12 of the best leadership books for people leaders

Nine Lies About Work by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall

Themes:

• performance management myths
• human‑centric leadership

Why you should read it:

The book overturns what appear to be truths in HR: that people need feedback, or that leadership is a thing, to name a few. For HR leaders, it’s a practical guide to rethinking performance reviews, talent programs, and engagement surveys, so they reflect how work really happens.

“I appreciate this book because it pushes back on traditional HR thinking,” Rowland says. “The focus on amplifying what people naturally do well rather than trying to ‘fix’ them has shaped how I think about talent, teams, and culture. It’s practical, evidence-based, and refreshingly disruptive.”

The ability to look inward is part of good leadership, and we’ve included some titles on self-awareness on this list. “My top three leadership books are all Stoic philosophers – and that is entirely intentional,” says Anna Tavis, a clinical professor and chair of the Human Capital Management Department at NYU’s School of Professional Studies.

Most leadership books offer frameworks that promise transformation if followed faithfully, according to Tavis. “The Stoics offer something more useful: a daily practice of honest self-examination – noticing where judgment is clouded, where ego has replaced reasoning, where fear is being dressed up as strategy.”

Let’s look at the last three of the best leadership books on our list: