100 books like Positively Energizing Leadership

By Kim Cameron,

Here are 100 books that Positively Energizing Leadership fans have personally recommended if you like Positively Energizing Leadership. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth

Ed Evarts Author Of The Bravery Trick: Four Easy Ways to Say Hard Things

From my list on building your unique leadership style.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been interested in leadership style since my teenage years. My father was a leader in a retailing organization, and I was entranced by behaviors that seemed to connect with others and those that did not. As I grew older, I started to think about leadership style behaviors and models that might capture the most effective ones. While I recognize that leadership needs vary based on industry, scope, and tenure, I do believe that we all should know the leadership styles that are important to us to the extent that we can describe them if we are asked to do so.

Ed's book list on building your unique leadership style

Ed Evarts Why did Ed love this book?

As a leader and leadership coach, understanding great ways to lead others is critical. This book focuses on key behaviors that we all need to be successfully led by others. The book mainly focuses on how to lead and coach others with compassion, as this is not about you; it is about the other person.

While most do not think of this daily, our personal goals and visions lead regularly–they help define what we do. Ensuring you know the personal goals and vision of those whom you are leading is needed in order to effectively move them from where they are today to a new and better place.

By Richard E. Boyatzis, Melvin Smith, Ellen Van Oosten

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Helping People Change as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

You're trying to help--but is it working?

Helping others is a good thing. Often, as a leader, manager, doctor, teacher, or coach, it's central to your job. But even the most well-intentioned efforts to help others can be undermined by a simple truth: We almost always focus on trying to "fix" people, correcting problems or filling the gaps between where they are and where we think they should be. Unfortunately, this doesn't work well, if at all, to inspire sustained learning or positive change.

There's a better way. In this powerful, practical book, emotional intelligence expert Richard Boyatzis and Weatherhead…


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

Ed Evarts Author Of The Bravery Trick: Four Easy Ways to Say Hard Things

From my list on building your unique leadership style.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been interested in leadership style since my teenage years. My father was a leader in a retailing organization, and I was entranced by behaviors that seemed to connect with others and those that did not. As I grew older, I started to think about leadership style behaviors and models that might capture the most effective ones. While I recognize that leadership needs vary based on industry, scope, and tenure, I do believe that we all should know the leadership styles that are important to us to the extent that we can describe them if we are asked to do so.

Ed's book list on building your unique leadership style

Ed Evarts Why did Ed love this book?

We often times spend all of our energy on the ways we should behave as a leader and do not put any energy into recognizing behaviors that are not helping us. Also, as your career unfolds, what might have worked for you previously may no longer be effective, yet we continue doing this behavior as it worked in the past.

I needed insight into my overall leadership behaviors and greater insight into behaviors I needed to evolve or move away from. Behaviors like “Failure to give proper recognition,” “Passing judgment,” and “an excessive need to be me” are all behaviors from which I needed to grow away and evolve. This is stuff we don’t hear enough of—often, we focus too much on where we need to go and not what we are doing now.

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…


Book cover of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

Edward D. Hess Author Of Own Your Work Journey! The Path to Meaningful Work and Happiness in the Age of Smart Technology and Radical Change

From my list on helping you become your best self.

Why am I passionate about this?

My entire academic life of over 20 years has been focused on how to help people and organizations become their Best Self. I am the author of 15 books. Six of my books were published by Academic Presses: Cambridge University Press; Stanford University Press; and Columbia Business School Publishing. My work has appeared in over 400 global media publications including Fortune magazine, European Business Review, HBR, SHRM, Fast Company, WIRED, Forbes, INC., Huffington Post, Washington Post, Business Week, the Financial Times, CEO World as well as on CNBC Squawk Box, Fox Business News, Big Think, WSJ Radio, Bloomberg Radio with Kathleen Hayes, Dow Jones Radio, MSNBC Radio, Business Insider, and Wharton Radio.

Edward's book list on helping you become your best self

Edward D. Hess Why did Edward love this book?

This is a unique book in that it integrates the learnings from the great philosophies and religions with modern science to create a powerful story of how you and I can live a happy and a meaningful life.

The Author takes you on a great journey illuminating how our thinking and how our mind and body influence our beliefs and ways of being. He puts together a compelling new story that you can embrace to be on your Journey to Best Self. This book was so good that I have read it three times since I bought it.

