There are so many books out there that will help you develop as a leader. You’ve probably read many leadership books yourself already. In this blog post, I talk about must-read leadership books for any aspiring leader.
These books will help you build influence, charisma and the right mindset which are incredibly important elements for your success in business.
This brief summary will help you decide if these books are for you and if you would like to spend time reading them. I hope it helps!
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini.
This book will help you understand what influential people to do influence others and how you can behave like this too.
It talks a lot about compliance and persuasion. What do persuasive people do to make others say “Yes”? What techniques do these people use to get others to comply with their request?
If you’ve every caught yourself automatically complying to something somebody has asked you to do, this book will help you understand why.
He talks about the rule of reciprocity which is the theory that if somebody does us a favour, we’re more likely to want to return that favour. You have a sense of obligation and feel obliged to return the favour.
You might see this often on social media. When somebody likes or comments on your post, you’re more likely to engage with their post in return.
He also breaks down the concept of “likeability” and shares strategies on how to get people to like you using techniques such as similarity and compliments.
He also talks about how to use the influence of authority and how the “appearance of authority” can influence others.
This must-read leadership book is a fantastic insight into human behaviour and psychology. It will teach you how people work and what makes people tick. This is helpful knowledge in the business world and in your personal life too.
I do explain more about my key takeaways from this book and the other books I talk about in this blog post. Check out this video below to hear all these insights.
The Charisma Myth: The Art of Personal Magnetism by Olivia Fox Cabane
The Charisma Myth holds a special place in my heart. I first read it back in 2012 when I was living in France. I had just started my business, Executive Impressions, and I was fascinated with all things about first impressions, body language, and presence. And how we could use these elements to succeed in business.
This book is basically about demystifying charismatic people. What do charismatic people do that makes them so charismatic? Ms. Cabane breaks down the process of building charisma so everyday people, like you and me, can become more charismatic.
There is a specific focus on how to use presence, power and warmth to create charisma. This, I found helpful because not everybody wants to be seen as assertive or aggressive. Some people want to appear warm in business and it’s absolutely possible to be charismatic in that state.
The book talks about creating a charismatic mental state and developing the mindset of a charismatic person. Using visualisation, gratitude and specific body language can help you to impact your mind and become more charismatic.
Towards the end of the book there’s a fantastic chapter on speaking and listening with charisma. If you’re somebody who holds back from sharing your ideas in meetings for fear you’ll be negatively judged, this chapter will help you overcome this.
I guarantee if you implement these tips in this book about becoming more charismatic, you will absolutely transform yourself. You’ll go from being quiet and hesitant to charismatic and confident.
I know this is something many of you reading would love to achieve. That’s why I included it in the list of must-read leadership books!
Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential by Carol S. Dweck
Mindset is an in-depth look at the growth mindset versus the fixed mindset. And how we can develop the growth mindset to help us achieve our goals, both personally or professionally.
The author explains that the fixed mindset prevents us from overcoming challenges and improving ourselves. This stems from the fact that when you have the fixed mindset, you believe that your qualities are carved in stone.
You believe that you only have a certain amount of intelligence, personality, and moral character. These things cannot be changed. And this dictates how you act in or react to certain situations.
For example, when people with the fixed mindset fail an exam, they often tell themselves: “I’m such a loser”, “I’m a total failure”, or “the teacher hates me”. They don’t imagine they could learn and improve from that experience. They blame or make excuses.
Whereas the growth mindset is based on the belief that your qualities, your intelligence, personality, or moral character, are elements that you can cultivate through your efforts. In other words, you can build them and grow them. They’re not set in stone.
For example, when people with the growth mindset fail an exam, their response is quite different to those with the fixed mindset. They tell themselves, “I need to study harder next time”, or “I need to speak to the teacher and learn where I went wrong”.
People with the growth mindset take responsibility for their failure. They also recognise the importance of effort and of challenging themselves. They don’t see failure as an end result that they can’t change.
Ms. Dweck incorporates extensive and interesting research to support her findings. She also shares many stories throughout the book so you can get a lot of relatable context for the theory she talks about.
If you want to advance as a leader, these must-read leadership books will definitely help you in these three important areas.
As I mentioned, I go into these books in more depth in the video above. And if you’re already convinced and you would like to buy any of these books, use the affiliate links below:
Must-read leadership books
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (book) or (Audible)
- The Charisma Myth: The Art of Personal Magnetism (book) or (Audible)
- Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential (book)
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