Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lifelong student of philosophy, leadership, and principled living. Having worked with great leaders of today and being an editor-in-chief of a leadership journal (Leader to Leader), I experience how their leadership continues the principles set forth in days long past, and I publish works by authors who are keeping these principles alive in their writing. I am grateful for the opportunity to recommend books that might help others as we grapple with how to be in the world today to create value for all.


I wrote

The AMA Handbook of Leadership

By Marshall Goldsmith, John Baldoni, Sarah Mcarthur

Book cover of The AMA Handbook of Leadership

What is my book about?

In a challenging business climate, enterprises look to their leaders. Some situations call for drastic change, while others require the…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

The books I picked & why

Book cover of My Life in Leadership: The Journey and Lessons Learned Along the Way

Sarah McArthur Why did I love this book?

There are many of us who believe Frances Hesselbein was one of the greatest leaders of our time, including myself, Peter F. Drucker, Alan Mulally, Marshall Goldsmith, and millions more.

A leader whose focus was on humility, love, and service, Frances spent her entire 107 years serving humanity in the area of leadership. She showed us by example that who we are will have everything to do with our performance and results. For instance, if we have respect for all people, our goals will include everyone in the results.

This book is essential for anyone learning about this great leader because it is in her words, what she believed to be important to who we are and how we lead.

By Frances Hesselbein,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked My Life in Leadership as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a clear and compelling voice, Frances Hesselbein delivers key leadership lessons. Tracing her own development as a leader, she narrates the critical moments that shaped her personally and professionally: from her childhood in Pennsylvania, to moving up from Girl Scout troop leader to Girl Scout CEO, to founding and leading the Leader to Leader Institute, to her friendships and experiences with some of the greatest leaders and thinkers of our time. Each chapter includes an inspirational story, a key lesson and how to apply it to daily life.


Book cover of What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful

Sarah McArthur Why did I love this book?

This is such an important book for personal development.

Simplifying Marshall’s work and coaching, I always say that he is basically teaching us to say please and thank you and to check with those around us if we are doing things in a way that is working for them. This is the seminal book on change leadership with executive coaching. With 20 bad habits to choose from, every one of us can select one or two from this list and work to get better. The great thing is that we recruit those around us to help keep us on track.

The interesting thing about self-awareness is that it’s impossible to be self-aware without checking with others because of our blindspots to what has worked for us to this point. I love this book by Marshall because it helps us be better.

By Marshall Goldsmith, Mark Reiter,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked What Got You Here Won't Get You There as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Your hard work is paying off. You are doing well in your field. But there is something standing between you and the next level of achievement. That something may just be one of your own annoying habits.Perhaps one small flaw - a behaviour you barely even recognise - is the only thing that's keeping you from where you want to be. It may be that the very characteristic that you believe got you where you are - like the drive to win at all costs - is what's holding you back. As this book explains, people often do well in…


Ad

Book cover of I Am Taurus

I Am Taurus By Stephen Palmer,

The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.

Each of the sections is written from…

Book cover of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Sarah McArthur Why did I love this book?

I'm not sure when I have learned more about humanity than with the books of Yuval Harari.

I recommend this book as it is the first of the series, and I could read it over and over and still not have captured everything that Yuval Harari explores and teaches us.

A great historian who uses history to explore our future, Yuval Harari is one whose books I read every chance I have.

By Yuval Noah Harari,

Why should I read it?

27 authors picked Sapiens as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens. How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come?

In Sapiens, Dr Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the…


Book cover of The Prophet

Sarah McArthur Why did I love this book?

I love this book because when I first read it, I felt I was home.

It was recommended by a friend who recognized in me a leaning toward this type of literature. In the book, Kahlil describes all the different aspects of our lives and how/who we should strive to be in these areas. For instance, we should work in love as our “work” is our service to humanity. Hence, Kahlil’s phrase "Work Is Love Made Visible."

By Kahlil Gibran,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked The Prophet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of the most beloved classics of our time—a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Published in 1923, Gibran's masterpiece has been translated into more than twenty languages.

Gibran’s musings are divided into twenty-eight chapters covering such sprawling topics as love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, housing, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death.

Each essay reveals deep insights into the impulses of the human heart and mind. The…


Ad

Book cover of The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower

The Chomsky Effect By Robert F. Barsky,

Noam Chomsky has been praised by the likes of Bono and Hugo Chávez and attacked by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Alan Dershowitz. Groundbreaking linguist and outspoken political dissenter—voted “most important public intellectual in the world today” in a 2005 magazine poll—Chomsky inspires fanatical devotion and fierce vituperation.

In…

Book cover of Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha

Sarah McArthur Why did I love this book?

This is one of my favorite books of all time.

If there were two books that I could take with me to a desert island to read until the end of days, they would be this one and My Life in Leadership by Frances Hesselbein. This one because it is the story of the life of Buddha and because Thich Nhat Hahn writes this story in the most engagingly gentle prose.

The writing style is absolutely exquisite.

By Thich Nhat Hanh, Nguyen Thi Hop (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Old Path White Clouds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Presenting the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, drawn directly from 24 Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources—and retold by beloved Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh

Retold in Thich Nhat Hanh’s inimitably beautiful style, this book traces the Buddha’s life over the course of 80 years—partly through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy, and partly through the eyes of the Buddha himself. Old Path White Clouds is a classic of religious literature.

“I have not avoided including the various difficulties the Buddha encountered, both from his own disciples and in relation to the wider society. If the Buddha appears in…


Explore my book 😀

The AMA Handbook of Leadership

By Marshall Goldsmith, John Baldoni, Sarah Mcarthur

Book cover of The AMA Handbook of Leadership

What is my book about?

In a challenging business climate, enterprises look to their leaders. Some situations call for drastic change, while others require the fortitude to stay the course. Who better to help today’s leaders than a who’s who of the greatest leadership thinkers of our time? This book features insights from best-of-the-best thought leaders and executive leadership coaches around the world. Packed with exclusive, never-before-published articles and full case studies, the book covers a wide range of leadership challenges such as sustainability, competitive advantage through leadership, leading across cultures, succession, and countless other issues critical to current and future business leaders.

Book cover of My Life in Leadership: The Journey and Lessons Learned Along the Way
Book cover of What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful
Book cover of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,578

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 You might also like…

Book cover of Me and The Times: My wild ride from elevator operator to New York Times editor, columnist, and change agent (1967-97)

Me and The Times By Robert W. Stock,

Me and The Times offers a fresh perspective on those pre-internet days when the Sunday sections of The New York Times shaped the country’s political and cultural conversation. Starting in 1967, Robert Stock edited seven of those sections over 30 years, innovating and troublemaking all the way.

His memoir is…

Book cover of Unsettled

Unsettled By Laurie Woodford,

At the age of forty-nine, Laurie Woodford rents out her house, packs her belongings into two suitcases, and leaves her life in upstate New York to relocate to Seoul, South Korea. What begins as an opportunity to teach college English in Asia evolves into a nomadic adventure.

Laurie spoon-feeds orphans…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in evolution, management, and Thích Nhất Hạnh?

Evolution 156 books
Management 147 books