If you work in an organization, you are a leader. This book explains how leadership can be learned, practiced and refined through everyday experiences.

Unlike most leadership books that interview CEOs, this story follows a new IT leader through his first year at IVK Corporation. It’s a fun, informative read that also offers practical lessons on IT leadership.
How to Win Friends & Influence People

A classic and timeless guide to the art of interpersonal relations, How to Win Friends & Influence People is one of the most influential self-improvement books of all time. First published in 1936, Carnegie’s pioneering book has sold more than 30 million copies. In it, he shares his wisdom on how to build and maintain healthy relationships with others in your personal life and workplace. snapreads.com/books/the-four-agreements-summary/

A pioneer of the “self-help” genre, the book covers the art of making people like you and how to win them over to your way of thinking. It’s not about manipulating people or swaying them with force; it’s all about connecting to others in genuine and sincere ways. Carnegie suggests that if you want to make people like you, you must first show interest in them and their needs. To do this, you must be attentive and listen to others’ concerns and problems. You should also congratulate them on their achievements and do so in a very sincere manner.

Carnegie’s advice focuses on building mutually beneficial relationships with the people in your life, which will ultimately lead to success. This is especially important when working with coworkers or in teams, as it will allow for a more collaborative and productive work environment.

Leadership isn’t just about directing and guiding people; it’s about fostering positive cultures that create loyalty, trust, and dedication. To do this, you must understand what motivates your team members. In this motivational business fable, author Chris Fuller uses the Iditarod dog sled race to illustrate crucial leadership lessons that every reader can apply in their own workplaces and homes.

Unlike other leadership books that provide a lot of generalizations, How to Win Friends & Influence offers concrete strategies and tactics that you can implement right away. It’s a must-read for any leader looking to improve the culture of their workplace, as it’s sure to yield great results. In addition, the engaging stories and examples will help you retain the lessons more effectively.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Patrick Lencioni’s multi year observation of teams and experiences coaching them towards better performance inspired him to single out five dysfunctions that inhibit team productivity. He modeled the dysfunctions on a pyramid similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; just like in any pyramid, the levels do not exist independently from each other and every lower level directly influences the higher ones.

Lack of Trust
A common reason for team dysfunctions is a lack of trust. When people don’t trust each other, they conceal weaknesses and mistakes, hesitate to ask for help or assume the worst in others, and dread meetings. This dysfunction also leads to a fear of conflict, which prevents employees from bringing up issues that could hurt their careers.

Lack of Commitment
When members are not committed to the goals and objectives of their team, they will often produce substandard work. The best way to encourage commitment is by ensuring that the team has a clear purpose, a shared vision, and concrete milestones for their achievements. Team leaders should also reinforce the importance of the bigger goal at the beginning of each meeting and set unshakable deadlines.

Lack of Integrity and Accountability
A good leader must ensure that all members are committed to their tasks and are accountable for their actions. This can be achieved by rewarding those who are responsible and creating consequences for those who are not. It is also important to be transparent with everyone and to always address results.

Lack of Focus on Collective Results
When team members fail to promote and prioritize collective goals, they will be distracted by their individual egos. They may focus on their own accomplishments and status at the expense of the overall company’s success or may even try to hide problems from other teammates in order to preserve relationships.

This is the most common problem with teams. They have a hard time agreeing on priorities, strategies and tactics. They don’t listen to each other and they ignore their differences. The result is a disorganized and unproductive organization. This is a major cause of inefficiency and waste, which ultimately leads to failure.
The Art of Persuasion

Often described as a unique type of craftsmanship, persuasion requires finely tuned creativity and a total belief in your cause. This dazzling book, authored by a leading FBI international kidnapping negotiator, introduces readers to the art of persuading others in an intellectually challenging and emotionally satisfying way.

While this book isn’t strictly a leadership book, its insights about persuasive communication and influence can be useful to leaders in any profession. Cialdini’s approach to convincing others is unlike much marketing literature in that he avoids the grimy, sales-y approach and instead focuses on tapping into people’s basic human needs and emotions.

Taking his irreverent, iconoclastic challenge to conventional ideas about business and leadership on a wild and windy journey into the world of adventure, Klopp has created an empowering and inspiring read that will leave readers feeling as though they’ve just been on a cross country airplane flight. This book is at once a wide-open, have-fun approach to leadership and an indispensable guidebook for those looking to get the most out of life.
The Five Powerful Secrets of Leadership

In leadership, there are certain traits that you can learn and develop that will make you a better leader. These include being an effective communicator, building strong relationships and knowing how to manage poor performance. There are also concrete skills that you can learn such as holding productive meetings and fostering a culture of learning. Ultimately, these are the skills that will give you the competitive advantage and help you be one of the best leaders in your industry.

One of the most important leadership traits is having emotional fitness. This means that you can manage your emotions in times of uncertainty. Extraordinary leaders are able to do this, and their followers are drawn to them because of it. They can handle the stress of change and are able to see the big picture.

The most powerful of all leadership secrets is that people are motivated by intrinsic rewards, not extrinsic ones. While material rewards can bolster your self-esteem, they will never be a true source of passion and motivation.

This is why a good leader will never let their team members become dependent on rewards and will instead encourage them to work for themselves and their own happiness. Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, made this a top priority and it helped to build a company that both customers and employees love.

Another of the most important leadership secrets is that you should always be looking for opportunities to innovate. This means that you should be willing to take risks and try new things in order to grow your business. Clayton Christensen, a Harvard professor, outlines this concept in The Innovator’s Dilemma.

You can also learn about innovation from books on marketing and business writing. These include Skill with People by Giblin and Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty by Steven Pressfield. These books will show you how to use your communication skills and create a system of working that allows everyone to succeed.

Finally, you can learn about leadership from the perspectives of different groups by reading books such as Lead From The Outside and Extreme Ownership. These books will show you how to lead from the perspective of different groups including women, minorities, millennials and others who are often excluded from the top leadership roles in business.