Here are 100 books that Everybody Matters fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’ve loved both history and fantasy since I was a child. The first book I can remember reading at all was The Hobbit. The first historical novel I fell in love with was The Killer Angels. I visited the battlefield of Gettysburg with my family, and currently teach the movie every year to my high school film class. (I’ve never visited Middle Earth, but plan to visit New Zealand as soon as possible). I’ve been reading both genres ever since—and quite by accident my first novel contains a mix of both genres.
This one isn’t fantasy at all. In fact, it’s probably the most accurate fictional retelling of the battle of Gettysburg out there. But I love it so much I had to list it here.
Furthermore, the characters involved—such as Lee, Longstreet, and Chamberlain—are deeply spiritual men, meaning that many pages meditate on the meaning of all this blood and loss. These meditations evoke a sense fantasy often can: that the visible world contains a mystery deeper than our limited minds can grasp.
Yet the text remains deeply human. The Civil War pits brother against brother, friend against friend. In it, there is a great speech by Col. Chamberlain addressing his men which captures a theme of the book.
“This is a different kind of army,” he says. “If you look back through history you will see men fighting for pay, for women, for some other kind of loot. They fight…
“My favorite historical novel . . . a superb re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg, but its real importance is its insight into what the war was about, and what it meant.”—James M. McPherson
In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation’s history, two armies fought for two conflicting dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Bright futures, untested innocence, and pristine beauty…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I became a nonprofit consultant because I could use my best skills in writing and facilitating and apply them for good. I continue in this work because nothing is more exciting than helping people who have dedicated their lives to making the world better in some specific way actually take the next step to do better. The books I’ve recommended have made me far better at what I do.
This is the quickest, easiest how-to read you’ll ever enjoy. Framed as a novel, it provides terrific insights into organizational leadership.
I come back to concepts the book develops and use the tools the book provides over and over. Sure, it’s a little simplistic at times, but all those simple principles are right on target and can be adapted for the real world.
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams. Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the company fail? Lencioni's utterly gripping tale serves as…
When I was a boy, my mother told me every day, “Be a leader.” By that, she meant to remember who you are, stand up for what you believe, do good, and be good. I was only five years old. That daily lesson on the doorstep sunk deep in my heart. For over forty years, I have had a passion for learning, teaching, and practicing small “L” leadership. I have done that as dean of Harvard Business School, president of BYU-Idaho, and Commissioner of Education for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have learned deeply from the books on this list, and I hope you will, too.
This book has captured my interest and my heart for a long time. You may wonder what a book about a great president is doing in a list of the best small “L” leadership books. Here is the reason: I get many powerful principles and practices of small “L” leadership–things I can use in my family, at church, and in my professional life–every time I read this book (and I have read it three times!).
It doesn’t hurt that the writing is beautiful! I love the writing, and I love to see how Lincoln created an effective team in his cabinet composed of all of his rivals for the presidential nomination with small and simple things. Amazing!
One of the most influential books of the past fifty years, Team of Rivals is Pulitzer Prize–winning author and esteemed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s modern classic about the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, his unlikely presidency, and his cabinet of former political foes.
Winner of the prestigious Lincoln Prize and the inspiration for the Oscar Award winning–film Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Tony Kushner.
On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago.…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
I’ve founded companies, shut them down (then rebuilt my life), and coached hundreds of executives and founders through their own turning points. Those experiences taught me that resilience isn’t about bouncing back after hard things happen to you. It’s about being open to what can happen through you, including growth, clarity, curiosity, and conviction. That’s why I wrote Rethinking Resilience and why I return to these books often. Each one has helped me see strength, adaptability, and curiosity as intentional and sustainable traits—not something we summon only after crisis. I’m passionate about helping leaders move from reaction to intention and turn pressure into power, and I think this list captures that shift perfectly.
I love this book because it reframes leadership as a long strategic game instead of a transactional one.
Sinek’s concept of the “infinite mindset” mirrors how I think about Intentional Resilience: it’s not about surviving one hard moment, it’s about sustaining clarity and conviction over many moments. His writing reminds me to zoom out, focus on purpose, and lead with a sense of ownership and collaboration instead of competition.
It’s one of those rare leadership books that keeps getting more relevant every year.
