with Radical Candor; described as caring personally, whilst challenging directly. This is followed by other useful discussions such as skip-level meetings to evaluate performance, the Get Stuff Done (GSD) Wheel to drive results and how to facilitate career conversations.
Indistractable - Nir Eyal
If you think the usual culprits such as Social Media platforms, email and messages are to blame for distraction, think again as Eyal explains that even without those, we will find ways to lose focus in what we should be doing to get things done. A great book on how to manage your time.
Bounce - Matthew Syed
There’s no such thing as ‘Natural Talent’. Syed, a champion table-tennis player discusses how the combination of opportunity with focussed practice is what is required to reach the top levels in almost any discipline. Touching on themes in Drive and Mindset, with ideas by Malcolm Gladwell, I found this book inspiring.
Black Box Thinking - Matthew Syed
In Black Box Thinking, Syed explains how failure should be seen positively as feedback, coupled with the power of marginal gains, whilst obstacles such as cognitive disonnance and blame detracts from being able to progress. With facinating examples from industries such as aviation, medicine and law, this is a great follow-up to Syed’s Bounce.
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
From Rockerfeller to Bill Gates, top athletes and other people that achieve great things are often said to be gifted. Gladwell shows that a combination of focussed practice in a subject matter (10000 hours!) at the right time is what has led to greatness for many top performers and great achievers. For many of us, we were just born at the wrong time!
Talking to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell
We think we know people fairly well and can tell when they’re deceiving us. In Talking to Strangers, Gladwell demonstrates how people can often decieve either unintentionally, because people’s reactions to events don’t always match those we are preconditioned to seeing on tv and in film, or intentionally as we think we’re better judges of character than we really are.
Originals - Adam Grant
In Originals, Grant examines the traits and behaviours of those that exceed expectations and shatters the myths surrounding people who excel to change the world.
Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
From the beginning of time, where did we come from and how have Homo Sapiens become the dominent species of our planet, progressing faster than evolution?
The Chimp Paradox - Prof Steve Peters
Without emotion, we can’t make even simple decisions. Peters creates an anology of how our brains work with 3 components; the Human (pre-frontal cortex), the Computer (autopilot memories) and the Chimp (emotion). A Chimp is stronger than a Human and you can’t control it, but rather have to learn how to manage your chimp and the chimps of others. An interesting interpretation to how we and others act and react with one another.
Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker
Walker thought he’d take a year to look into why we sleep. 20 years later and he’s still going! From how we examine brain states for the 3 stages of REM, light non-REM and deep non-REM sleep, the impact in lack of sleep is astonishing, including memory loss, decreased labido, links to health problems such as cancers and brain disease, reduced life expectancy and much more. After reading this, I’ve been tracking my sleep and endevour to get the recommended 7 - 8 hours per night. Just one night of deprivation has a life-time of consequences. This book is facinating.
Talk Like Ted - Carmine Gallo
With TED talks, we witness some of the best speakers of our time. What is it that makes them so impressive? Gallo introduces many fantastic TED talks and highlights how they’re captivating; I couldn’t resist watching each and every talk listed so, if you’re like me, it’ll take a while to get through this book, but it’s worth it.
Bonus Feature!
If you want further inspiration, or if you’re feeling altruistic 😜, here’s the list of books I plan to read, at some point…
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1WP250K7ZEZQU?ref_=wl_share
Original Post:
“📚 Recommended Reading for Leadership” - 2020-06-06
Updated:
2020-08-15
2022-01-16