Here are 100 books that Leading from Within fans have personally recommended if you like Leading from Within. Book DNA is a community of 13,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?

Ron Elsdon Author Of Business Behaving Well: Social Responsibility, from Learning to Doing

From my list on purpose leadership organizations and community.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about integrating individual, organizational, and community needs to create a better world for the benefit of us all. I am an author and founder of organizations in the career and workforce development fields. My four books (Affiliation in the Workplace, Building Workforce Strength, Business Behaving Well, and How to Build a Nontraditional Career Path) and much of my career explored bringing work to life for those close to us, for ourselves, for our organizations, and for our communities. My social activism has been expressed through community volunteer work and promoting a range of social causes. I hope you enjoy the books I have chosen for you!

Ron's book list on purpose leadership organizations and community

Ron Elsdon Why Ron loves this book

Sometimes, a book brings such a perceptive view that it elicits in me a response of gratitude and respect for the author. It surfaces ideas I long suspected were there but were just beyond grasp.

This is such a book. It shines a bright light on false meritocracy and what that means. I found this book profoundly moving and reaffirming about the important principles inherent in a just society. 

By Michael J. Sandel ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Tyranny of Merit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A TLS, GUARDIAN AND NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020

The new bestseller from the acclaimed author of Justice and one of the world's most popular philosophers

"Astute, insightful, and empathetic...A crucial book for this moment" Tara Westover, author of Educated

These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favour of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the promise that "you can make it if you try". And the consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has…


If you love Leading from Within...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Book cover of Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Ron Elsdon Author Of Business Behaving Well: Social Responsibility, from Learning to Doing

From my list on purpose leadership organizations and community.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about integrating individual, organizational, and community needs to create a better world for the benefit of us all. I am an author and founder of organizations in the career and workforce development fields. My four books (Affiliation in the Workplace, Building Workforce Strength, Business Behaving Well, and How to Build a Nontraditional Career Path) and much of my career explored bringing work to life for those close to us, for ourselves, for our organizations, and for our communities. My social activism has been expressed through community volunteer work and promoting a range of social causes. I hope you enjoy the books I have chosen for you!

Ron's book list on purpose leadership organizations and community

Ron Elsdon Why Ron loves this book

Some books reach me on an emotional level, while with others, it is in their intellectual reach and research rigor. This book is of the latter kind.

I was captivated by the breadth of ideas presented and the depth of research involved. It affirmed for me the dangerous trajectory of growing financial inequality that is unfolding and why that is important. This book is a monumental work. 

By Thomas Piketty , Arthur Goldhammer (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Capital in the Twenty-First Century as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times #1 Bestseller
An Amazon #1 Bestseller
A Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
A Sunday Times Bestseller
A Guardian Best Book of the 21st Century
Winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
Winner of the British Academy Medal
Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award

What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard…


Book cover of In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies

Ron Elsdon Author Of Business Behaving Well: Social Responsibility, from Learning to Doing

From my list on purpose leadership organizations and community.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about integrating individual, organizational, and community needs to create a better world for the benefit of us all. I am an author and founder of organizations in the career and workforce development fields. My four books (Affiliation in the Workplace, Building Workforce Strength, Business Behaving Well, and How to Build a Nontraditional Career Path) and much of my career explored bringing work to life for those close to us, for ourselves, for our organizations, and for our communities. My social activism has been expressed through community volunteer work and promoting a range of social causes. I hope you enjoy the books I have chosen for you!

Ron's book list on purpose leadership organizations and community

Ron Elsdon Why Ron loves this book

This book changed the way I think about organizations and leadership. It has influenced my entire career. It helped me understand the importance of focusing on customer needs, on quality, and, most critically, on supporting people in organizations so that they are inspired and can prosper and excel at what they do.

It helped me see the crucial role of supportive leadership. It is a landmark book, and I am grateful to have read it at a formative stage. 

By Thomas J. Peters , Robert H. Waterman ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked In Search of Excellence as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The "Greatest Business Book of All Time" (Bloomsbury UK), In Search of Excellence has long been a must-have for the boardroom, business school, and bedside table.

Based on a study of forty-three of America's best-run companies from a diverse array of business sectors, In Search of Excellence describes eight basic principles of management -- action-stimulating, people-oriented, profit-maximizing practices -- that made these organizations successful.

