8 Books to Help Entrepreneurs Become Strong Leaders

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You have an entrepreneurial spirit and drive, it's true. But do you have the right combination of leadership chops to succeed? That's the question every founder needs to answer honestly.

Being the best leader you can will set your company apart from others. You'll be able to share your vision with your team. You'll have no trouble delegating tasks to everyone you've hired. Best of all, you'll be able to act with empathy. As a recent EY Consulting survey shows, 89% of workers believe that empathy is a necessary component of true leadership.

You don't have to take a course to learn the lessons and tools that will improve your ability to lead, though. Delving into any of the following books written by "been-there, done-that" leaders can give you an instant education.

1. Dave Gerhardt — Founder Brand

Great leaders tend to be great storytellers. They gain buy-in from investors, staff, customers, and peers through engaging narratives. While this can seem like a talent that you either have or you don't, it's actually a teachable skill. And marketing master Dave Gerhardt is ready to be your instructor.

Gerhardt has helped many entrepreneurs find their voice. In Founder Brand, he explains how to position your unique story as the basis for your corporate brand. That way, your organization will have a constant north star to guide it through the startup and early years. As an added benefit, Gerhardt includes ways to leverage social media and other key marketing platforms to ramp up the saturation of your personal tale.

Related: The Future Storyteller of Our World Is You

2. Dr. Thomas Epperson — InnerWill

Our society has moved toward a penchant for purpose. Employees want to be guided by a leader who stands for something and has a vision. Yet it's tough to convey your values if you haven't taken the time to outline them.

Dr. Thomas Epperson's latest work, InnerWill, will help you name and claim your passion. A long-time leadership coach, Epperson concentrates his book on helping readers identify their motivators and values. Once you've pinpointed your values through purposeful self-awareness, Epperson outlines how to ignite your human potential so you can lead with confidence and authenticity.

3. Chris Prangley — The Tech Sales Warrior

As the founder of your business, you can expect to be a key player on your sales team. However, you may be new to selling, especially in competitive markets. Author Chris Prangley understands. He's reached sales superstardom in the tech world and is ready to share his best tips in The Tech Sales Warrior.

With each chapter, you'll find out all the habits Prangley credits with allowing him to move at lightning speed. By folding these behaviors into your leadership decisions, you'll be able to build stronger relationships with all stakeholders. You may even want to buy extra copies of this work to share with everyone on your sales team to crush quarterly projections time after time.

Related: 10 Ways to Maximize Your Sales Team's Performance

4. Manny Khoshbin and Rich Mintzer — Driven

Real estate entrepreneur Manny Khoshbin shares his story of perseverance that will make you believe in the American Dream all over again. Driven: The Never-Give-Up Roadmap to Massive Success goes beyond Manny's personal ride through the entrepreneurial journey to deliver the habits, mindset, and insights aspiring entrepreneurs need to turn dreams into reality.

5. Jackie Insinger — Spark Brilliance

When you're first launching your business, you can spend time guiding your employees. As your company grows, you'll have less and less contact with staff members. Yet as Jackie Insinger discusses in Spark Brilliance, you can avail yourself of ways to spark the desire to commit acts of extraordinary achievement throughout your team -- even when you're not around.

Insinger relies heavily on her executive coaching background to present a guidebook that you can use right away. After all, something as simple as cultivating a psychologically safe workplace could have a tangible effect on performance and productivity. So start sparking a little brilliance today.

Related: 5 Signs You Need an Executive Coach (and 5 You Don't)

6. Dr. Jon Finn — The Habit Mechanic

Self-improvement is a must for any leader. Nevertheless, it can be tough to figure out what to keep and what to change about yourself. No need to stress about it. Dr. Jon Finn spent 20 years putting together The Habit Mechanic, the toolkit and manual for life designed for achievers like you.

This isn't just another self-help book, though. Finn's approach to personal transformation leans on principles from neuroscience, behavioral science, and psychology. Elevate your Super Habits. Gain a sense of work-life balance. Become the leader your employees and brand need.

7. Dr. Travis Corcoran — RESTORING REASON

Sometimes, it can be hard to know who to trust -- even when you're looking in the mirror. That's why you'll appreciate RESTORING REASON. In his work, Dr. Travis Corcoran explores how to use reason and classical philosophical thinking to trust yourself to solve any problem.

You can be sure that life will hand you obstacles every day as the leader of an organization. Use Corcoran's suggestions to make sense of what matters and what doesn't. Logic isn't relegated to the numbers that your data management system reveals. Logic can serve as a powerful force to assist you in making big and small corporate decisions.

