Best Leadership Textbooks for Top Schools

Leadership is one of the most enduring business subjects, but it is also one of the hardest to master. Year after year, a diverse group of writers contributes to keeping the topic fresh by bringing their unique views to the job. They include anything from theorists' thoughts to carefully studied books by Churchill and Lincoln  to memoirs by titans of business recounting their travels and insights gained along the way. As a result, reading is a necessary life skill. It's how we keep track of our past and tell tales. Sure, there are numerous books chock-full of useful information from cover to cover. There are, however, a finite number of books offering important insights into the human experience.

Individuals of all ages, young and old, all across the globe, are reading less and less deeply. According to author John Coleman, This absence of literature extends into the business sector and all the way up the corporate ladder. In his words:

"It seems that business people are reading less." That's terrible news since "wide reading habits are frequently a distinguishing feature of our best leaders."

Reading certain books enhances emotional intelligence, communication, organizational performance. All of these qualities are necessary for successful leadership.

Best Overall text

“Good to Great” by Jim Collins

Collins set out to investigate the distinction between good and great companies in his book "Good to Great." He and his research team embarked on an "odyssey of curiosity" that began with a review of American corporations to select a group of eleven that could be considered good-to-great examples and ended with a structure that captures the steps each company took to become great.

With his narrative approach, he achieves a degree of readability that you would not anticipate from a book of this kind. Not only do we learn how many of his conclusions are reached, but we also hear of the discoveries by Collins' research team along the road, many of which were appended at the end of relevant chapters.

Good to Great is a must-read.I It offers unique insight into the characteristics of leaders that consistently deliver, show excellence, and have the potential to be great. Good to Great is being used at prestigious universities such as Brandeis University, New York University, University of Southern California, Stanford, and Washington University.