Joining the HarperBusiness Essentials series, this phenomenal bestseller features a new Authors' Note, and reintroduces these vital principles in an accessible and practical way for today's management reader.


If you love Sam M. Intrator...

Book cover of Glimmer of the Other

Glimmer of the Other by Heather G. Harris,

Delve into this internationally best-selling series, now complete! A fast paced laugh-out-loud mix of Urban Fantasy and Mystery.

I can tell when you’re lying. Every. Single. Time. I’m Jinx, a PI hired to find a missing university student, I hope to find her propped up at a bar–yet my gut…

Book cover of The Living Company: Habits for Survival in a Turbulent Business Environment

Steve Tighe Author Of Rethinking Strategy

From my list on help you think about the future.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for helping organisations, industries, and communities to make better decisions led me into the field of strategic foresight more than 20 years ago. I am particularly passionate about scenario planning as the most valuable tool for improving decision-making in a volatile and uncertain environment. Scenarios enable people to question their (often implicit) assumptions about the future and to reframe their perceptions of the future. It’s this enlightening quality about scenarios that makes them so special to me. My quest is to see scenario planning become a mainstream activity in organisations throughout the world.      

Steve's book list on help you think about the future

Steve Tighe Why Steve loves this book

I love this book because it brings a new perspective to scenario planning. In particular, de Geus writes about “memories of the future” and how these are critical to developing sensitivity to weak signals that otherwise go unnoticed.

This book contains so many lessons about scenario planning, and de Geus provides greater detail on these than many authors. His writing style is casual and easy to follow, keeping the reader engaged from page 1. 

By Arie De Geus ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Living Company as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Most companies do not survive the upheavals of change and competition over the long haul. But there are a few remarkable firms that have withstood the test of several centuries. What hidden lessons do they hold for the rest of us? Arie de Geus, the man who introduced the revolutionary concept of the learning organization, reveals the key to managing for a long and prosperous organizational life. The Living Company speaks not just to aspiring leaders, but to anyone trying to adapt to a turbulent business environment. Only those steeped in the habits of a living company will survive. 'This…


Book cover of The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged

George Frederick McKay Author Of Creative Orchestration: A Project Method for Classes in Orchestration and Instrumentation

From my list on the life of a Master 20th Century Composer.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Frederick L. McKay, the youngest son of the composer and author George Frederick McKay (1899-1970), and I have re-issued and edited Professor McKay’s theory books and also authored his biography titled McKay’s Music: The Composer Chronicles. George Frederick McKay hoped to have more American music performed in the concert halls of our country and also involved cultural elements from around the world in his musical works, including poetry and whimsical pieces for young people studying music. His other works include Creative Harmony, How Music Begins and Grows, and Workbook for Creative Orchestration.

George's book list on the life of a Master 20th Century Composer

George Frederick McKay Why George loves this book

McKay had great respect and love for Frost’s artistry and his contribution to American culture. He composed choral music related to Frost’s poetry, along with other works related to Whitman, Poe, Sandburg, and others.

These works still exist in libraries worldwide and are recorded in some cases. McKay specifically put to music Frost's poem A Prayer in Spring, published by J. Fischer, New York 1950.

Several other Frost poems are utilized in McKay's compositions, which exist in manuscript form and have had live performances in various parts of the US over several decades.

By Robert Frost , Edward Connery Lathem (editor) ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This is the only comprehensive volume of Robert Frost's published verse; in it are the contents of all eleven of his individual books of poetry-from A Boy's Will (1913) to In the Clearing (1962). The editor, Edward Connery Lathem, has scrupulously annotated the more than 350 poems in this book.


Book cover of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Caralyn M. Buehner Author Of Snowmen at Night

From my list on snow and snowmen.

Why am I passionate about this?

The world opened to me in a safe space when I learned to read as a child, and by 6th grade I regularly hauled home stacks of books from the library and, inspired by Jo March, hoped to be an author. I put aside my dream of writing and pursued other career goals until my marriage to Mark Buehner. It was his career as an illustrator that opened a path for me to write, and together we have created many picture books, including the Snowmen at Night series. I’ve learned that stories are told with pictures as well as words, and beautiful picture books can be savored at any age.

