Here are 100 books that Lead With Empathy fans have personally recommended if you like Lead With Empathy. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Boldly Inclusive Leader: Transform Your Workplace (and the World) by Valuing the Differences Within

Nico D'Alessandro Author Of People Follow Me: Unlocking Effective Leadership

From my list on effective and empathetic leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a youth, I was very athletic and always aspired to be the captain of the team. I worked hard and was very driven to earn this right. As a business person, I have continued that passion for leadership. In addition, due to my sports experience, I am passionate about coaching others. I feel that with the right direction, the right motivation, and the right information, anyone can be successful. All of the authors for the leadership books I have recommended are also giving back to society in their own way. I hope you all enjoy the books on your journey to becoming a great leader!

Nico's book list on effective and empathetic leadership

Nico D'Alessandro Why Nico loves this book

I recommend this book because Minette Norman describes leadership as transformational. I like how she describes how, by understanding oneself and one's own leadership capabilities, one can be “bold” and different. Using this, one can lead teams courageously. This is a very inspirational book that every leader should read in their career.

By Minette Norman ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Boldly Inclusive Leader as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

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…

Book cover of Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow

Nico D'Alessandro Author Of People Follow Me: Unlocking Effective Leadership

From my list on effective and empathetic leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a youth, I was very athletic and always aspired to be the captain of the team. I worked hard and was very driven to earn this right. As a business person, I have continued that passion for leadership. In addition, due to my sports experience, I am passionate about coaching others. I feel that with the right direction, the right motivation, and the right information, anyone can be successful. All of the authors for the leadership books I have recommended are also giving back to society in their own way. I hope you all enjoy the books on your journey to becoming a great leader!

Nico's book list on effective and empathetic leadership

Nico D'Alessandro Why Nico loves this book

This book identifies three keys to being a more effective leader: knowing your strengths and investing in others’ strengths, getting people with the right strengths on your team, and understanding and meeting the four basic needs of those who look to you for leadership.

I recommend this book because Tom Rath recognizes the need to understand one's own strengths so one can leverage them to lead others. This makes leadership more effective for all businesses. Tom describes a big difference between being a manager and a leader. I really like how Tom used real-world examples on this topic.

By Tom Rath ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Strengths Based Leadership as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the author of the long-running #1 bestseller StrengthsFinder 2.0 comes a landmark study of great leaders, teams and the reasons why people follow. A unique access code allows you to take a new leadership version of Gallup's StrengthsFinder program. The new version of this program provides you with specific strategies for leading with your top five strengths and enables you to plot the strengths of your team based on the four domains of leadership strength revealed in the book.

Nearly a decade ago, Gallup unveiled the results of a landmark 30-year research project that ignited a global conversation on…


Book cover of The Unlocked Leader: Dare to Free Your Own Voice, Lead with Empathy, and Shine Your Light in the World

Nico D'Alessandro Author Of People Follow Me: Unlocking Effective Leadership

From my list on effective and empathetic leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a youth, I was very athletic and always aspired to be the captain of the team. I worked hard and was very driven to earn this right. As a business person, I have continued that passion for leadership. In addition, due to my sports experience, I am passionate about coaching others. I feel that with the right direction, the right motivation, and the right information, anyone can be successful. All of the authors for the leadership books I have recommended are also giving back to society in their own way. I hope you all enjoy the books on your journey to becoming a great leader!

Nico's book list on effective and empathetic leadership

Nico D'Alessandro Why Nico loves this book

I recommend this book because not only does it talk about leadership, but it talks about how your leadership can “shine a light in the world.” I really like how Hortense and Caroline correlate how leadership can make a difference in the lives of others. It is very inspiring.

By Hortense le Gentil , Caroline Lambert ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Unlocked Leader as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The most effective leaders are "human leaders:" leading with empathy, vulnerability, and authenticity. But many still adhere to the outdated myth that leaders must be "superhero leaders: infallible, unflappable, and fearless." Tragically, their innate ability to inspire remains locked within, blunting their impact.

In The Unlocked Leader veteran executive leadership coach Hortense le Gentil combines real life stories, rigorous research, and practical tools to explain how superhero leaders can become effective human leaders. You'll discover:

* How to identify the mental obstacles that stand between you and leadership authenticity, and sap your energy and impact - your mindtraps.

* How…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

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…

Book cover of Supervisor, Manager, Leader: The Basics of Being a Boss: A common sense approach to the critical skills that most organizations fail to teach their people

Nico D'Alessandro Author Of People Follow Me: Unlocking Effective Leadership

From my list on effective and empathetic leadership.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a youth, I was very athletic and always aspired to be the captain of the team. I worked hard and was very driven to earn this right. As a business person, I have continued that passion for leadership. In addition, due to my sports experience, I am passionate about coaching others. I feel that with the right direction, the right motivation, and the right information, anyone can be successful. All of the authors for the leadership books I have recommended are also giving back to society in their own way. I hope you all enjoy the books on your journey to becoming a great leader!

Nico's book list on effective and empathetic leadership

Nico D'Alessandro Why Nico loves this book

I recommend this book because Mike Kraus understands that leadership comes in different forms and at different levels within an organization. I like how he describes leadership from varying perspectives, making it more of a journey than a destination. This is a must-read for anyone new to management or aspiring to become a manager.


By Mike Kraus ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Supervisor, Manager, Leader as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Supervisor, Manager, Leader; The Basics of Being a Boss: A common sense approach to the critical skills that most organizations fail to teach their people.
"A concise, practical handbook for bosses of all stripes." Kindle Reviews


Book cover of Applied Empathy: The New Language of Leadership

Minter Dial Author Of Heartificial Empathy: Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence

From my list on artificial intelligence, emotions, and empathy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having studied literature at university and been a closet nerd, coding at night in a dank basement room, I've always been intrigued by the interface between human and machine. Then, as a senior executive in a large multinational, I was acutely aware of the value of empathy as a leadership skill. In a world that is increasingly divided and divisive, I’ve become an empathy activist. I believe that the business world can be a force for positive change, but as a society we will need to engage in a much more meaningful and rigorous debate about the ethics involved in the opportunities offered by using artificial intelligence and robots in the workplace. 

Minter's book list on artificial intelligence, emotions, and empathy

Minter Dial Why Minter loves this book

With business conditions and prospects looking so difficult, we will need to be ever more strategic in the use of our resources. In this light, Michael Ventura’s practical approach to inserting empathy into leadership and how businesses should function with a higher degree of empathy is a tremendous read. Ventura uses a host of case studies based on the work he’s done with his company, Sub Rosa. As such, the material is real life and the book is packed with a host of great and practical exercises. While it’s all about empathy in business, the book is also a good reminder of how empathy can be useful in our private lives, our intimate relationships and in society in general. 

By Michael Ventura ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Applied Empathy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Michael Ventura, entrepreneur and CEO of award-winning strategy and design practice Sub Rosa, shares how empathy - the ability to see the world through someone else's eyes - could be what your business needs to innovate, connect, and grow.

Having built his career working with iconic brands and institutions such as Google and Nike, and also The United Nations and the Obama Administration, Michael Ventura offers entrepreneurs and executives a radical new business book and way forward.

Empathy is not about being nice. It's not about pity or sympathy either. It's about understanding - your consumers, your colleagues, and yourself…


Book cover of The Empathy Exams: Essays

Amy Gallo Ryan Author Of You May Feel A Bit of Pressure

From my list on healing your heart and feeding your soul during infertility.

Why am I passionate about this?

After building a career as a women’s magazine editor, I left my job in the midst of a complicated and life-altering experience with infertility. Throughout those years I longed for connection—to other women who knew this specific pain, but also back to the person I'd always known myself to be. Infertility had stolen me from myself. The books on this list are not about infertility; rather, they speak to what it means to be a human who is enduring. For anyone feeling lost or despairing on an agonizing road to parenthood, I believe these are the books to light the way back home.

