Our Top 10 Professional Development Books For 2021

It is paramount that leaders continue to grow and develop themselves at every stage of leadership. The foundation of leadership starts with self-discovery, as leaders build trust with their team. A trusted leader maintains trust with their team through emotional intelligence that guides them through their own emotions, while maintaining sensitivity around the emotional needs of others. Emotional intelligence operates as a compass so leaders can effectively invest in the careers and lives of the team members they support. Alongside their team members, leaders can then build a sound structure by thinking strategically and driving business through innovation.

Here are our top 10 recommendations for leadership and professional development books.

“The Speed of Trust” -Stephen M.R. Covey
“The Speed of Trust” uncovers the 13 behaviors of a trusted leader and how these behaviors expedite the speed of business. Every second counts, and when a leader exhibits trust behaviors (clarifying expectations and practicing accountability, for example), they demonstrate character and/or competence that allows them to be trusted. Leading With Trust, an internal training course, is based off of this book.

“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable” -Patrick Lencioni
The author uses a story about a dysfunctional team to uncover the behaviors that make the team less productive and therefore less successful. These behaviors are trust, conflict, commitment, accountability and results. Trust is the foundation of the model. When vulnerability-based trust is established, teams can engage in healthy conflict which allows them to fully commit. Teams that commit can hold each other accountable and drive results at a higher level. The book allows leaders to see how a lack of these five behaviors causes dysfunction on a team, and how having them builds cohesion.

“Emotional Intelligence 2.0” -Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves
“Emotional Intelligence 2.0” is a great starting point for learning the skills of emotional intelligence (EI): self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. In addition to understanding the skills, readers also receive a code to take an online assessment and learn their own emotional intelligence score. By implementing best practices provided in the text, leaders learn how they can raise their emotional intelligence and make greater impacts on those around them.

“Primal Leadership (Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence)” -Daniel Goleman
“Primal Leadership” focuses on making the connection between emotional intelligence and leadership. The book blends the skills of emotional intelligence with leadership style and self-directed learning. This book gives deeper exploration into deploying skills and when to leverage key elements of leadership.

“The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever” -Michael Bungay Stanier
This book walks leaders through a guide on how to break the habit of giving the answer and foster an environment of creating learning opportunities for their team members. The book highlights seven important questions for leaders to use as a tool to coach in a more impactful way than just giving advice.

“Radical Candor: Be a Kick-A$% Boss Without Losing Your Humanity” -Kim Scott
Feedback is a gift best given in the packaging of care and challenge. These are the core ingredients of defining radical candor and when given this way, team members are more likely to be receptive. The book also uncovers what feedback looks like when it is not demonstrated with care and challenge. The other less effective feedback dimensions help leaders identify and reflect on where they may have had feedback misses in the past. 

“Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters – Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work” -Meagan Johnson and Larry Johnson
“Generations, Inc.” provides techniques for creating an inclusive environment for every generation from baby boomers to Generation Z. It pinpoints events and experiences such as Sesame Street, latchkey and recessions that shape the work experiences of each group and guides leaders on how to best support them.

“The Clayton M. Christensen Reader: Selected Articles from the World’s Foremost Authority on Disruptive Innovation” -Clayton Christensen
In this book, Christensen hand selects a series of articles covering disruptive innovation. The book covers ways of meeting the challenges of disruptive change, management theory and strategies for reinventing a business model. The only constant is change and with various disruptive encounters, a leader must learn to plan proactively and adapt.

“Disrupt: Think the Unthinkable to Spark Transformation in Your Business” -Luke Williams
This book helps leaders think out of the box to create and reinvent the status quo. It provides framework for discovery into bold new ideas that provide a competitive advantage. Each chapter closes with a “taking action” section that walks the reader through how to apply concepts like crafting a disruptive hypothesis and making a pitch that will persuade internal and external stakeholders.

“Who Moved My Cheese?: An A-Mazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life” -Dr. Spencer Johnson
“Who Moved My Cheese” uses a parable to describe the impact of change and what it looks like to embrace verses resist it. With change being the face of innovation, its necessary for leaders to not only welcome change but to lead it on their teams. Attitudes matters, and Dr. Spencer is clear in showcasing why in this quick, yet impactful read.