Caralyn's book list on snow and snowmen

Caralyn M. Buehner Why Caralyn loves this book

I was in second grade when I first read this Robert Frost poem in our classroom textbook. There was one magnificent illustration of a horse in a dark, snowy forest, with big snowflakes falling that captured my imagination. I was entranced by the language and images and remember memorizing the poem to recite. In 1978 Susan Jeffers illustrated the poem as a picture book, with evocative gray and white drawings. A later edition added some color. In this case, the beauty of the text is such that no illustrations are needed, but it is lovely to see the snowy village, the narrator stopping to make a snow angel, and the snow-laden tree branches. A great introduction to the poems of Robert Frost, who called this poem “my best bid for remembrance.” (Just FYI, you can listen to a recording of Robert Frost reading this poem on YouTube.) 

By Robert Frost , Susan Jeffers (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.

From the illustrator of the world’s first picture book adaptation of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” comes a new interpretation of another classic Frost poem: “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Weaving a simple story of love, loss, and memories with only illustrations and Frost’s iconic lines, this stirring picture book introduces young readers to timeless poetry in an unprecedented way.


If you love Leading from Within...

Book cover of Tsunami

Tsunami by LeeAnn Pickrell,

On the morning of December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. The resulting tsunami killed an estimated 230,000 people across fourteen countries, from Indonesia to Sri Lanka to Thailand to the Maldives to India and all the way to East Africa.…

Book cover of Love That Dog

Marty Rhodes Figley Author Of Emily and Carlo

From my list on dogs, poetry, and dogs in poetry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Years ago, I returned to school at Mount Holyoke College to complete my bachelor’s degree in American Studies. I took a course on Emily Dickinson at the poet’s home in Amherst, Massachusetts—what a thrill! On the first day of class I learned that for sixteen years Emily’s constant companion was Carlo, a Newfoundland dog. Having experienced a hairy, slobbery encounter with a Newf when I was twenty while wearing a white dress, I knew the myth of Emily, pristinely dressed, untouched by the more earthy emotions was wrong. A new story needed to be told. That was the beginning of Emily and Carlo.

Marty's book list on dogs, poetry, and dogs in poetry

Marty Rhodes Figley Why Marty loves this book

Want a book that tells a poignant story and will inspire you to write poetry? Well, have your tissues ready for this one. Jack, an elementary school student, balks at writing poetry. When Miss Stretchberry’s class examines various famous poets’ work he is critical. For example, he thinks “Mr. Robert Frost has a little too much time on his hands.” This short funny and moving novel in free verse follows Jack’s journey as he learns to use poetry to express his feelings and to eulogize his beloved yellow dog, Sky. The poems mentioned in the book are included at the end. Just like poetry at its best, Love That Dog will enchant readers while using only a few special words. 

By Sharon Creech ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Love That Dog as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

The Newbery Medal-winning author of Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech, brings readers a story with enormous heart. 

Love That Dog shows how one boy named Jack finds his voice with the help of a teacher, a pencil, some yellow paper, and of course, a dog. Written as a series of free-verse poems from Jack's point of view, and with classic poetry included in the back matter, this novel is perfect for kids and teachers, too.

Jack hates poetry. Only girls write it and every time he tries to, his brain feels empty. But his teacher, Miss Stretchberry, won't stop giving…


Book cover of Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs

Jennifer Lang Author Of Places We Left Behind: A Memoir-in-Miniature

From my list on home and why it isn’t obvious for everyone.

Why am I passionate about this?

For my first 18 years, I slept in the same room (opposite my parents) in the same house (116 Monticello Avenue) in the same city (Piedmont) in the same state (CA) in the same country (USA), but soon after leaving for college in Evanston, IL, I pined for elsewhere and ended up peripatetic. That peripateticness plagued me, as a woman/wife/mother. While growing our family, my French husband and I moved: Israel to France to California to New York to Israel to New York to Israel. Finally, in my early fifties, I understood home is more about who you are than where you live. 

Jennifer's book list on home and why it isn’t obvious for everyone

Jennifer Lang Why Jennifer loves this book

This book combines compressed prose with nonfiction truth-telling but it isn’t linear or a complete story as much as a snapshot of Fennelly’s childhood, home life, and keen observations.

This book showed me that the quality of writing trumps the quantity of words. Short and sparse, when well written, can find a place on a bookshelf and shine.  

