My Top 10 Books To Read This Year To Transform Into A Great Manager and Leader

Описание: 1. Radical Candor – Kim Scott
Why first: a boss’s core responsibilities are “guidance, team, and results” and that performance systems must be transparent and fair to hold managers accountable for managing, not just doing work themselves (Radical Candor on guidance/team/results, on development and performance management, on fairness and retention). This book gives very practical tools for day‑to‑day feedback, 1:1s, performance, and hard conversations.

2. High Output Management – Andrew Grove
Why second: how crucial one‑on‑ones and meetings are as “the best source for organizational knowledge” (High Output Management on 1:1s and meetings). Grove turns management into a discipline: how to design work, run processes, and measure output. This is the operating system for managers.

3. Trillion Dollar Coach – Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle
Why third: “your title makes you a manager; your people make you a leader” and that the path to success is being both a “savvy manager and a caring coach,” using 1:1s to help people grow (on becoming a coach to your team, on leadership emerging from management excellence, on the importance of 1:1s, on high‑performing teams and coaching). This book will cement the coaching mindset you clearly value.

4. The Leadership Pipeline – Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter, James Noel
Why fourth: the shift from “doing work to getting work done through others,” including the specific skills first‑time managers must learn (on first‑time managers’ skills and time shift, on mastering skills and shifting values, on learning to select, plan, and coach). This book will help you see exactly where you or others are stuck and what changes in skills, time use, and values are needed at each level.

5. Primed to Perform – Neel Doshi & Lindsay McGregor
Why fifth: job design is the biggest driver of motivation, even more than leadership or compensation, and that the best leaders inspire play, purpose, and potential (on job design and learning as key to motivation, on inspiring play/purpose/potential). This book will help you design roles, incentives, and culture so your management system actually produces high performance and healthy teams.

6. The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz
Why sixth: strong interest in management training and clear expectations for managers (one‑on‑ones, performance feedback, objectives) as well as the discipline of clear communication (on management training and expectations, on teaching one‑on‑ones). This book is excellent for the messy realities: firing, demotions, reorgs, and managing through crises.

7. The Excellence Dividend – Tom Peters
Why seventh: the idea of a “Profit Through Putting People First Business Book Club” and tactics to spur leadership excellence (on people‑first book clubs and leadership excellence, on practical leadership tactics). Read this for a people‑first, excellence‑obsessed mindset and to spark ideas for how your whole management team could learn together.

8. Nice Companies Finish First – Peter Shankman
Why eighth: highlights on accessible leaders—visible, fair, approachable, and consistent communicators—line up with your interest in kind, people‑centric leadership (on accessible, fair, and visible leaders). This is a good supplement on culture and everyday behavior.

9. Love Works – Joel Manby
Why ninth: You’ve captured that kindness is “hard to execute and takes unending leadership focus,” but drives success when management is kind to employees and employees to customers (on kindness as a core management practice). This will reinforce a values‑driven, service‑oriented management style.

10. Smarter Faster Better – Charles Duhigg (selected chapters on teams & management)
Why tenth: A concise summary that a good manager is a good coach, empowers rather than micromanages, cares about people’s success and well‑being, and is results‑oriented with clear vision and technical skills (on the eight traits of a good manager). Treat these traits as a checklist to evaluate yourself and other managers.