10 Leadership Books to Read Over the Holidays

The holidays are a great time to rejuvenate by diving into a book. As you head into the holiday season, here is a list of our favourite management and leadership books that have inspired us to think differently and grow as leaders and managers.

You will find a range of styles and topics here. We’ve summarized why we like the leadership books we’ve chosen, and what style of writing to expect. Enjoy (and let us know if you have any others to recommend)!

Wendy’s Top Leadership Books

In no particular order, here are Wendy’s recommendations:

Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building

by Claire Hughes Johnson

Be warned: once you open this book you will lose a few hours. Although it looks like a textbook, it is easy to read, and I love the feel of the paper – the dual-colored blue and white pages hooked me. The book is full of practical strategies, templates, and exercises to help leaders. This leadership book covers a lot of territory such as hiring, managing performance, giving feedback, and even strategic planning. The book is people centered and affirms that people truly are the best resource a company has. This book was my favorite read of the year and is one that sits on my desk for quick reference.

Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well

by Amy C. Edmondson

We have all experienced failure – and many of us have been taught that failure is a bad thing. Amy Edmondson would beg to differ. She makes the case that failure is a necessary part of finding ways to succeed. In this fantastic book she outlines what makes a good failure and which kind of failure we really should avoid. She distinguishes three types of failure: simple, complex, and intelligent. She weaves in stories of history, business, and even pop culture. This book is a must read for 2023. And if you haven’t read her book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation and Growth, see the next book recommendation.

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth

by Amy C. Edmondson

Many of us have seen leaders who use fear as a tactic to motivate people. Many of us know the harmful effects it has on the quality of work we produce and how people feel in the process. And many of us are looking for a better way to lead – this book provides the road map. Filled with real-life examples and tons of data to back up the importance of psychological safety in setting the stage for (as the subtitle indicates) learning, innovation, and growth. The book was easy to read and left me believing in a better way to work together.

Many of us have seen leaders who use fear as tactic to motivate people. Many of us know the harmful effects it has on the quality of work we produce and how people feel in the process.

Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things

by Adam Grant

What a great book! The author affirms that everyone, not just those labeled star performers, can do amazing things. If you want to explore how to grow beyond expected limitations – and to also help others do the same, this book is for you. The author provides a framework for sustaining motivation, building character, and creating systems that allow people to learn and grow. It’s easy to read, with lots of stories, and I especially resonated with the author’s assertion that character matters.

Thinking in Systems: A Primer

by Donella H Meadow

This book provides clear and accessible insights into the principles of systems thinking. And although it might not immediately strike you as a leadership book – it truly is.  The introduction begins with a quote from Russel Ackoff, an operations theorist: “Managers are not confronted with problems that are independent of each other, but with dynamic situations that consist of complex systems of changing problems that interact with each other. I call such situations messes…Managers do not solve problems, they manage messes.” If that opening quote doesn’t get you, the first chapter will.

The book draws from a variety of sources, including corporate executives, economists, historians, as well as creative influences and ancient wisdom. Each time I put the book down, my first thought was, Why did I wait so long to read it?

Eric’s Top Leadership Books

Here are a couple of Eric’s favourites this year: 

Culture Shock: An unstoppable force is changing how we work and live 

by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter

This is a great book focused on how the workplace is changing as a result of the pandemic and the essential practices of management and leadership for navigating the new realities.

Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World 

by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall

This book challenges the reader’s assumptions about very common management and leadership practices. They make the point that much of what we assume to be true about how to run organizations is not backed up with real-world research and is often just wrong. They present clear strategies for changing organizational practices towards evidence-based management.

Leading an organization through a cultural transformation can be one of the most complex and challenging projects to tackle.  For those who do it successfully, though, the rewards are significant and long-lasting.

Dan’s Top Leadership Books

Here are Dan’s three favourites this year:

Lead Together: Stop Squirreling Away Power and Build a Better Team  

by Tania Luna

Weaving leadership, business, and psychological principles into a fable format is difficult to pull off, but Tania Luna does it masterfully. It’s an engaging narrative, backed by solid research, which confronts our traditional understandings of what it means to manage and lead teams and organizations. She has wrapped hard truths into a funny little fiction, which somehow makes them easier to swallow. Your assumptions will be challenged, but in a way that feels safe to pull on those threads. This book triggered new insights for me around leadership, organizational design, and how power dynamics are woven into everything we do.

Taming the Culture Tiger: Art and Science of Transforming Organizations and Accelerating Innovation

by Dr. Kate Price

Dan’s review of Taming the Culture Tiger and Culture Renovation are combined below.

Culture Renovation: 18 Leadership Actions to Build an Unshakeable Company  

by Kevin Oakes

Leading an organization through a cultural transformation can be one of the most complex and challenging projects to tackle. For those who do it successfully, though, the rewards are significant and long-lasting. Culture is “sticky” and does not change easily, which can work against you when it’s at odds with your strategy and purpose, but is a powerful ally once it is aligned with where you want to go. Both of these authors do a brilliant job at demystifying the process, helping to understand the roadblocks, and providing practical strategies to move forward.

On behalf of ACHIEVE Centre for Leadership, we hope you enjoy our list of leadership books for the holidays. Happy reading!

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