Interested in more about leadership and leadership development?
We’ve compiled some of our recommended readings below. If you have any questions or a book/reading to suggest for this, contact us at WhartonMLP.
Leadership Readings
JJ Ikegami, Harbir Singh, and Mike Useem, Resolute Japan, Wharton School Press 2024
Adam Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What you Don’t Know, Penguin Random House 2021
Howard Kunreuther and Mike Useem, Mastering Catastrophic Risk: How Companies are Coping with Disruption, Wharton School Press 2018
Harbir Singh & Michael Useem, The Strategic Leader’s Roadmap: 6 Steps for Integrating Leadership and Strategy, Wharton School Press 2016
Adam Grant, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach To Success, Penguin, 2013
Larry Zicklin, Old City Enterprises Case Study, July 2013
Norman R. Augustine and Kenneth L. Adelman, Shakespeare in Charge: The Bard’s Guide to Leading and Succeeding on the Business Stage. Hyperion, 2001.
Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader (expanded edition). Perseus, 2003.
Arlene Blum, Annapurna: A Woman’s Place. Sierra Club Books, 1998.
Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done. Crown Business/Random House, 2002.
Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra Singh, and Michael Useem, The India Way: How India’s Top Business Leaders Are Revolutionizing Management. Harvard Business Press, 2010.
Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. HarperBusiness, 2001.
Jim Collins and Morten Hansen, Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite Them All. Harper Business, 2011.
David H. Freedman, Corps Business: The 30 Management Principles of the U.S. Marines. Harper Business, 2000.
Howard Gardner, Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. Basic Books, 1995.
John Gardner, On Leadership. Free Press, 1993.
Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Henry Holt, 2009.
Bill George with Peter Sims, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership. Wiley, 2007.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
Belle Linda Halpern & Kathy Lubar, Leadership Presence: Dramatic Techniques to Reach Out Motivate, and Inspire. Gotham, 2003.
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2013. Watch an interview between Wharton Professor Howard Kunreuther and Daniel Kahneman here»
Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13. Houghton Mifflin, 1994.
J. Edward Russo and Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Winning Decisions: Getting It Right the First Time. Doubleday, 2002.
Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Knopf, 2013.
Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels. Random House, 1974.
Noel M. Tichy, The Leadership Engine: How Winning Companies Build Leaders at Every Level. Harper Business, 1997.
Michael Useem, The Leader’s Checklist. Wharton School Press, 2011.
Michael Useem, The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us All. Random House, 1998.
Michael Useem, Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss so You Both Win. Crown Business/Random House, 2001.
Michael Useem, The Go Point: When It Is Time to Decide. Crown Business/Random House, 2006.
For more information on the Go Point, please see our Go Point page.
Leadership and Governance Readings
Caran, R., Carey, D., and Useem, M (2014), Boards that Lead. Boston: Harvard Business School Press
Carter, C.B., and Lorsch, J.W. (2004), Back to the Drawing Board: Designing Corporate Boards for a Complex World. Boston: Harvard Business School Press
Gandossy, R., and Sonnenfeld, J., eds. (2004), Leadership and Governance from the Inside Out. New York: Wiley
Nadler, D.A., Behan, B.A., and Nadler, M.A. (2006), Building Better Boards: A Blueprint for Effective Governance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley
Pillmore, E.M. (2003), “How We’re Fixing Up Tyco,” Harvard Business Review, December, pp. 96-103
Sonnenfeld, J.A. (2002), “What Makes Great Boards Great,” Harvard Business Review, 80 (September), pp. 106-113
Useem, M. (2006), “How Well-Run Boards Make Decisions,” Harvard Business Review, November, pp. 130-138
Leadership and Decision Making
Graham T. Allison and Philip Zelikow, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, Second Edition. Longman, 1999.
Max Bazerman and Don A. Moore, Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, Seventh Edition. Wiley, 2008.
Arlene Blum, Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life. Scribner, 2005.
Fortune magazine, special issue on decision making, June 27, 2005.
David H. Freedman, Corps Business: The 30 Management Principles of the U.S. Marines. HarperBusiness, 2000.
Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Little, Brown, 2005. Watch Malcolm Gladwell speak at the November 2013 Wharton Authors@Wharton Speaker Series »
John Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa, Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions. Broadway Books, 1999.
Kenneth R. Hammond, Judgment Under Stress. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Harvard Business Review, special issue on decision making, January, 2006
Reid Hastie and Robyn M. Dawes, Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making. Sage Publications, 2001.
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2013. Watch an interview between Wharton Professor Howard Kunreuther and Daniel Kahneman here»
Gary Klein, Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions. MIT Press, 1998.
Gary Klein, Intuition at Work: Why Developing Your Gut Instincts Will Make You Better at What You Do. Currency Doubleday, 2003.
Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster. Villard/Random House, 1997.
J. Keith Murnighan and John C. Mowen, The Art of High-Stakes Decision-Making: Tough Calls in a Speed-Driven World. Wiley, 2002.
Robert E. Rubin with Jacob Weisberg, In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington. Random House, 2003.
J. Edward Russo and Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Winning Decisions: Getting It Right the First Time. Currency Doubleday, 2002.
Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice. HarperCollins, 2004.
Stephen W. Sears, Gettysburg. Houghton Mifflin, 2003.
Michael Useem, The Go Point: When It Is Time to Decide. Crown Business/Random House, 2006.
J. Frank Yates, Decision Management: How to Assure Better Decisions in Your Company. Jossey-Bass, 2003.