The New York Times-bestselling author of Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, and Together Is Better offers a bold new approach to business strategy by asking one question: are you playing the finite game or the infinite game?
In The Infinite Game, Sinek applies game theory to explore how great businesses achieve long-lasting success. He finds that building long-term value and healthy, enduring growth - that playing the infinite game - is the only thing that matters to your business.
I'm Matt Phelan, and I've always been fascinated by how people think and feel, especially in the workplace. That's why I co-founded The Happiness Index, where we use data to help organizations understand and improve their workplace culture. I love exploring the connection between happiness and performance, and I'm eager to share the insights I've gained along the way.
This book delves into the complexities of human emotions, providing a nuanced vocabulary to understand and navigate our inner experiences. It explores the power of vulnerability, empathy, and authentic connection in building trust and fostering a sense of belonging.
By developing greater emotional literacy, you can improve communication, strengthen relationships, and create a more compassionate workplace.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her latest book, Brené Brown writes, “If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection.”
Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart!
In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and…
I have worked for some really toxic leaders in my lifetime. Over the decades, I’ve figured out that even well-intentioned people can be toxic leaders without knowing it. As a team and leadership performance coach for the past 15 years, my job has been to help leaders show up as people others want to follow; to help employees feel cared for, and as a result, be intrinsically motivated to care about their company’s mission. These books represent the figurative fuel in my tank for this work, and I hope you find them useful.
One of the core concepts of how we live our lives–including how we lead–is our mindset. This book, better than any other I’ve read, captures what a mindset actually is: values, beliefs, and principles, and how the three combine to make us feel right about our behaviors–even when we’re wrong.
We all have mindsets for driving, parenting, leading, being a partner, and many other areas of life. I find that in my work, the more that I can help someone examine their values, beliefs, and principles, the more success they will have in changing their behaviors. While the book is about more than mindsets, I continually use Broza’s explanation of the concept in my work.
Does your Agile team experience the following common problems?
Members use established Agile practices and tools, but with little motivation or buy-in.
Even though the team is cross-functional, members don’t collaborate effectively or leverage everyone’s abilities.
Rather than act empowered, they wait for permission and approval.
Improvement has stalled — the team performs okay, but it can do so much better.You can’t solve these problems with more practices, rules, and tools. These are people problems.
If you’re a manager, Scrum Master, project manager, or delivery lead — or you aspire to be — you can make all the difference to…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
When I was a boy, my mother told me every day, “Be a leader.” By that, she meant to remember who you are, stand up for what you believe, do good, and be good. I was only five years old. That daily lesson on the doorstep sunk deep in my heart. For over forty years, I have had a passion for learning, teaching, and practicing small “L” leadership. I have done that as dean of Harvard Business School, president of BYU-Idaho, and Commissioner of Education for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have learned deeply from the books on this list, and I hope you will, too.
This is a small “L” leadership book, and I love its ideas and its examples. When I read it for the first time, it gave me a new perspective on the very personal nature of leadership. The book was jammed (it still is!) with great insights about the connection between what is inside of me and how I could lift and strengthen other people when I lead.
All I have to do when I once again take a look at this book is to read the table of contents–purpose-centered, internally-directed, other-focused, externally open, positive force–and I am reminded that this is a book that helps me stay focused on helping people and organizations thrive. It is a great lift!
A guide to leading with your best self, which in turn drives others to be their best.
NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED
Just as the Wright Brothers combined science and practice to finally realize the dream of flight, Ryan and Robert Quinn combine research and personal experience to demonstrate how to reach a psychological state that lifts us and those around us to greater heights of achievement, integrity, openness, and empathy. The updated edition of this award-winning book—honored by Utah State University’s Huntsman School of Business, Benedictine University, and the LeadershipNow web site—includes two new chapters, one describing a learning…
When I was a boy, my mother told me every day, “Be a leader.” By that, she meant to remember who you are, stand up for what you believe, do good, and be good. I was only five years old. That daily lesson on the doorstep sunk deep in my heart. For over forty years, I have had a passion for learning, teaching, and practicing small “L” leadership. I have done that as dean of Harvard Business School, president of BYU-Idaho, and Commissioner of Education for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have learned deeply from the books on this list, and I hope you will, too.
