One of the things I’ve learned over the years is everyone has leadership development opportunities. You don’t need to be the boss or work in HR. And the right book at the right time can make an incredible difference.

If you’re looking for a leadership read, here’s a great place to start.

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

If you interact with anyone at all, this is the book for you. Dale Carnegie‘s famous “personal relations” training course is over 100 years old and still going strong – all based on this classic title. The 30 principles are timeless – and the accompanying stories are very compelling.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Another timeless classic, Stephen Covey‘s 7 Habits is a true work of thought leadership built on the premise of personal responsibility. But it’s anything but simple. It’s impossible to make excuses when so much of our effectiveness depends on our internal choices.

Good to Great by Jim Collins

If you’re looking for a case study on what great organizations (and great leaders) do that sets them apart from the rest, this is your book. In fact, it’s not just one case study, it’s two or three dozen between feature and comparison companies. The insights and illustrations drawn from the studies are distinct and highly compelling. It’s no wonder Good to Great routinely shows up on executives’ “favorite book” lists.

Switch by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

For those responsible for leading a change, this is the book to check out. It contains about a dozen quality change insights contained in a simple three-part framework. Don’t make change harder than it needs to be!

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

Just because you’re surrounded by quality leaders doesn’t mean you have a well functioning team. They need to work together and pull in the same direction. This doesn’t happen by accident. The Five Dysfunctions is one the standards on teamwork.

Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath & Barry Conchie

The value of this book is the Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment over 14 million people have taken, which is included in the book. SBL takes the assessment a step further by outlining the leadership implications of an individual’s top five strengths.

The Secret by Ken Blanchard & Mark Miller

The value of this bestselling leadership fable is the SERVE model, which can easily serve as a “leadership 101” framework.

Leading with the Heart by Mike Krzyzewski

I don’t root for Duke basketball, but I absolutely want to “play” on a team like the ones Coach K creates. While the Five Dysfunctions describes a teamwork framework, Leading with the Heart presents a winning philosophy for getting the most out of a group of highly talented individuals.

Leadership & Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute

This book is a tough read in that it makes you recognize the ways you cheat yourself with self-centered, biased thinking. In the end, it’s incredibly helpful and applicable, but it’s a challenge to get there.

The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership by Steven Sample

Steven Sample’s book stretched some of my presuppositions on what leadership actually is. If you’re looking for a book to challenge your point of view, this one will take you deep – without bogging you down.

Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull

Like Sample’s book, Creativity, Inc. is very conceptual but with loads fun anecdotes – such as behind the scenes looks at the creation of many of Pixar’s landmark movies. It presents a case for building a culture specifically designed for creative professionals.

Decisive by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Another Heath book, this one takes the mundane and frustrating topic of decision-making and offers practical tips within a WRAP framework – and includes many interesting illustrations.

Bonus: Rules of the Red Rubber Ball by Kevin Carroll

This book should have a category all its own. It’s been called the adult version of Oh, the Places You’ll Go! and is more inspirational than anything else. Leadership skills don’t really matter without a passion behind them. This book demonstrates what true passion looks like – and how to find it.

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his new ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website  or follow him on Twitter.

As the Christmas holiday season arrives, I’d like to share a few book recommendations in case you find some down time and want to expand your leadership thinking.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

No doubt you’ve heard of 7 Habits before. But if you’ve never read it, you’re really missing out on a leadership masterpiece. 7 Habits is my second favorite book of all-time (behind How to Win Friends and Influence People). Not only is it packed with great ideas, it also presents a solid leadership framework that has stood the test of time. Effectiveness begins by being proactive and ends (or rather continues) with sharpening the saw.

Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson & others

Crucial Conversations is essentially a field manual on how to communicate positively and effectively in situations where opinions vary, stakes are high and emotions are strong. Unfortunately, Patterson notes, many people communicate at their worst when it matters most. If you are looking for a communication boost with many personal and professional examples, this book is probably the best place to start. The list of success stories is long – and you may find yourself wanting to take a Crucial Conversations training course after you’ve finished reading.