Being in charge has its pitfalls and roadblocks, that's for sure. Regardless, you can meet the challenges of leading head-on when you have dependable, proven recommendations from those who have been down the entrepreneurial road before you.

8. Charlena Berry — Breaking the Stigma

Is your entrepreneurial experience leading you into an industry with a tarnished reputation or a difficult to comprehend mission? If so, Breaking the Stigma belongs on your bedside or desktop reading table.

Cannabis Business Growth founder Charlena Berry wrote this book after tackling the obstacles inherent in the cannabis sector. Through trial and error, as well as a plucky attitude, Berry prospered despite the odds. You'll be inspired by her journey. You'll get plenty of insider details on how to overcome all types of negativity, too. As a result, you can build up your resistance to naysayers and lead with self-assurance.

9 Books Every Manager Should Read

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Books are the most powerful thing in the world. They can open your mind to a whole new world – a world full of knowledge, wisdom, and possibilities. The right book can empower you with years of experience of others along with the ability to generate some mind-blowing ideas of your own.

Harry S. Truman – the 33rd President of the United States of America pointed out aptly, “Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers.” Steve Jobs had an inexhaustible interest in William Blake; Nike founder Phil Knight so reveres his library that you have to take off your shoes first and then enter in it. Elon Musk, the brain behind gigantic companies like Tesla Motors and SpaceX, is an avid reader. Bill Gates reads about 50 books per year. Mark Cuban reads for more than 3 hours a day.

From this, we can easily make out that reading is one of the daily habits that most successful people have. But successful people don’t read anything that comes in their hand. They are highly selective about what they read. They prefer to be educated than to be entertained. In fact, there is a notable difference between the reading habits of the wealthy and not-so-wealthy. They prefer educational, biographies and autobiographies of other successful people over novels, tabloids, and magazines.

“Simplify the way you manage your projects and teams.” Switch to ProofHub.

There are so many books that talk about management and leadership but only a few qualify for must-reads for managers.

Below are top 9 books that ProofHub recommends every manager should read:

1. How To Win Friends and Influence People

Author: Dale Carnegie

Why it’s a must-read: Published in 1936, the book has survived the test of time brilliantly and is still quite relevant after 70 years. It talks about the importance of soft skills in professional as well as personal lives. This classic shares some timeless advice such as the importance of a smile, need to avoid complaining and making people feel important. It had a profound impact on Warren Buffett who read the book when he was 15 years old.

Best quote: “Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person’s precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment.”

2. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Subtitle: Follow Them and People Will Follow You

Author: John C. Maxwell

Why it’s a must-read: Leadership is simple yet complicated phenomena which has been explained in thousands of ways by thousands of people. However, this book entails the different traits and leadership techniques in a way that is easiest to read, comprehend and apply. Maxwell offers real-life stories hidden with leadership advice and exercises to improve your leadership style.

Best quote: “Many people view leadership the same way they view success, hoping to go as far as they can, to climb the ladder, to achieve the highest position possible for their talent. But contrary to conventional thinking, I believe the bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others. That is achieved by serving others and adding value to their lives.”

3. The Art of War

Author: Sun Tzu

Why it’s a must-read: Sun Tzu was a military general who lived in an era of chinese history that was marked by vassal states competing each others. This book is a thorough guide-plan to winning. The books is composed of 13 chapters, each of which focuses on a different aspect of war. The writing is aggressive in nature that borrows references from military to explain concepts of leadership. It is not just a book but a philosophy of life that extends to every type of leadership.

Best quote: “If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking it easy, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”

4. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Subtitle: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

Author: Stephen R. Covey

Why it’s a must-read: Late Covey is known as one of the best leadership experts even today. This book focuses on the self rather than the organization. It has seven chapters of wisdom: Be proactive, Begin with the end in mind, Put first things first, Think win-win, Seek first to understand then to be understood, Synergize and Sharpen the saw. In this manual, Covey advises that true leadership starts from within and encourages readers to create a personal vision.

Best quote: “Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”

5. Good to Great

Subtitle: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t

Author: Jim Collins

Why it’s a must-read: It is a management book that describes the transition from being good to great and how most companies fail to make the transition through a series case studies. It has all the keys to success by which mediocre companies can achieve greatness – discipline, simplicity and great people are a few to name.

Best quote: “Good is the enemy of great. We don’t have great schools, greta government or great companies because they are generally good – and that is their main problem.”

6. Leadership

Subtitle: The Power of Emotional Intelligence

Author: Daniel Goleman

Why it’s a must-read: Daniel Goleman is renowned psychologist and science writer. This volume is the author’s first comprehensive collection of his key findings on leadership and organizational excellence that includes the insights and most effective ways to inspire others. In context of the book Goleman says,”Consider the book as your toolbox. Each chapter is a unique and useful device that helps leaders, managers, human resource officers, and educators to effectively guide and motivate others.”

