Top 100 Best Books for Managers, Leaders & Humans

Top 100 Best Books for Managers, Leaders & Humans →

Ladies and gentlemen…

In this post I proudly present the Top 100 Best Books for Managers, Leaders & Humans. I have created this list using three different criteria: 1) number of Amazon reviews, 2) average Amazon rating, and 3) number of Google hits.

Please refer to the bottom of this post to find out how I performed the calculations, and why that obscure and silly little favorite book of yours has not made it on this list.

The book with the largest number of Amazon reviews is Freakonomics (#53, by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner). And the book with the largest number of Google hits is The World Is Flat (#56, by Thomas L. Friedman). However, both books scored a somewhat low average rating, which means they didn’t end up among the top 10. The book with the best average rating is Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em (#36, by Beverly Kaye, Sharon Jordan-Evans), though this book scored only a moderate number of reviews and Google hits.

The winner in this list is The Success Principle (by Jack Canfield, Janet Switzer). This book scored well according to each of the three criteria, which made it grab the #1 position. And it’s worth nothing that three authors made it on this list with no less than three books each. They are Ken Blanchard (#40, #59, #67), John C. Maxwell (#35, #57, #98), and Seth Godin (#31, #47, #54). Clearly these three are the most inspiring writers in the world.

As for the rest of the books and authors, see for yourself…

Audience
I have created the list for three kinds of people:

No-so-great managers who want to become much-greater managers;
People in a group who would like to become leaders of that group;
Any other workers and team members who want to improve their skills.

Scope of the Project
For this Top 100 list I have included only books covering subjects that might be of interest to (middle) managers, team members and employees interested in personal development, in any kind of organization. My main criterion for each book was: might this book help me and some of my subordinates to improve ourselves? (And would it help my managers solving their problems themselves instead of buggering me…)

This means that I have left out books with primary topics such as business strategy, investment, marketing, entrepreneurship, and the art of flower arrangement. These topics, though very interesting, won’t be helpful in enabling the average Joe the Programmer to develop himself into Joe the Leader or Joe the Communicator. (The other reason is that I had to limit the scope, or I would never be able to finish the bloody thing.)

Finding the Books
To find all these potentially timeless classics, I checked the best-selling books in these Amazon categories:

Business & Investing > Organizational Behavior > Organizational Change
Business & Investing > Organizational Behavior > Organizational Learning
Business & Investing > Organizational Behavior > Workplace

Business & Investing > Skills > Communications
Business & Investing > Skills > Running Meetings & Presentations
Business & Investing > Skills > Time Management

After I found all best-selling books, I subsequently found many other books through the “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” cross-reference thingy. That’s how I finally ended up with a list of 400 books, and a pair of eyes with the color of Sarah Palin’s dress.

Doing the Calculations
Then it was time to do the calculations. I checked the number of customer reviews on Amazon, and I ranked the books according to these numbers (= a measure of quantity). I also calculated the average Amazon ratings, and I ranked the books according to these ratings (= a measure of quality). I then checked the number of Google hits for each of the books, and I ranked them accordingly (= a measure of popularity). Finally, I took the three rankings, and then re-calculated it into a final ranking. This resulted in the list you now have before you.

I can guarantee that the system I used is scientifically ridiculous. Nevertheless, the results are quite interesting, and I’m sure this list can be of great help if you want to improve your skills as a manager, a leader, or as a human being who just wants to become a more interesting colleague. I suggest you start with number 1, and then slowly work you way down. However, you might want to start with Breakthrough Rapid Reading (by Peter Kump) and How to Read a Book (by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren). These might help getting you through the list somewhat faster…

Feedback Please!
Now, I’m sure you will understand that the creation of this list cost me many hours of work, some sleepless nights, and RSI from my neck all the way down to my knees. If you think the list is interesting, or even valuable, then I suggest you digg, stumble and bookmark the hell out of it! However, if you don’t like the outcome, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll do my best to ignore your comments next time I make another similar list.

Thanks for your feedback, and happy reading!

Nr Title / Author(s) / Tags

1 The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
Jack Canfield, Janet Switzer (personal growth, self-help, success, achievement, coaching)

2 The Elements of Style: 50th Anniversary Edition
William Strunk, E. B. White (style, writers reference, writing)

3 How to Win Friends & Influence People
Dale Carnegie (personal development, communication skills, self improvement)

4 Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Chip Heath, Dan Heath (marketing, communication, ideas, persuasion, business)

5 Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams (Second Edition)
Tom DeMarco, Timothy Lister (management, project management, software development)

6 Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Robert B. Cialdini (persuasion, psychology, influence, marketing, sales)

7 What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
Marshall Goldsmith, Mark Reiter (leadership development, executive coaching, leadership)

8 Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras (business, management, leadership development, leadership)

9 Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery
Garr Reynolds (presentations, communication, public speaking)

10 Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
David Allen (management, productivity, time management)

11 The Magic of Thinking Big
David Schwartz (positive thinking, personal development, self improvement)

12 Leading Change
John P. Kotter (change management, leadership, organizational behavior)

13 The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox (theory of constraints, professional development, operations)

14 Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t
Jim Collins (business, leadership, management, success, excellence)

15 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
Patrick M. Lencioni (leadership, team building, management, professional development)

