Welcome to the Global Leadership Society's Top 100 Best Leadership Books of all time! But hold on a second—why another list? The answer is simple: the existing selections don't quite hit the mark for us!

The trouble often lies in the ambiguity around the criteria used to curate these lists. Who's behind them, and for what purpose? What is their underlying understanding of leadership? What's the ideology? What we've found is that compilations often fall short, lacking "philosophical" and practical coherence and the depth and range necessary to develop leadership. They vacillate between airport "bestsellers" lists, offering popular titles that lack credible academic backing, or stacks of textbooks too esoteric for real-world practitioners. Our goal is to bridge this gap.

That's not a simple task. Leadership is far from one-dimensional; it demands a rich mosaic of development. Good leaders must grasp a wide spectrum of knowledge, spanning philosophy, psychology, economics, history, political science, management, sociology, and beyond. We have started to carefully select a range of works that allow you to delve deeper into a wealth of literature, not only offering critical insights and challenging conventional wisdom, but also providing a deeper understanding of the multifaceted world of leadership.

Our aim isn't just to offer a new list of books, but to provide a roadmap for nurturing a new breed of leaders— practically wise individuals poised to shape good organizations that can forge the path towards a brighter future of work. The readings should accompany you, enlighten you, hold you and guide you on a transformative voyage to the heart of leadership and your role within it.

We wish you joy on a unique and insightful journey through the best in leadership literature, handpicked by peers to develop truly good leadership.

Selection Criteria