7 Best Leadership Books Every Young Leader Should Read ...

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie

On Amazon at: amazon.com
In my opinion, this is definitely one of the best leadership books out there! Even though it was first published in 1937, this book is extremely relevant today; it’s very practical and full of examples. It’s a true masterpiece that every young leader should read if they want to better understand human psychology.

2. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey

On Amazon at: amazon.com
This is another extremely well-written book that every young leader or entrepreneur should read if they want to be successful. It’s actually a book on personal development that will help you learn how to become an effective person and how to change the things you can to make your life better. It’s very inspiring, very motivational and it really gives you a good perspective on what’s important in life.

3. Leadership and Self-Deception – the Arbinger Institute

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com
This is one of the best books about leadership out there that every student who has begun their leadership journey should read. It’s basically “a parable about a self-absorbed man who learns to get beyond himself”. The authors actually show us how we can blind ourselves to our true motivations and how we sabotage ourselves from achieving success and increasing happiness.

4. Managing up – Rossane Badowski

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com
This amazing book actually talks about how to lead and how to influence when you’re not the boss. It’s full of rich and colorful anecdotes and it teaches you all there is to now about healthy relationships, trust and values. This is definitely one of the books every young leader who aspires to climb the corporate ladder should read.

5. Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com
This is a wonderful book, full of insights into a number of aspects of psychology and even though the author is a renowned psychologist and won a Nobel Prize in Economics, this book is surprisingly readable. It's basically a groundbreaking tour of the mind, explaining how two systems drive the way we think; system one is emotional, fast, and intuitive and system two is logical, slower and more deliberate.

6. Primal Leadership - Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com
This book is very easy to read, is extremely useful to young leaders and it’s full of good leadership information. It basically states that emotional intelligence is king in leadership and that leaders must also cultivate their EQ and not only evaluate their IQ. It’s a great read that affirms the importance of emotionally intelligent leadership.

7. Talent is Never Enough – John Maxwell

On iTunes at: itunes.apple.com
Because talent is often overrated, this book shows you how to build habits that don’t require talent, but which will ultimately enable you “to capitalize your gifts”. Basically, how you develop your talent is what counts and this wonderful book will tell you how you can do that. It’s full of stories and anecdotes, it gives a lot of good examples and it also exposes the reasons why so many talented people don’t succeed.

If you dream of becoming a great leader someday, then you should definitely read at least of couple of these books, so you’ll be able to see things more clearly and to understand better the people around you. Do you know any other inspiring leadership books every young leader should read? Please tell us about them in the comments section!

Sources:
blogs.hbr.org
growingleaders.com
bobsutton.typepad.com