16 The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done
Peter F. Drucker (management, leadership, effectiveness, vision)

17 The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea
Bob Burg, John David Mann (self-help, business, success, networking)

18 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen R. Covey (personal development, self improvement, leadership)

19 The Gregg Reference Manual
William A. Sabin (grammar, writing, reference, editing, english)

20 Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most
Douglas Stone, etc. (communication skills, negotiation, self improvement)

21 First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently
Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman (management, leadership, professional development)

22 Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
Kerry Patterson, etc. (communication, leadership, emotional intelligence, conflict)

23 The Toyota Way
Jeffrey Liker (lean, business, quality control, toyota production system)

24 The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail
Clayton M. Christensen (innovation, technology, business, marketing)

25 The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything
Stephen M.R. Covey (trust, leadership, relationships, business, success)

26 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcolm Gladwell (economics, networking effects, sociology, competition)

27 First Things First
Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill (time management, self-help, employment)

28 The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization
Peter M. Senge (systems thinking, organizational learning, management)

29 A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age
Daniel H. Pink (business, creativity, thinking, cognitive psychology)

30 Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques - 2nd Edition
Michael Michalko (creative thinking, imagination, business, decision-making)

31 Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
Seth Godin (marketing, leadership, community, motivational, networking)

32 The Leadership Challenge
James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner (leadership, professional development, personal growth)

33 Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
Roger Fisher, Bruce M. Patton, William L. Ury (negotiation, business, brainstorm, conflict, influence)

34 Getting Past No
William Ury (negotiation, collaboration, conflict resolution, improvement)

35 Developing the Leader Within You
John C. Maxwell (business leadership, self control)

36 Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em: Getting Good People to Stay
Beverly Kaye, Sharon Jordan-Evans (effective management, employee engagement, management)

37 The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
Juanita Brown, etc. (conversation, facilitation, dialogue, team building)

38 Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes - Revised 25th Anniversary Edition
William Bridges (change, transition, personal transformation, leadership)

39 The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
Chris Anderson (internet marketing, consumer behavior, business)

40 Gung Ho! Turn On the People in Any Organization
Ken Blanchard (business, empowerment, inspirational, leadership)

41 The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t
Robert I. Sutton (management, leadership, workplace, abuse, business)

42 Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box
The Arbinger Institute (leadership, self awareness, relationships, management)

43 The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict
The Arbinger Institute (peace, conflict resolution, relationships, leadership)

44 The Power of Full Engagement
Jim Loehr, Tony Schwartz (leadership, personal development, self improvement)

45 The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary
Mark Sanborn (leadership, business, motivational, relationship building)

46 Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School
John Medina (brain science, education, business, success, learning)

47 Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas
Seth Godin (marketing, ideas, business, internet, customer service)

48 Winning
Jack Welch, Suzy Welch (leadership, business, management, success)

49 The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker’s Essential Writings on Management
Peter F. Drucker (effective management)

50 The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
Rosamund Stone Zander, Benjamin Zander (leadership, inspiration, innovation, coaching)

51 The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
Barry Schwartz (sociology, consumerism, economics, positive psychology)

52 Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know
Thomas H. Davenport, Laurence Prusak (knowledge management)

53 Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner (economics, sociology, statistics, business, marketing)

54 Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
Seth Godin (marketing, business, innovation, ideas, advertising)

55 Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production
Taiichi Ohno (lean, kanban, toyota production system)

56 The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
Thomas L. Friedman (globalization, economics, business, outsourcing, culture)

57 The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
John C. Maxwell (leadership, empowerment, influence, self-help)

58 Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!
Anthony Robbins (motivation, success, self-help, nlp, achievement)

59 Full Steam Ahead!: Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Work and Your Life
Ken Blanchard, Jesse Stoner (applied psychology, business, leadership, management)

60 Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
Brian Tracy (time management, self-improvement, personal productivity)

61 The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (And Their Employees)
Patrick M. Lencioni (management, leadership, team building, employee engagement)

62 The Halo Effect: … and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers
Phil Rosenzweig (management, strategy, decision making, business)

63 Crossing the Chasm
Geoffrey A. Moore (marketing, technology, business strategy, management)

64 True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership
Bill George, Peter Sims (leadership, executive coaching, business, enlightenment)

65 The Power of Positive Thinking
Norman Vincent Peale (motivational, positive thinking, inspirational, self improvement)

66 The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth
Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor (innovation, business leadership, strategy, planning)

67 The One Minute Manager
Kenneth H. Blanchard, Spencer Johnson (management, leadership, business, personal development)

68 The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (decision making, risk, complexity, knowledge)

69 Now, Discover Your Strengths
Marcus Buckingham, Donald O. Clifton (strengths, personal development, leadership, management)

70 The Black Book of Outsourcing: How to Manage the Changes, Challenges, and Opportunities
Douglas Brown, Scott Wilson (globalization, outsourcing, economics, business)

71 Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
Carol Tavris, Elliot Aronson (cognitive dissonance, social psychology, reasoning)

72 QBQ! The Question Behind the Question
John G. Miller (personal accountability, leadership, business, responsibility)

73 Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (complexity, decision making)

74 Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Malcolm Gladwell (intuition, decision making, psychology, business)

75 Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz (networking, success, business, relationships)

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