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6 Book Recommendations for Leaders

It’s the giving season! We’ve put together our top book recommendations for the business leaders in your life. Give the gift of knowledge, education and reflection with these awesome books.

1. Grounded: Leading Your Life with Intention by Nancy Dahl

We believe that purpose and passion drive better choices and outcomes. That is why we work with purpose-driven organizations and leaders. Just like our mission, Dahl’s book is foundational to the betterment of business, families and community.

“Your life will have impact. Choices will be made,” author and innovative leader Nancy Dahl reminds us. “Grounded: Leading Your Life with Intention is dedicated to building the skill so you decide, not someone else. Your life is simply too important to leave it to chance. And if you choose to lead others, Grounded: Leading Your Life with Intention is dedicated to inspiring others to be their best because you have done the work to understand how to lead first yourself and now others.”

Grounded: Leading Your Life with Intention by Nancy Dahl earned a Distinguished Favorite in the leadership category from the New York City Big Book Awards and the Gold Medal in the career category at the 13th Annual INDIE Excellence Awards. So, this book recommendation is great for business leaders who want to intentionally build the career and life they want.

2. Contagious – Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger

As marketers, communicators and leaders, we all hope our next big idea will catch on or go viral. And Contagious – Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger tells stories of how that happens. So, this New York Times Best Seller comes highly recommended.

“Word of mouth is 10 times as effective as traditional advertising, but why do people talk about and share certain things rather than others? Why do some products catch on, some ideas diffuse, and some online content go viral?” Read Contagious – Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger. It’s a storyteller’s story.

“Word of mouth is 10 times as effective as traditional advertising.”

3. Stop Making Sense: The Art of Inspiring Anybody by Michael Fanuele

Need some inspiration? Stop Making Sense: The Art of Inspiring Anybody by Michael Fanuele, who has served as the Chief Creative Officer at General Mills and Fallon, can unleash the inspiring leader in all of us. Take it from Andrew Zimmern, chef, author, teacher, host and producer of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods, “Stop Making Sense is a new manual for learning true leadership. Fanuele’s set of simple principles that changed my life over the last quarter-century will change yours in a matter of hours.” — as long as you can follow the pop music references that inspire Fanuele’s creative marketing teams.

4. Radical Outcomes by Juliana Stancampiano

“The most important task of any team leader is to manage the team’s energy.” If you’ve ever met our leader, Cindy Leines, you know it’s her energy that helps our CEL team generate extraordinary results. Among our favorite books for 2019 is Juliana Stancampiano’s Radical Outcomes, which offers actionable learning for creating extraordinary teams by thinking about processes to simplify complexity. Radical Outcomes gives professionals the tools they need to create effective learning and enablement experiences that get results.

5. Discover Your True North by Bill George

Discover Your True North is a leadership classic by former Medtronic CEO Bill George. We love his authentic personal stories, wisdom and helpful exercises. They remind us that being a leader is about much more than title and management skills—it’s fundamentally a question of who we are as human beings. Once you discover the purpose of your leadership, you’ll find the true leader inside.

6. The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

Have you heard that if we work hard, we will be successful, and then we’ll be happy? Well, according to researcher and author Shawn Achor, “Recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: happiness fuels success, not the other way around.” Watch his TedTalk.

If you’ve visited our collaborative workspace at CEL, you will probably see why our book recommendation list includes The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor. Aside from our shared color palette, we get up and move around. We value positivity and work-life balance. We know that FUN and happiness lead to more creative work and better results!

The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor, outlines seven principles of positive psychology that fuel success. This book clearly captures our CEL passion for the betterment of business, families and community.