By Beth Ann Fennelly ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Heating & Cooling as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The 52 micro-memoirs in genre-defying Heating & Cooling offer bright glimpses into a richly lived life, combining the compression of poetry with the truth-telling of non-fiction into one heartfelt, celebratory book. Ranging from childhood recollections to quirky cultural observations, these micro-memoirs build on one another to arrive at a portrait of Beth Ann Fennelly as a wife, mother, writer and deeply original observer of life's challenges and joys.

Some pieces are wistful, some wry and many reveal the humour buried in our everyday interactions. Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs shapes a life from unexpectedly illuminating moments and awakens us…


Book cover of Sea-Change

Caroline McGhie Author Of The Sitter

From my list on capturing the magic of Norfolk, UK.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have lived in North Norfolk for more than thirty years and grown to love its creeks, dunes, crumbling cliffs, and atmospheric church towers. I’ve spent years working in a shed in the garden of my remote flint cottage (originally built as a hovel), writing features for national newspapers and magazines. I’ve visited grand old mansions with eccentric aristocratic owners; become familiar with the setting for L.P. Harley’s The Go-Between; been fascinated by the steam trains and railways that once linked ocean and fen; listened to skeins of geese flying overhead each winter; and been transported by the spiritual dimension in the vast horizontals of land, sea, and sky. 

Caroline's book list on capturing the magic of Norfolk, UK

Caroline McGhie Why Caroline loves this book

A heroic poem woven around the tides and spires of North Norfolk.

Jess Streeting tells her own story of returning as an adult to Cawston in Norfolk and remembering fun-filled childhood days with her father, an inspirational vicar, in the mid-70s. One single terrible event ripped her father away from her, and only now is she confronting what happened. There are shy girls, smart lads, and a great hammer beam church roof with carved angels.

The foreword is by one of those smart boys, Sir Stephen Fry.

By Jessica Streeting ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Jessica Streeting and her family - sister Alice, mother Judith and father Revered Paul Farnham - move east in their ancient London taxi to the deep countryside of Norfolk. It is 1975 and the rector has a new position at the church of St Agnes in the village of Cawston. Here they find a world populated by people who embody both the ancient and new of late 20th century rural life. Children of the soil, whose parents work it and depend on it, living a simple life as old as their church. The musical ones. The clever ones. The artists,…


If you love Sam M. Intrator...

Book cover of In Bad Faith

In Bad Faith by Geoffrey Carter,

Nelson West, a former Chicago homicide detective, is hired by wealthy heir Lionel Bing to discreetly help “fix” scandals and legal problems for his father’s wealthy friends.

Bing, a brilliant but troubled investigator, suffers from PTSD symptoms as a result of being kidnapped and witnessing the murder of his mother…

Book cover of Critical Assembly

Tara Lynn Masih Author Of The Silent Women

From my list on fiction and poetry books that navigate the atomic age.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a bicultural writer. As a result, I often see things from both sides. While researching my novel on the Manhattan Project, mostly set in Oak Ridge, TN, I became fascinated by the yin-and-yang attitude of the Project’s workers, scientists, and family members. It’s the most complex history I’ve had the privilege of studying. How can something be so awful and so astonishing? Reading these books cemented my belief that both sides of the coin can and do exist when we judge the building and use of the first atomic bomb. All these writers offer important contributions to atomic literature, and I hope you learn from and enjoy these books as much as I do!

Tara's book list on fiction and poetry books that navigate the atomic age

Tara Lynn Masih Why Tara loves this book

I admittedly balked at a dense poetry book.

I’m more of a prose reader. But I soon found myself utterly captivated by this Greek chorus of voices from the Manhattan Project—scientists, wives, receptionists, officers, locals, among others. I admired Canaday’s use of subheadings to keep me organized as many of these characters weave in and out, making multiple appearances. J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kitty Oppenheimer, Edward Teller, Gen. Groves, Albert Einstein, are just some of the famous voices included.

After reading this arresting, accomplished, impeccably researched collection, I learned that Canaday studied literature and physics in college. In Canaday’s deft hands, through the techniques of poetry and the magic of creating personality, I felt the power of what was being built and the power of conflicting human emotions surrounding the urgent task at hand.

By John Canaday ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

With technical mastery and remarkable empathy, Canaday introduces readers to the people involved in the creation and testing of the first atomic bomb, from initial theoretical conversations to the secretive work at Los Alamos. Critical Assembly also includes brief biographies, notes, and a bibliography for further exploration about this critical event in world history.


Book cover of The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good?
Book cover of Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Book cover of In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies

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