Decisive by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Many of us are paid to make decisions. But how often do you think about how to make good decisions? What do you do when there’s no clear-cut choice in front of you? In Decisive, the Heath brothers offer many approaches that can be applied to all kinds of decisions, from launching a new business strategy to whether to stay in a relationship. As in the rest of the Heath brothers’ books, Decisive contains many interesting stories and illustrations.

The Heart of Leadership by Mark Miller

Mark Miller is one of my favorite leadership authors and bloggers, but I have to admit I labored through many of the character-centric principles in this leadership fable. Whether it was the admonition that leaders ALWAYS think others first or that they expect the best, I quickly realized that my own leadership character is still very much a work in progress. If you’re looking for a short read that really challenges your guts, this is probably the one to go with.

Go Big by Cory Cotton

Go Big is an inspirational read from an energetic group of young guys called Dude Perfect who make and film trip basketball shots for a living. But it’s practical as well. You may not shoot hoops from moving airplanes, but we all need to “get excited” about what we’re doing as well as learn to “blink later” in times when change comes rapidly. Go Big is definitely the most lighthearted read of this list.

What are you reading over the holidays?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his new ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website  or follow him on Twitter.

I’ve posted about reading before. I’ve shared reading strategies, a comprehensive list of leadership books and inspirational quotes such as Charlie “Tremendous” Jones,’ “You’ll be the same person in a year as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys reading as much as I do. So for now, let me use a more subtle approach and simply recommend five leadership books. Whether you read one or five this summer, I’m positive each one will help take your leadership to the next level.

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

How to Win Friends and Influence People is hands down my favorite leadership book of all-time. Most people have heard of it, but many have yet to read it. This summer is your chance. The chapters are short, entertaining and extremely insightful with Carnegie’s uncanny intuition about what turns people on and what turns people off. The book was published nearly 80 years ago and its truths are timeless.

2. Switch by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

I first read Switch this past winter after having it on my list for a couple years. (My reading list is pretty long). It’s an intellectually and emotionally stimulating case for leading change. Full of many engaging stories and studies, the Heath brothers show how change is often a battle between people’s rational and emotional sides. Instead of wearing ourselves out in a attempt to change people, we can use a variety of easier tactics to provide rational clarity, emotional motivation and influence the environment to make the change the easiest outcome.

3. Leadership and Self-Deception by Arbinger Institute

The story line in this leadership fable took me a little while to get into until I really started to catch the significance of the content. You have a problem. So do I. We don’t know what it is. THAT’S the problem. The authors from Arbinger Institute take an informative but in-depth look at the internal dynamics that unwittingly sabotage our relationships both at work and at home.

4. 12: The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd Wagner & James Harter

12 Elements takes a comprehensive approach to organizational leadership based on Gallup’s Q12 employee engagement survey and is the sequel to the Marcus Buckingham’s bestseller, First, Break all the Rules. Based on 12 million employee surveys, 12 Elements uses case studies of typical responses to show what effective leaders do.

5. Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer

If you’re only looking for a short read, Let Your Life Speak is barely 100 pages, but it’s powerfully intuitive. So be prepared to think as Parker Palmer explores from his own life’s journey the ups and downs of trying to discern one’s own vocational calling. Why do people do what they do? How can we find the thing we “can’t not” do? Palmer shows how to let your life speak – and then learn to listen.

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his new ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website  or follow him on Twitter.

In my previous posts, I explained why reading is crucial to growth and development and listed my favorite leadership books – the ones that inspire me or provided the most insight.  But choosing the right book to read next can be tricky sometimes, especially given there are literally hundreds of thousands just a click away.  With so many choices and so little time to read, how can you be sure you are picking the “right” one?

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or   follow him on Twitter.