Amy's book list on healing your heart and feeding your soul during infertility

Amy Gallo Ryan Why Amy loves this book

This book is a collection of essays with an almost palpable heartbeat, which is exactly the sort of book I consider mandatory reading.

I found myself leveled by the depth and volume of insights on every page, about what it means to really see and care for one another, to withstand pain ourselves, and to witness it in the world.

I experienced so many moments of recognition, reading an articulation of a human truth I’d perhaps known or felt on a subconscious level but never formed into thought or heard expressed quite so beautifully. It’s as if Leslie Jamison lives at a different emotional frequency, paying attention to the world and distilling what’s important.

One piece of advice: don’t tackle this one intending to make notes in the margins because pretty much every sentence is worth coming back to.

By Leslie Jamison ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Empathy Exams as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From personal loss to phantom diseases, The Empathy Exams is a bold and brilliant collection, winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize

A Publishers Weekly Top Ten Essay Collection of Spring 2014

Beginning with her experience as a medical actor who was paid to act out symptoms for medical students to diagnose, Leslie Jamison's visceral and revealing essays ask essential questions about our basic understanding of others: How should we care about each other? How can we feel another's pain, especially when pain can be assumed, distorted, or performed? Is empathy a tool by which to test or even grade…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

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…

Book cover of What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine

Jessica Nutik Zitter, M.D. Author Of Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life

From my list on understanding the physician mind.

Why am I passionate about this?

This list opens the door to the inner life of physicians: our hopes, fears, insecurities, and all of the internal and external pressures we face in our training and practice. As a doctor, I see myself in these books—not a superhero with “all of the answers,” but a human being in a profession suffering one of the largest crises of workforce burnout and moral injury. Seeing our physicians as real people will help us feel more empowered to bring our own true selves to the relationship. And really good healthcare is more likely to happen when souls connect.

Jessica's book list on understanding the physician mind

Jessica Nutik Zitter, M.D. Why Jessica loves this book

This book does a great job of reminding non-doctors that physicians are not robots or heroes but human beings who put their pants on like everyone else. 

Doctors are people with a full range of emotions, insecurities, and doubt. Ofri draws on stories from her own training and practice that show how feelings generate the necessary empathy needed in the practice of medicine, but if left unexamined, can also lead to terrible harm. 

By Danielle Ofri ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What Doctors Feel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“A fascinating journey into the heart and mind of a physician” that explores the doctor-patient relationship, the flaws in our health care system, and how doctors’ emotions impact medical care (Boston Globe)

While much has been written about the minds and methods of the medical professionals who save our lives, precious little has been said about their emotions. Physicians are assumed to be objective, rational beings, easily able to detach as they guide patients and families through some of life’s most challenging moments. But understanding doctors’ emotional responses to the life-and-death dramas of everyday practice can make all the difference…


Book cover of Empathy: A History

Rob Boddice Author Of The History of Emotions

From my list on what your emotions are and where they come from.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a historian of emotions, science, and medicine, with more than a decade of experience in meddling in other scientific affairs, especially in the worlds of psychology and neuroscience. I’m fascinated by human emotions in part, at least, because I feel we’re living in a crude emotional age. I’ve worked in five different countries since gaining my PhD in 2005. In that time I’ve written or edited 14 books of historical non-fiction, as well as dozens of articles and reviews. You can freely read my work in Aeon or History Today. I live between Canada (my adopted country) and Finland, where I frequently lament the loss of my European citizenship.

Rob's book list on what your emotions are and where they come from

Rob Boddice Why Rob loves this book

I was desperately waiting for Lanzoni’s book to come out, being certain that it would be the key to displacing an all-too-easy tendency, among scientists, scholars and the general public alike, to make empathy the hardwired mechanism that defines humanity.

It frankly amazes me how quickly the fortunes of empathy rose in the second of half of the twentieth century when, fundamentally, nobody has been able to say precisely what it is, where it is, how it works or what its limits might be.

I loved Lanzoni’s book for laying it all out. Down with empathy!

