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Curated reading list for leaders

A selective, field-tested set of books and articles I use in executive coaching and leadership development.

This is not an exhaustive list. It reflects what I have found to be consistently useful in practice. Many leadership reading lists tend to be too long, repetitive, or shaped by passing trends. With this collection I take a different approach.
 

The list brings together the frameworks and perspectives I work with in practice — across communication, change, and organizational design.
 

Each section is intentionally structured:
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  • Must Read: foundational perspectives

  • Deeper Dive: methods and application

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I’ve kept this deliberately selective

Explore by topic

Leadership · Team Dynamics · Organization & Structure · Communication & Coaching
Negotiation & Sales · Change & Transformation · Creativity & innovation·Further Reading

leadership

LEADERSHIP

MUST READ

  • Covey — The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (personal leadership)

  • Goleman — Emotional Intelligence (self-awareness)

  • Heifetz — Leadership Without Easy Answers (adaptive leadership)

  • Sinek — Leaders Eat Last (trust & culture)

MUST READ

  • Greenleaf — Servant Leadership (mindset)

  • Marquet — Turn the Ship Around! (empowering leadership systems)

  • Wheatley, M. J. (2006). Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (3rd ed.). Berrett-Koehler.

Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead. Random House.

Covey, S. R. (2004). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (25th anniversary ed.). Simon & Schuster.

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books.

Greenleaf, R. K., & Spears, L. C. (2002). Servant Leadership: a Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. Paulist Press.

Harvard Business Review. (2020). HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership (Vols. 1–2). Harvard Business Review Press. [Article]

Heifetz, R. A. (1994). Leadership Without Easy Answers. Harvard University Press.

Marquet, D. L. (2012). Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders. Portfolio/Penguin.

Sinek, S. (2019). Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t. Penguin Business.

Wheatley, M. J. (2006). Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (3rd ed.). Berrett-Koehler.

team

TEAM DYNAMICS

MUST READ

  • Lencioni — The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (team cohesion)

  • Edmondson — Teaming (psychological safety)

  • Coyle — The Culture Code (group culture)

DEEPER DIVE

  • Gelfand —Rule Makers, Rule Breakers (culture norms)

  • Hackman — Leading Teams (team design)

  • Wageman — Senior Leadership Teams (exec teams)

  • Wiseman — Multipliers (team impact)

Coyle, D. (2019). The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. Bantam.

Edmondson, A. C. (2012). Teaming. Jossey-Bass.

Gelfand, M. J. (2018). Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World. Scribner.

Hackman, J. R. (2006). Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances. Harvard Business School Press.

Hackman, J. R., Burruss, J. A., Nunes, D. A., & Wageman, R. (2008). Senior Leadership Teams: What it Takes to Make Them Great. Harvard Business Review. [Article]

Harvard Business Review. (2013). HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Teams. Harvard Business Review Press. [Article]

Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Jossey-Bass.

Mastrogiacomo, S., Osterwalder, A., Smith, A., Papadakos, T., White, C., Edmondson, A. C., Assous, S., & Blexbolex. (2021). High-Impact Tools for Teams. Wiley. (Tools and Instruments)

Wageman, R. (2008). Senior Leadership Teams: What it Takes to Make Them Great. Harvard Business School Press.

Wiseman, L. (2010). Multipliers. HarperBusiness.

organization

ORGANIZATION & STRUCTURE

MUST READ

  • Laloux — Reinventing Organizations (org evolution)

  • Hamel & Zanini — Humanocracy (anti-bureaucracy)

  • Robertson — Holacracy (self-management)

DEEPER DIVE

  • Pflaeging — Organize for Complexity (complexity)

  • Meadows, — Thinking in Systems: A Primer. (Systems Thinking)

  • Skelton & Pais — Team Topologies (org. design)

Aykens, P., Lowmaster, K., McRae, E. R., & Shepp, J. (2026). 9 Trends Shaping Work in 2026 and Beyond. Harvard Business Review. [Article]
Hamel, G., & Zanini, M. (2020). Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them. Harvard Business Review Press.
Laloux, F. (2014). Reinventing organizations: a Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage Of Human Consciousness. Nelson Parker.
McKinsey & Company. (2026). The State of Organizations 2026. McKinsey & Company. [Article]
Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Chelsea Green Publishing.
Pflaeging, N., & Steinmann, P. (2014). Organize for Complexity. BetaCodex Publishing.
Robertson, B. J. (2015). Holacracy: The New Management System for a Rapidly Changing World. Henry Holt.
Skelton, M., & Pais, M. (2019). Team Topologies. IT Revolution.

communication

COMMUNICATION & COACHING

MUST READ

  • Duarte — Resonate (storytelling)

  • Reiss — Who Am I? (motivation)

  • Rosenberg — Nonviolent Communication (empathy)

  • Schein — Humble Inquiry (curiosity in conversation)

DEEPER DIVE

  • de Shazer — Keys to Solution in Brief Therapy (foundation)

  • de Shazer & Dolan — More Than Miracles (application)

  • Stone, Patton, & Heen. — Difficult Conversations (dialogue)

  • Szabó & Meier — Coaching Plain & Simple (practice)

Berg, I. K., & Szabó, P. (2005). Brief Coaching for Lasting Solutions. Norton.

de Shazer, S. (1985). Keys to Solution in Brief Therapy. Norton.

de Shazer, S., & Dolan, Y. (2007). More than Miracles: The State of the Art of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy. Routledge.

