21 books to read before you can call yourself a leader:

1. Good To Great by Jim Collins

What you'll learn:

• Collins studied 11 elite companies and shows you how to lead your team to the next level
• Key to transform a good company into a great one is to foster a culture of discipline (people, thought & action)

2. The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins

What you'll learn:

• How to arrive in a new position and lead successfully
• The first 90 days is about establishing authority through listening to your team and winning their trust

3. Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

What you'll learn:

• The 4 Laws of Leadership (Cover & Move; Simple; Prioritize & Execute; Decentralized Command)
• How owning and learning from your mistakes will put you in the 1% of leaders

4. Deep Work by Cal Newport

What you'll learn:

• The difference between shallow (busy) work vs deep (strategic) work
• As a leader you must set up systems and build habits to do the essential work to lead your team into the future

5. Dare To Lead by Brené Brown

What you'll learn:

• How to take responsibility for finding the potential in members of your team
• Brown teaches you the importance of leading from the heart and tackling difficult conversations head-on

6. Start With Why by Simon Sinek

What you'll learn:

• How to identify 'why' your company operates, don't start with 'what' it does
• Sinek teaches you techniques to crystalize the identity of your business to get customers to fully believe in what you do

7. Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela

What you'll learn:

• How to keep your focus amidst struggle and adversity
• This autobiographical book will inspire you to develop the strength to never give up; to be there for your team

8. First, Break All The Rules by Jim Harter

What you'll learn:

• The ONE concept the best managers out of a study 80,000 all stood for
• If you want to stand out from the crowd and truly impact your company's culture, this book will teach you how to do it

9. Tribes by Seth Godin

What you'll learn:

• How to build a following that is bigger than just your business
• The art of captivating and mobilizing an audience (employees, investors, customers)

10. The Making Of A Manager by Julie Zhuo

What you'll learn:

• How to become a manager without formal training
• Actionable advice for your first few months in a new management role, how to hire and inspire your people

11. Laws Of Leadership by John C. Maxwell

What you'll learn:

• How to become a leader people want to follow
• 21 laws, each has its own chapter as an easy and timeless reference guide

12. True North by Bill George

What you'll learn:

• How to create your own personal leadership development plan
• If you want to stand out as a leader, you need embrace being authentic and find you own true north

13. The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey

What you'll learn:

• Strategies to create an effective and healthy work-life balance
• If you struggle with time management and identify what to focus your leadership capital on, this is the book for you

14. Wooden On Leadership by John Wooden

What you'll learn:

• The infamous "Pyramid of Success"
• How to develop the skill and confidence to "be at your best when your best is needed"

Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman et al

15. What you'll learn:

• Why and how great leaders move us
• If you want to influence your team, you need to understand how to become an emotionally intelligent leader

16. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

What you'll learn:

• All the qualities of a great leader, incl. eating last i.e. putting your team first
• Habits and routines to make you a leader people trust in and are willing to go the extra mile for

17. Leading Change by John P. Kotter

What you'll learn:

• How to be comfortable with change management
• 8-step process you can apply for any team and help them thrive through change

18. The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker

What you'll learn:

• Thinking behind leadership from the godfather of modern management thinking
• Teaches you how you focus on doing the right things, to be more effective than your competition

19. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Coleman

What you'll learn:

• The difference between the rational and the emotional mind
• How to navigate and use both to forge successful relationships in business and life

20. The Coaching Habit by Michael Stanier

What you'll learn:

• The value of asking powerful questions to help your team self-discover the path forwards
• 7 essential questions and how to ask them, helping you build trust with your team and leading to a clearer vision overall

21. The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

What you'll learn:

• Leadership is all about balance
• When to lead, when to follow; when to empower, when to fire; how to be humble, but not passive

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