By Susan Lanzoni ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Empathy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A surprising, sweeping, and deeply researched history of empathy-from late-nineteenth-century German aesthetics to mirror neurons

Empathy: A History tells the fascinating and largely unknown story of the first appearance of empathy in 1908 and tracks its shifting meanings over the following century. Despite the word's ubiquity today, few realize that it began as a translation of Einfuhlung ("in-feeling"), a term in German psychological aesthetics that described how spectators projected their own feelings and movements into objects of art and nature.

Remarkably, this early conception of empathy transformed into its opposite over the ensuing decades. Social scientists and clinical psychologists refashioned…


Book cover of The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society

Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson Author Of The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everyone's Well-Being

From my list on busting common myths about our human nature.

Why are we passionate about this?

We are social epidemiologists trying to understand how the societies we live in affect our health. Together, we try to communicate our scientific research to politicians and policy-makers, but even more importantly to everyone who is curious about how our worlds shape our wellbeing and who want to work together for positive change.  We co-founded a UK charity, The Equality Trust, to build a social movement for a more equal society, and we are Global Ambassadors for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, an international collaboration of organisations and individuals working to transform economic systems.

Kate's book list on busting common myths about our human nature

Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson Why Kate loves this book

Often, when we talk to people about the need for more egalitarian societies, we get push back. 

People say, “Oh, there will always be inequality because humans are only interested in their own survival and their own interests, they will always be out for themselves – you can’t fight human nature."

Primatologist Frans de Waal turns that argument on its head, showing the survival value of empathy, cooperation, and a sense of fairness for animals and humans alike.

By Franz de Waal ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Age of Empathy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Kindness and co-operation have played a crucial role in raising humans to the top of the evolutionary tree ... We have thrived on the milk of human kindness.' Observer

BY THE AUTHOR OF ARE WE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW SMART ANIMALS ARE?

'There is a widely-held assumption that humans are hard-wired for relentless and ruthless competition ... Frans de Waal sees nature differently - as a biological legacy in which empathy, not mere self-interest, is shared by humans, bonobos and animals.' Ben Macintyre, The Times

Empathy holds us together. That we are hardwired to be altruistic is the result…


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Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

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…

Book cover of Be the Difference: 40+ ideas for kids to create positive change using empathy, kindness, equality and environmental awareness

Dawn Wynne Author Of Midnight Mission: An Eco Avengers Series

From my list on educate and inspire kids about the environment.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been an educator for over 20 years teaching elementary-aged children. The environment is a passion of mine. After reading the book Plastic Ocean and meeting the author Charles Moore, I realized that the issues facing our environment are going to be best solved by the upcoming generation of children. They understand how important it is to preserve our planet. Combining my love of writing with my education background, I started writing books to teach children about the environment and inspire them to make lasting changes. I love recommending books that have the same mission. Small actions equal great changes! 

Dawn's book list on educate and inspire kids about the environment

Dawn Wynne Why Dawn loves this book

We’re all looking for ways to teach our children to care for each other as well as our planet. This is a wonderful way to engage kids and get them thinking about the greater good. Filled with fun ideas, children are empowered to make a difference. I love the discussion questions to prompt thinking and the place for children to write down their own ideas. 

By Jayneen Sanders , Cherie Zamazing (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Be the Difference as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 6, 7, 8, and 9.

What is this book about?

This engaging book provides over 40 powerful ideas on how kids and the people who love them can make a difference. Using kid-friendly text and beautiful illustrations, the focus is on three key areas: empathy and kindness, racial and gender equality, and caring for the environment. We know from research that ‘doing good is good for you’. The participant benefits both mentally and physically. Encouraging a mindset of giving and being part of positive change when a child is young, benefits both the child and their future. The aim of this book is to introduce kids to the many positive…


Book cover of The Boldly Inclusive Leader: Transform Your Workplace (and the World) by Valuing the Differences Within
Book cover of Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow
Book cover of The Unlocked Leader: Dare to Free Your Own Voice, Lead with Empathy, and Shine Your Light in the World

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