Books like Lincoln On Leadership — picked by fans

I’ve always been drawn to the connection between the physical and the mental and how small, repeated actions shape who we become. I started searching for meaning because life knocked me to my knees and left me with questions I couldn’t ignore. Everything I thought I was certain about came undone, and I was left trying to figure out what to do with the pieces.

What I learned the hard way is that real change doesn’t come from answers; it comes from what we survive and who we decide to become afterward. I write from inside those lessons, where purpose is discovered through experience, missteps, and the resolve to keep going. These books will shape you—enjoy!

I’ve been in the construction industry my entire life; I began estimating construction as a teenager, helping my father in his electrical contracting business. I’ve been in residential remodeling sales, spent time as a licensed plumber, and ran my own successful remodeling business for many years. I’ve made all the mistakes any business owner can make, and my passion now is to help other business owners avoid those same mistakes. Most contractors go into business because they know their trade, but no one has taught them how to price their work or run a business. My goal is to help these contractors succeed.

I’ve been in the construction industry my entire life; I began estimating construction as a teenager, helping my father in his electrical contracting business. I’ve been in residential remodeling sales, spent time as a licensed plumber, and ran my own successful remodeling business for many years. I’ve made all the mistakes any business owner can make, and my passion now is to help other business owners avoid those same mistakes. Most contractors go into business because they know their trade, but no one has taught them how to price their work or run a business. My goal is to help these contractors succeed.

I’ve been in the construction industry my entire life; I began estimating construction as a teenager, helping my father in his electrical contracting business. I’ve been in residential remodeling sales, spent time as a licensed plumber, and ran my own successful remodeling business for many years. I’ve made all the mistakes any business owner can make, and my passion now is to help other business owners avoid those same mistakes. Most contractors go into business because they know their trade, but no one has taught them how to price their work or run a business. My goal is to help these contractors succeed.

I’ve spent my career helping leaders elevate the human experience for customers, employees, and shareholders. Along the way, I’ve written 13 bestselling books about clients like Starbucks and Mercedes-Benz and advised leaders across industries, from hospitality to healthcare. But beyond the C-suite, I’ve always been a student of leadership. I read widely and constantly to challenge my thinking and deepen my understanding. These five books have shaped how I lead, teach, and live. Each one offers something unexpected, timeless, or transformational—and I’m excited to share them with those who share a passion for what it means to lead well.

As a child, I read stories of courageous women and men who risked their lives for their faith, for their freedom, or for the freedom of others. Many of these stories were dark and brutal. History taught me that governments are capable of atrocities that defy understanding. Fiction stories led me to envision dark futures. But I do not enjoy stories that discourage or depress. Instead, I believe stories should display hope, faithfulness, and sacrifice. I admire the heroes of our history and I seek fiction that speaks these same truths. We need stories that inspire us to stand up, to speak out against injustice, no matter the consequences.

Reading was a childhood passion of mine. My mother was a librarian and got me interested in reading early in life. When John F. Kennedy was running for president and after his assassination, I became intensely interested in politics. In addition to reading history and political biographies, I consumed newspapers and television news. It is this background that I have drawn upon over the decades that has added value to my research.

Throughout the forty-one years (thirty-four of them at Oxford) I spent as a university teacher, I taught a course on Communist government and politics (latterly ‘Communist and post-Communist government’). Communist-ruled systems were never less than highly authoritarian (when they became politically pluralist, they were, by definition, no longer Communist), and in some countries at particular times they were better described as totalitarian. That was notably true of Stalin’s Soviet Union, especially from the early 1930s to the dictator’s death in 1953. The books I’ve written prior to The Human Factor include The Rise and Fall of Communism and The Myth of the Strong Leader: Political Leadership in the Modern Age.

I'm a research scientist who has worked on the interface of many biological, environmental, social, and economic disciplines seeking more sustainable and yet productive forms of agriculture in the tropics and subtropics. With numerous colleagues, I've tried to find ways to right many of the wrongs that have affected the critical food and non-food needs of the world’s poorest and marginalized farmers. This also has the potential to heal much of the environmental degradation and social deprivation in our troubled and dysfunctional world. Along the way, I've had an unusual and privileged research career travelling in remote corners of the world and meeting the people most in need of help from international decision makers.

Daniel Treisman is an expert on post-Soviet Russia, whose articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, and CNN.com, among other publications. A professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, he is the founder of the Russia Political Insight project, an international collaboration to analyze Kremlin decision-making. He is the author of The Return: Russia’s Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev and editor of The New Autocracy: Information, Politics, and Policy in Putin’s Russia.