By Jonathan Haidt,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Happiness Hypothesis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In his widely praised book, award-winning psychologist Jonathan Haidt examines the world's philosophical wisdom through the lens of psychological science, showing how a deeper understanding of enduring maxims-like Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, or What doesn't kill you makes you stronger-can enrich and even transform our lives.


Book cover of Seeing What Others Don't: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights

Edward D. Hess Author Of Own Your Work Journey! The Path to Meaningful Work and Happiness in the Age of Smart Technology and Radical Change

From my list on helping you become your best self.

Why am I passionate about this?

My entire academic life of over 20 years has been focused on how to help people and organizations become their Best Self. I am the author of 15 books. Six of my books were published by Academic Presses: Cambridge University Press; Stanford University Press; and Columbia Business School Publishing. My work has appeared in over 400 global media publications including Fortune magazine, European Business Review, HBR, SHRM, Fast Company, WIRED, Forbes, INC., Huffington Post, Washington Post, Business Week, the Financial Times, CEO World as well as on CNBC Squawk Box, Fox Business News, Big Think, WSJ Radio, Bloomberg Radio with Kathleen Hayes, Dow Jones Radio, MSNBC Radio, Business Insider, and Wharton Radio.

Edward's book list on helping you become your best self

Edward D. Hess Why did Edward love this book?

In the Era of Smart Technology, many of you will have work if you can think differently than the Technology can think. Examples are thinking creatively, innovatively, and going into the unknown and figuring things out.

This book is all about Insights - seeing new associations, new connections, new trends, patterns, and irregularities. Gary Klein gives you the tools to become an explorer: an Insightful Person who can open new avenues, new opportunities, and new ways of thinking. I learned a lot from Gary Klein, and I am sure you will, too.

By Gary Klein,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Seeing What Others Don't as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Insights--like Darwin's understanding of the way evolution actually works, and Watson and Crick's breakthrough discoveries about the structure of DNA--can change the world. We also need insights into the everyday things that frustrate and confuse us so that we can more effectively solve problems and get things done. Yet we know very little about when, why, or how insights are formed--or what blocks them. In Seeing What Others Don't, renowned cognitive psychologist Gary Klein unravels the mystery. Klein is a keen observer of people in their natural settings--scientists, businesspeople, firefighters, police officers, soldiers, family members, friends, himself--and uses a marvelous…


Book cover of Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment - and Your Life

Edward D. Hess Author Of Own Your Work Journey! The Path to Meaningful Work and Happiness in the Age of Smart Technology and Radical Change

From my list on helping you become your best self.

Why am I passionate about this?

My entire academic life of over 20 years has been focused on how to help people and organizations become their Best Self. I am the author of 15 books. Six of my books were published by Academic Presses: Cambridge University Press; Stanford University Press; and Columbia Business School Publishing. My work has appeared in over 400 global media publications including Fortune magazine, European Business Review, HBR, SHRM, Fast Company, WIRED, Forbes, INC., Huffington Post, Washington Post, Business Week, the Financial Times, CEO World as well as on CNBC Squawk Box, Fox Business News, Big Think, WSJ Radio, Bloomberg Radio with Kathleen Hayes, Dow Jones Radio, MSNBC Radio, Business Insider, and Wharton Radio.

Edward's book list on helping you become your best self

Edward D. Hess Why did Edward love this book?

I love this book. It was the book I used years ago to learn how to do Mindful Meditation which transformed my way of being and enabled me to become a better person and a better learner.

Mindful Meditation taught me how to have a Quiet Mind so I could really listen to others and learn from others. I started out doing Mindful Meditation 3-5 minutes a day. It was hard. But I kept at it improving to 10 minutes then to 20 minutes then to 30 -40 minutes a day.

I learned how to be still and fully present. It helped me build better relationships with others. It is a key building block for Inner Peace.

By Jon Kabat-Zinn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mindfulness for Beginners as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An Invitation to the Practice of Mindfulness

We may long for wholeness, suggests Jon Kabat-Zinn, but the truth is that it is already here and already ours. The practice of mindfulness holds the possibility of not just a fleeting sense of contentment, but a true embracing of a deeper unity that envelops and permeates our lives. With Mindfulness for Beginners you are invited to learn how to transform your relationship to the way you think, feel, love, work, and play-and thereby awaken to and embody more completely who you really are.

Here, the teacher, scientist, and clinician who first demonstrated…


Book cover of Love 2.0: Creating Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection

Edward D. Hess Author Of Own Your Work Journey! The Path to Meaningful Work and Happiness in the Age of Smart Technology and Radical Change

From my list on helping you become your best self.

