Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, once said, "Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." He probably wasn't listening to many podcasts or watching master classes on YouTube. For our time and age, I would rephrase this, "All leaders are learners." Whether it is a book or some other form of content, leaders never stop learning.

That being said, I love a good book, especially the rare book that captures my attention all the way to the end. In this article, I've curated a list of my favorite leadership books that have profoundly impacted my professional journey. 

MY Favorite Book on Leadership Development

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman -- You can be a genius, or a genius maker. Some leaders are unintentional diminishers who drain the intelligence and capacity out of the people around them. Multipliers, on the other hand, use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capability of people around them. People get smarter and better in their presence. They are constantly looking for the wisdom in the room instead of assuming they are the one who has it. 

MY Favorite Book on Organizational Health

The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business by Patrick Lencioni -- Lencioni argues that creating a healthy organization, characterized by minimal politics, high morale, and low turnover, is the key to achieving sustainable success. He outlines a practical framework for leaders to cultivate organizational health, emphasizing the importance of building a cohesive leadership team, creating clarity, over-communicating that clarity, and reinforcing it through human systems. My consulting business is built on many of the principles from Lencioni and The Table Group. 

MY Favorite Book on Team Productivity

The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team by Patrick Lencioni - Am I a Lencioni junkie? Yes I am. Patrick's team stumbled into a discovery of six distinct "working geniuses"—Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement, and Tenacity—that contribute to team success. I am a Certified Working Genius trainer and have led several teams through discovering their working genius and applying this to their work.

MY Favorite Book on Senior Pastors

Narcissistic Leaders: Who Succeeds and Who Fails by Michael Maccoby - Before you get mad at me, I've chosen my entire life to work next to what the author calls "productive narcissists." This book isn't about the clinical diagnosis of a narcissist, but rather a type of leadership style. Think of the entrepreneur who doesn't listen to the naysayers and starts something that transforms an industry or a community (i.e. church planter). Some of these leaders are productive and healthy. Others can be authoritarian and damaging. This book helps you understand the difference, and more than that, helps you understand how to work with them. 

MY Favorite Book for Executive Pastors

Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters - This book delves into the dynamic partnership between Visionaries and Integrators, two critical roles that drive successful organizations. Visionaries (many senior pastors) are the idea generators who excel at big-picture thinking and innovation, while Integrators (many Executive Pastors) are the executors who manage day-to-day operations and bring ideas to fruition. Church teams can thrive when these roles are clearly defined and effectively paired, and can create a synergy that fuels growth and stability. I experienced this first-hand for more than 15 years at Granger Community Church in partnership with Mark Beeson

Next Book On my List

Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara. I have friends on a leadership team at a church who are reading this book and it is transforming the way they are thinking about ministry. Written by the co-owner of one of the world's greatest restaurants, Eleven Madison Park, the author explains how exceeding customer expectations can lead to success and loyalty. He shares stories and practical tips on understanding what customers really want and making them feel special through personalized interactions. I look forward to jumping into this one.

One You Should Check Out

Fairness is Overrated: And 51 Other Leadership Principles to Revolutionize Your Workplace by Tim Stevens. I admit -- this is a shameless plug! Thomas Nelson published this book for me in 2017, and it is an anthology of principles that I compiled from my first thirty years of leading teams and organizations. The chapters are short and easy to read, and are divided into four major sections: Be a leader worth following; Find the right people; Build a healthy culture; and Lead confidently through a crisis.