I love this book because it is a great read about a preventable disaster in space and a great account of what to do and what to not do if you want to be a small “L” leader. The early years of the space program saw great examples of small “L” leadership; in the years around the Challenger disaster, NASA was a thoroughly bureaucratic hierarchy where people in authority wielded power to control and coerce other people.
It is a gripping tale in which this legacy paradigm of power contributed to the deaths of seven astronauts. I am passionate about leadership that helps people and organizations thrive; it is important to read about what happens when its antithesis wreaks its damage.
'Gripping' ED CAESAR * 'Masterly' GEOFF DYER * 'Incredible' TIM HARFORD * 'A universal story that transcends time' NEW YORK TIMES * 'Superb' DAILY TELEGRAPH * 'We know what's going to happen, but feel the suspense nonetheless' THE TIMES
** THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ** ** WINNER OF THE KIRKUS BOOK PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2024 **
The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger space shuttle disaster based on fascinating in-depth reporting and new archival research - this is riveting history that reads like a thriller.
On the morning of 28 January 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the…
I have always had so-called “authority problems.” It wasn’t the people; it was the rigidity that got to me. But just as much or more, I have always loved things complex, unequivocal, strange, soulful, and poetic. I have loved stories. They helped me to eventually understand the leaders and either make friends with them or avoid them. They helped me to make peace with the rebellious streak in myself. I read about leaders, mangers, and employees, I research them, I write about them and for them. Stories enable me to express all these insights in a form that is, at the same time, truthful and resonant (I hope).
I loved this collection of stories about leadership; what a page-turner! I was thrilled by the depth and imaginativeness of possible connections between fairy tales, legends, and traditional stories and management learning. I loved how the tales of Prometheus, Dædalus and Icarus, Merlin, and others are interwoven with issues important for contemporary managers.
Stories of conceit and hubris, as well as of adventurous quests for integration are spun in a way that made me feel compassion for the plight of many employees as well as of leaders, but, at the same time, they spoke to my rebellious streak. With so many glorious tales to learn from, we deserve better leaders: inspired, spirited, humane, or at the very least–human.
Leadership and Wisdom: Narrating the Future Responsibly gives business students and practitioners the opportunity to re-read tales, poems, myths and fables that have been interpreted by leading management scholars in order to translate the world's folk wisdom into insightful and actionable lessons for a more responsible leadership practice.
Most, if not all, cultures generate narratives that teach people how to make sense of the world and how to respond to challenges with wisdom. These sources provide a medium for character, as well as a guide for decision-making in ambiguous and uncertain circumstances. Management and organization scholars increasingly focus on what…
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
One remarkable leader I've studied, Bob Davids, said that the greatest scarcity in the world is not oil or food but leadership. For two decades, I've been on a quest to uncover the essence of a transformational leader, someone who cultivates an environment where employees' needs are so well-addressed that they are eager to show up and give their best every day. This journey led me to study hundreds of leaders and books, all serving as the foundation for my thoughts and writings. I trust that these books will kickstart your own journey. Mine has guided me to play a pivotal role in the corporate liberation movement, involving hundreds of leaders who have transformed their organizations.
I instinctively resonate with Robert Greenleaf’s servant leadership philosophy, as do numerous business writers and, more importantly, leaders.
Greenleaf had a dream job at AT&T: read, think, and write about management. I admire how his book draws not only from management authors but also from philosophers, political thinkers, poets, and novelists. I fully agree with his diagnosis that organizations "have the resources to do so much better than the [current] mediocre level because so much leadership is poor." He also devised a solution to this challenge: leaders who serve others by tending to their needs and aspirations.
I appreciate Greenleaf's benevolence but also expectation towards those in charge. He observes that "many guilty people are walking around with an air of innocence" because they have not embraced servant leadership when they had the freedom to do so.
Twenty-five years ago Robert Greenleaf published these prophetic essays on what he coined servant leadership, a practical philosophy that replaces traditional autocratic leadership with a holistic, ethical approach. This highly influential book has been embraced by cutting edge management everywhere. Yet in these days of Enron and what VISA CEO Dee Hock calls our "era of massive institutional failure," Greenleaf's seminal work must reach the mainstream now more than ever. Servant Leadership- * helps leaders find their true power and moral authority to lead. * helps those served become healthier, wiser, freer, and more…