Why am I passionate about this?

My entire academic life of over 20 years has been focused on how to help people and organizations become their Best Self. I am the author of 15 books. Six of my books were published by Academic Presses: Cambridge University Press; Stanford University Press; and Columbia Business School Publishing. My work has appeared in over 400 global media publications including Fortune magazine, European Business Review, HBR, SHRM, Fast Company, WIRED, Forbes, INC., Huffington Post, Washington Post, Business Week, the Financial Times, CEO World as well as on CNBC Squawk Box, Fox Business News, Big Think, WSJ Radio, Bloomberg Radio with Kathleen Hayes, Dow Jones Radio, MSNBC Radio, Business Insider, and Wharton Radio.

Edward's book list on helping you become your best self

Edward D. Hess Why did Edward love this book?

This book like all of the above books is a leading-edge book. It explains the science and power of positive emotions.

The author explains how the biochemicals in our body connects us to others. And how we send positive emotions to other people by the way we smile and how we show up physically and emotionally. Love - platonic love is the result. Platonic love is a superpower that heightens your abilities to build kind, caring trusting relationships with others.

In the workplace that enables you to think, listen, and learn faster and better. This book illuminates the Emotional part of how to become your Best Self.

By Barbara L. Fredrickson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Love 2.0 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this groundbreaking relationship book, positive emotions expert Barbara L. Fredrickson gives us an entirely new way of understanding love and appreciating its benefits.

“A radically new conception of love.”—The Atlantic

Even more than happiness and optimism, love holds the key to improving our mental and physical health as well as lengthening our lives. Using research from her own lab, Barbara L. Fredrickson redefines love not as a stable behemoth, but as micro-moments of connection between people—even strangers. She demonstrates that our capacity for experiencing love can be measured and strengthened in ways that improve our health and longevity. Finally,…


Book cover of Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People

Ed Evarts Author Of The Bravery Trick: Four Easy Ways to Say Hard Things

From my list on building your unique leadership style.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been interested in leadership style since my teenage years. My father was a leader in a retailing organization, and I was entranced by behaviors that seemed to connect with others and those that did not. As I grew older, I started to think about leadership style behaviors and models that might capture the most effective ones. While I recognize that leadership needs vary based on industry, scope, and tenure, I do believe that we all should know the leadership styles that are important to us to the extent that we can describe them if we are asked to do so.

Ed's book list on building your unique leadership style

Ed Evarts Why did Ed love this book?

Leading with dignity is a core leadership behavior. As my journey as a leader has unfolded, I have been drawn to certain words I have experienced, and dignity is one of these words. Everyone has dignity and expects to be treated with dignity. Everyone.

As a leader, you must demonstrate a visible level of empathy and treat everyone you meet with dignity, as by doing so, your ability to impact and influence them grows exponentially. Although I consider myself a skilled leader, this book reminded me of the importance and existence of this basic human trait. I recognize there might be an occasional person I do not feel needs to be treated with dignity, yet their existence is infinitesimal. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.  

By Donna Hicks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Leading with Dignity as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the 2019 PROSE award in the Business, Management and Finance category

What every leader needs to know about dignity and how to create a culture in which everyone thrives

"With engaging intelligence, Hicks makes a lucid case for the importance of acknowledging a person's worth within organizations and businesses. . . . For anyone wanting to better understand how to bring about the best in themselves and those around them."-Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Globe
This landmark book from an expert in dignity studies explores the essential but underrecognized role of dignity as part of good leadership. Extending the reach…


Book cover of Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work

Ed Evarts Author Of The Bravery Trick: Four Easy Ways to Say Hard Things

From my list on building your unique leadership style.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been interested in leadership style since my teenage years. My father was a leader in a retailing organization, and I was entranced by behaviors that seemed to connect with others and those that did not. As I grew older, I started to think about leadership style behaviors and models that might capture the most effective ones. While I recognize that leadership needs vary based on industry, scope, and tenure, I do believe that we all should know the leadership styles that are important to us to the extent that we can describe them if we are asked to do so.

Ed's book list on building your unique leadership style

Ed Evarts Why did Ed love this book?

Upon reflection, the most important part of my leadership career was when I first started to lead. This is when you either build habits that allow you to soar or engage in habits that lead you to crash and burn. 