Duarte, N. (2010). Resonate: Present Visual Stories That Transform Audiences. Wiley.

HBR. (2021). HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Communication. Harvard Business Review Press. [Article]

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2012). Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. McGraw-Hill.

Reiss, S. (2000). Who Am I? The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities. Tarcher/Putnam.

Rosenberg, M. B. (2003). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. PuddleDancer Press.

Stone, D., Patton, B., & Heen, S. (2010). Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most. Penguin.

Schein, E. H. (2013). Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling. Berrett-Koehler.

Szabó, P., & Meier, D. (2009). Coaching Plain & Simple. W. W. Norton.

Watzlawick, P. (1984). Invented Reality. Norton.

Whittington, J. (2012). Systemic Coaching and Constellations: An Introduction to the Principles, Practices and Application. Kogan Page.

negotiation

NEGOTIATIONS & SALES

MUST READ

  • Fisher, Ury & Patton — Getting to Yes (Principled Negotiations)

  • Voss — Never Split the Difference (Tactical Negotiations)

DEEPER DIVE

  • Bazerman — Negotiation Genius (decision-making & deal design)

  • Ury — Getting Past No (difficult situations)

  • HBR — Must Reads on Negotiation [exec essentials]

Bazerman, M. H., & Neale, M. A. (1992). Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond. Bantam.

Fisher, R., Ury, W., & Patton, B. (2011). Getting to Yes. Penguin.

Harvard Business Review. (2019). HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Negotiation. Harvard Business Review Press. [Article]

Malhotra, D. (2016). Negotiating the Impossible: How to Break Deadlocks and Resolve Ugly Conflicts. Berrett-Koehler.

Ury, W. (1993). Getting Past No. Bantam.

Voss, C. (2016). Never Split the Difference. HarperBusiness.

change

CHANGE & TRANSFORMATION

MUST READ

  • Bridges — Managing Transitions (human transition)

  • Heath & Heath — Switch (behavior change)

  • Kegan & Lahey — Immunity to Change (deep change)

  • Kotter — Leading Change (framework)

DEEPER DIVE

  • Duck — The Change Monster (organizational reality)

  • Grant — Think Again (mindset)

  • Kotter & Cohen — The Heart of Change (case studies)

Bridges, W., & Bridges, S. (2016). Managing Transitions (4th ed.). Da Capo Press.

Duck, J. D. (2001). The Change Monster. Crown Business.

Grant, A. (2021). Think Again. Viking.

Hiatt, J. (2006). ADKAR. Prosci Research. (Tools & Instrument)

Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2009). Immunity to Change. Harvard Business Press.

Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press.

Kotter, J. P., & Cohen, D. S. (2012). The Heart Of Change. Harvard Business Review Press.

Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2010). Switch. Broadway Books.

creativity

CREATIVITY & INNOVATION

MUST READ

  • Brown — Change by Design (Design Thinking)

  • Johansson — The Medici Effect (innovation through diversity)

  • Kelley & Kelley — Creative Confidence (creativity mindset)

DEEPER DIVE

  • Liedtka & Ogilvie — Designing for Growth (application)

  • Martin — The Design of Business (integrative thinking)

  • Knapp — Sprint (Rapid Prototyping)

Brown, T. (2009). Change by Design. HarperBusiness.

Christensen, C. M. (2016) The Innovator’s Dilemma (Rev. ed.). Harvard Business Review Press.

Harvard Business Review. (n.d.). HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Design Thinking. Harvard Business Review Press. [Article]

IDEO.org. (2015). The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. IDEO.org.

Johansson, F. (2006). The Medici Effect. Harvard Business School Press.

Kelley, T., & Kelley, D. (2013). Creative Confidence. Crown Business.

Knapp, J. (2016). Sprint. Simon & Schuster.

Lewrick, M., Link, P., & Leifer, L. J. (2020). The Design Thinking Toolbox. Wiley.

Martin, R. L. (2009). The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking Is the Next Competitive Advantage. Harvard Business Press.

Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Bernarda, G., & Smith, A. (2014). Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want. Wiley. (Tools and Method)

Verganti, R. (2009). Design-Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean. Harvard Business Press.

further

FURTHER READING

Additional perspectives on decision-making, human behavior, and context.

DEEPER DIVE

  • Kahneman — Thinking, Fast and Slow (decision-making)

  • Meyer — The Culture Map (cross-cultural)

  • Pink — Drive (motivation)

  • Stulberg & Magness — Do Hard Things (resilience & sustainable performance)

Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink. Little, Brown.

Grant, A. (2021). Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. Viking.

Meyer, E. (2014). The Culture Map. PublicAffairs.

Pastoor, R. (2019). GRIP: The Art of Working Smart (and Getting to What Matters Most). Maven Publishing.

Pink, D. H. (2018). Drive. Canongate.

Pink, D. H. (2022). The Power of Regret. Riverhead.

Stulberg, B., & Magness, S. (2022). Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness. HarperOne.

This reading list reflects the core frameworks I use in leadership development, executive coaching, and organizational change work.

 

Curious how these ideas translate into practice?

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