Best quote: “People with well-developed emotional skills are also more likely to be content and effective in their lives, mastering the habits of mind that foster their own productivity; people who cannot marshal some control over their emotional life fight inner battles that sabotage their inability for focused work and clear thought.”

7. The One Minute Manager

Authors: Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

Why it’s a must-read: The One Minute Manager is a concise, easily read story that reveals three very practical secrets: One Minutes Goals, One Minute Praisings, and One Minute Reprimands. This is why the book has continued to appear on business bestseller lists for more than two decades and has managed to become an international sensation.

Best quote: “The managers who were interested in results often seemed to be labeled ‘autocratic’, while the managers interested in people were often labeled ‘democratic’. The young man thought each of these managers – the ‘tough’ autocrat and the ‘nice’ democrat- were only partially effective. ‘It’s like being half a manager’, he thought. He returned home tired and discouraged. He might have given up his search long ago, but he had one great advantage. He knew exactly he was looking for. ‘Effective managers,’ he thought, ‘manage themselves and the people they work with so that both the organization and the people profit from their presence.”

8. The Effective Executive

Subtitle: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done

Author: Peter F. Drucker

Why it’s a must-read: Ranging widely through annals of business and government, Peter F. Drucker demonstrated the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business situations. He identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can, and must, be learned: managing time, choosing what to contribute to the organization, knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect, setting the right priorities, knitting all of them together with effective decision-making.

Best quote: “Intelligence, imagination and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results.”

9. The Obstacle is the Way

Subtitle: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumphs

Author: Ryan Holiday

Why it’s a must-read: The author has written this book to use philosophy as a system for being productive. Holiday, writes about using the philosophy of Stoicism as a mental model for being productive, not only in work, but in life itself. He has divided the book into three key sections – Perception, Action, and Will, where he has applied the view of Stoicism to hypothetical examples to relate the theory with the outside world.

Best quote: “You will come across obstacles in life- fair and unfair. And you will discover, time and time again, that what matters most is not what these obstacles are but how we see them, how we react to them, and whether we keep our composure.”

Why only nine?

I was going to make this a top 10 list but then we all have our favorites that leave a mark on our mind and we can’t stop raving about it. If you also have a favorite book, do leave a comment below with the name of the book, author and your favorite quote from it.

20 Best Books on Leadership: Find the Best Resources to Lead Effectively

Are you a leader or aspiring to be one? If you are, How confident are you about your leadership skills? Contrary to what many may believe, leading an effective team requires a lot from you. Whatever your profession or responsibility, you can find team leadership models that will make you an outstanding team leader.

Research has been done and books have been written about how to be a good team leader. Reading the best leadership and management books will reveal this valuable information.

These leadership books have valuable insight into leading effective teams, being a good team leader, and what the leaders of effective work teams know. When it comes to leadership books, best sellers are the smartest choice. Let’s check out some of the best books on leadership to read in 2021!

1. The Art Of War, by Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu is a best-selling author who wrote The Art of War some 2,000 years ago. As a team leader (Chinese military strategist) he wrote 13 chapters, each one focusing on how to successfully lead a war.

The book is very relevant in different leadership areas that is why Successful business executives have developed their leadership skills through interpreting Tzu’s scripts. The book applies to everything from business planning to boosting morale and project management. If you want to know how to offer effective leadership at work, The Art of War may be the best leadership book of all time.

2. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap… And Others Don’t, by Jim Collins

Best-selling author Jim Collins gathers a team of researchers and sets out to define an effective team’s characteristics and the team leadership model that elevates “good” companies to “great” ones. For successful servant leadership, this is one of the best books on leadership styles you should read.

Good to Great coined the Level 5 Leadership concept. It shows that great leaders determined that effective team leadership grew out of passion and commitment. A good leader would stay true to a cause instead of focusing on personal or financial gain. Other team leadership models include The Hedgehog Concept and A Culture of Discipline, all great ideas to use on the path to becoming a great leader. Good to Great is one of the best leadership books if you want to be a servant leader.

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, by Stephen R. Covey

Published in 1989, the team leadership skills laid out by best-selling author Stephen R. Covey are still relevant today. He lays out simple habits to highly effective leadership that will allow you to adapt to changes and take advantage of opportunities instead of seeing them as a hard thing.

According to this book, good leadership consists of fairness, service, integrity, and human dignity. Effective team leaders should manage themselves rather than managing time. It’s no surprise The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a best seller among leadership books, selling more than 30 million copies worldwide.

4. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations, by James Kouzes and Barry Posner

The authors have composed this trusted source full of irrefutable laws of leadership for building team leadership skills by interviewing a diverse group of leaders from various businesses and organizations around the world. They found that being good leaders was based on skills that did not deviate over time or circumstance.

The Leadership Challenge says the building blocks to becoming an effective team leader are facts, not fads, such as self-control, commitment, and consistency. This latest edition offers powerful lessons to these traits in an increasingly global environment. Want to know how to be a great leader or a great business leader? Read this business book.

5. Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman

We’ve all heard of IQ (Intelligence quotient), but have you heard of EQ? Daniel Goleman studies human neuroscience and psychology to determine why a high IQ is no guarantee of a happy, successful life nor does it make you a successful leader.

Intelligence is essential, of course, but effective team leaders also need self-awareness, self-control, and empathy. These add up to a team leadership style based on emotional intelligence and a balance between our rational and emotional minds.

This groundbreaking work will guide you on how to solve personal and professional problems. This will in turn make you an effective team leader. This leadership book written by Daniel Goleman should be a must on any list of self-help leadership books.

6. Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee

Primal Leadership is the sequel to Daniel Goleman’s breakthrough book, Emotional Intelligence, but focuses on being a team leader and leading effective teams. It takes Goleman’s self-awareness and self-discipline theories and puts them in the business vein.

A good leader will have good team leadership skills that are more than just vision and strategy. An effective team leader should learn to leverage emotion with radical candor. Primal Leadership lays out how to become a good team leader by using emotional intelligence as a tool.

7. Wooden on Leadership, by John Wooden and Steve Jamison

World-renowned leadership expert John Wooden offers practical advice in this book that he co-wrote with Steve Jamison. John Wooden as a head coach of the UCLA Bruins led his basketball team to an astounding 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships in 12 years. The Bruins’ seven consecutive titles are still a record to this day. Wooden has the street-cred to write a great leadership book to make you a better leader.

Wooden on Leadership outlines the mental, physical and emotional qualities of a team leader’s role. Wooden defines the habits of a highly effective team and can help you build confidence and a competitive drive to succeed, a recipe that has made this one of the leadership’s best sellers.

8. The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change), by Clayton Christensen

Amazon editors have ranked this book one of the best books on leadership in its top 100 Leadership and Success Books to Read in a Lifetime. Clayton Christensen examines how leaps forward in innovation caused even the most substantial companies to lose market leadership and fail.

Cited by thinkers such as Malcolm Gladwell and business icons such as Steve Jobs, The Innovator’s Dilemma explains why business leaders need to have strong decision-making power guided by knowledge of when to abandon successful traditional practices and change course as technology evolves. This effective team leadership model has made it one of the best-selling leadership books of all time.

9. How to Win Friends & Influence People: The Only Book You’ll Need to Lead You to Success, by Dale Carnegie

How to Win Friends & Influence People is a book that has taught managers how to be effective team leaders for more than 50 years. In 1936, Dale Carnegie’s advice on communication and persuasion was necessary for being a team leader.

Carnegie’s central thesis is that you can build team and leadership skills by listening and interacting with people in a way that shows interest in them and their work. It is no wonder that Time magazine has ranked How to Win Friends & Influence People among The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books. Anyone wanting to know what makes a good and effective team leader at work should give this book a try.

10. On Becoming a Leader, by Warren Bennis

This leadership book by Bennis proves that “Leaders aren’t born but rather they are made.” Bennis looks at good team leadership characteristics and profiles the leaders who exude these same team leadership qualities. He then lays out a strategy that anyone can follow to learn team leadership skills and lead an effective team.

Forbes Magazine calls Bennis, “the dean of leadership gurus.” On Becoming a Leader is just one of his many popular books on teams and leadership-an essential book for anyone looking to improve their team-leading skills.

11. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, by Seth Godin

Responsibilities of team leaders vary, from influencing customers, investors or employees. Author Seth Godin describes ways to get others engaged in your central idea. Tribes step outside the conventional box to show you team leaders skills that will inspire others to follow you.

After reading Tribes, you should also read other Godin books such as Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside, plus his blog posts. What is a team leader? Read Godin’s books and find out!

12.The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick Lencioni

You may know what effective leadership teams look like, but The Five Dysfunctions of a Team takes the team leadership example and flips it on its head. Author Patrick Lencioni outlines the five fatal qualities that a team leader should avoid:

Fear of conflict.

Lack of trust.

Little commitment.

Inattention to results.

Accountability avoidance.