This book is a fantastic opportunity to see various leadership options and create positive and successful habits you can demonstrate throughout your career. Whether you are a “Backpacker” who leads by seeing new possibilities, exploring new terrain, and acting wholeheartedly, or a “Pioneer” who leads by building new tools and structures, improvising, and working relentlessly, almost all of us will fall into one of the four models, two of which I have listed above. 

Any time I work with an individual who is a newer leader, this is a book I always recommend that they read.

By Liz Wiseman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rookie Smarts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Wall Street Journal Bestseller Is it possible to be at your best even when you are underqualified or doing something for the first time? Is it still possible, even after decades of experience, to recapture the enthusiasm, curiosity, and fearlessness of youth to take on new challenges? With the right mindset-with Rookie Smarts-you can. In a rapidly changing world, experience can be a curse. Careers stall, innovation stops, and strategies grow stale. Being new, naive, and even clueless can be an asset. For today's knowledge workers, constant learning is more valuable than mastery. In this essential guide, leadership expert Liz…


Book cover of The Human Moment: The Positive Power of Compassion in the Workplace

Bruno R. Cignacco Author Of The Art of Compassionate Business: Main Principles for the Human-Oriented Enterprise

From my list on conscious business.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a consultant, author, and researcher, for several years I have been very passionate about the study of companies that are very successful in the marketplace, but that are also human-oriented. In other words, I am very interested in companies that are profitable, but at the same time, are kind, compassionate, and caring with their main stakeholders. I like that these companies continually aim to foster robust long-term relationships with these stakeholders, and look for win-win agreements with them. What I love about these companies is that they focus on the quantitative aspects of business (e.g., profitability, growth, etc.) but also in its qualitative aspects (empathy, support, gratitude, generosity, etc.).

Bruno's book list on conscious business

Bruno R. Cignacco Why did Bruno love this book?

I like that this book pinpoints the importance of compassion for the workplace in a very well-justified manner. I really love that not only does this book explain the main traits of compassion, but it also pinpoints the reasons why compassion is missing in many workplaces, for example, communication breakdown, lack of empathy, etc. I find it very insightful that this book provides the reader with easy-to-apply strategies to develop more compassion in the work environment. This book also provides some specific cases of real organisations which have developed compassionate workplaces.   

By Amy Bradley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Human Moment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

We live in a world in crisis. Societies are becoming fractured, opinions polarized and people are increasingly isolated. In an attempt to seek out human connection, many people spend more time at work than they do with family members, yet few of us have someone at work who we trust enough to share our vulnerabilities. To be human is to suffer, yet our struggles can remain hidden from work.

This book argues that compassion is a core human value, which is too often overlooked in business. In these challenging and unprecedented times, workplaces have a crucial role to play in…


Book cover of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

Angie Marie Author Of The Cycle Syncing Handbook: Identify Hormonal Patterns, Build Holistic Habits, and Embrace the Power of Your Menstrual Cycle

From my list on books for women who want to live more creatively/with more creativity.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my 20s, after always doing what I was “supposed” to, I found myself trapped in a relationship I wanted out of, in a job that barely paid the bills, and in a mindset of scarcity. After my birth control almost killed me, I dove into the mind-body connection that’s often stifled by sexism and societal expectations, becoming fascinated with pushing against the status quo and living more adventurously. I realized I needed to sincerely take my life decisions into my own hands. Since then, I’ve run ultramarathons, become an entrepreneur, and taught countless menstruators how to listen to their own bodies so they can build a life they love.

Angie's book list on books for women who want to live more creatively/with more creativity

Angie Marie Why did Angie love this book?

Why do women feel like we need to invite everyone to every party, throw weddings that are closer to our parents’ style than our own, and show up to networking nights that we know we won’t get anything out of?

I know this book is meant to be about hosting gatherings, but I’ve applied the principles to nearly everything I do in work and hobbies to add more intention, impact, and fulfillment. I’ve changed the way I sit at restaurants to encourage deeper conversations with friends. I’ve started to purposefully not invite certain people to certain parties since I know it would change the dynamic negatively for others. I’ve embraced the idea of “pop-up rules” at every event I host and expect guests to follow them so that the event is transformative and not boring.

Since reading Priya’s incredible framework, I’ve led extremely successful monthly events for my community, started…

By Priya Parker,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Art of Gathering as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Hosts of all kinds, this is a must-read!" --Chris Anderson, owner and curator of TED
 
From the host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart, an exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond.

In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive--which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when…


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