When it comes to team and leadership building, Lencioni outlines how companies fail. It is a cautionary tale for those who want to learn about leadership in a team.

13. Endurance, by Alfred Lansing

As a team leader, you can learn from others’ success stories, but you can also learn a lot from others’ failures. Endurance tells the story of Edward Shakleton’s fateful expedition to the South Pole in 1914. Shackleton’s ship became trapped in ice, and he and his crew of 27 men survived for months, walking more than 850 miles over harsh, frozen landscapes to civilization. This was made possible by the skill he manifested in leading his team to safety.

You can read this great book to learn much about team leaders’ skills from Shackleton’s account of the ordeal. Most importantly, the ability to be vulnerable and show fear is much better than being cold and unemotional which is a surprising truth to many. Any leader of a team can improve their skills after reading this harrowing tale.

14. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Goodwin’s historical account of how Lincoln created a team of leaders who had divergent viewpoints and saved the Union is a great leadership lesson on becoming a good team leader for modern executives and managers.

Pulitzer Prize-winner author Doris Kearns Goodwin describes how U.S. president Abraham Lincoln was an effective leader in his leadership role. He surrounded himself with the best people, not the ones who would necessarily agree with him. As an effective leader, he humbly welcomed debate and discourse. President Barack Obama calls it, “A remarkable study in leadership.” Now there’s an endorsement!

15. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel H. Pink

Punishment and rewards may not be the best way to motivate your employees if you are a CEO or in any leadership position. Instead, Daniel H. Pink proposes an alternative to how to be a team leader in the workplace. In Drive, Pink reveals what truly motivates people and what makes a good leadership role at work. The book offers a powerful lesson that leaders should make sure to read and implement. in his leadership role

As a CEO, sometimes it is a surprising truth that It’s not about money. It’s about autonomy, mastery, and meaningful work. These are essential tools to get your workers on track and productive thus creating a great company. Based on 40 years of research, Pink demonstrates that what science knows about human motivation is often different from what business leaders understand. He is a bestselling author with this important book.

16. Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius

Like The Art of War, Mediations remains a relevant leadership text today, even though the author wrote it 2,000 years ago. Marcus Aurelius was a philosopher and a Roman Emperor with a great leadership style (C.E. 161-180), and he had a profound understanding of human behavior.

In a straightforward style, Aurelius describes how to meet leadership demands while sticking to one’s integrity and spiritual beliefs. Heavy stuff, but even today, it remains a must-read for anyone looking to run a successful organization. This book is one of the best leadership books of all time.

17. Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman

We have two minds: emotional and quick-thinking, and one that is deliberate and slow-thinking. As a senior leader, understanding how these two minds operate and how they influence how we think and make decisions is a step towards great leadership ability.

In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman explains how our intuitive, fast-thinking minds can cause problems and is not a great leadership style. Leaders often use that side of the mind to make impulsive decisions, which aren’t always the best. Reading this book will give you valuable insight into how we react to and calculate the world around us.

18. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You, by John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell is a world-renowned leadership expert who writes books and engages audiences at public speaking events. Maxwell teaches how to set direction, motivate people and align employees with your vision.

He recently updated his book to include new leadership stories and a self-evaluation tool so you can test if you are an effective team leader. There are also exercises after every chapter to help readers take actionable steps. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is one of the best leadership development books out there.

19. Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek.

Simon Sinek is most famous for his TED Talk which has millions of listeners and views. To become more influential, more profitable, and more innovative, then you need to ask yourself WHY? Why are others more innovative, influential, and profitable than you are?

Only when you know the answer to the why will you be inspired as a leader will you be able to inspire others as well.

You need to read this book if you want to inspire your team to take action.

20. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek.

This is another best-selling book by Simon Sinek which emphasizes the subject of servant leadership. To be an effective servant leader, then you need to know how to deal with people. Whether it is managing your employees or dealing with clients, you need to put their interests first because, without them, you wouldn’t have people to lead.

This book is a practical book that gives examples with case studies to make it relevant and understandable.

Best Books on Leadership: Final Thoughts

Are you ensuring your team is as effective as possible? You may be scouring team leadership articles and searching team leader sites, but taking the time to fully digest a book that explores the definition of a team leader, leadership role and lays out how to be successful will create more success in your career as an entrepreneur and a leader.

These books are classics and have timeless themes. The best leadership books of 2020 and 2021 are great too, but they all come down to the same tried-and-true principles.

What is your favorite leadership book? Most of these are bestseller leadership books with great ideas that are the best to read. Whichever leadership book you decide is the best will likely be available as ebooks or will be found in your local library or bookstore.