Our selection of leadership books that every grown-up leader should start reading

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Book Selection

How we are selecting books

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“We need to think not only about what is the right, but about what is good. How can business build something that is actually good. We need to understand how the right and the good can work together.” – Ed Freeman

Welcome to the Best Books for Leadership

There are already many selections of best business or management or leadership books available. So, why does it require another one? The answer is simple: because we did not like the other selections!

In fact, it is not always clear what criteria are being adopted to develop specific selections of titles, nor is it clear who is influencing such selections and for what reasons. Either way, we do not like the outcomes.

Leadership requires professional development and is, by its very nature, multi-faceted. Good leaders must develop a wide understanding, through both practice and theoretical learning, about domains like philosophy, psychology, management science, economics, history, political science, sociology - to name just a few. In addition, most leaders have already got a basic understanding of relevant areas, so the focus must be on writings that can provoke new and critical insights, and go beyond traditional wisdom. Finally, much of the prevalent literature is not sufficiently underpinned by credible academic research - and much of academic literature is obscure and unreadable.

So our intention is to provide a set of texts that we - and our invited leaders for humanity - have carefully curated.

Classics

The top 100

To support leaders in their personal and professional growth journey, we have meticulously curated a list of the 100 most important books, carefully selected based on the recommendations of our leaders for humanity. This comprehensive list offers a wealth of wisdom that has withstood the test of time, providing profound insights into philosophy, political science, social and economic science, management, and psychology, allowing leaders to analyze, deconstruct, and reconstruct their understanding of the world, society, and the human condition. By immersing themselves in these essential books, leaders can gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their teams, and the world and lead with love, justice, and a strong sense of purpose. Our selection of 100 top books embodies the fundamental knowledge required for a leader to excel, reflecting the canon of a well-rounded leader's mind, offering both depth and breadth for engaging in critical thinking and deep learning. It is an indispensable resource for any leader seeking to enrich their personal and professional lives, providing a solid foundation for lifelong learning and growth.
NEW

the 12 Best For 2022

In our fast-changing world, new ideas and thinkers emerge rapidly, suggesting reforms and even revolutions in society, the economy, business, and leadership. It's essential to stay informed and up-to-date while also distinguishing between short-lived trends and long-lasting, well-developed concepts. This is why our expert jury carefully selects the 12 most important new books of the year. To ensure high-quality recommendations, we use a rigorous 3E test that evaluates books based on whether they are energizing, offer emancipatory knowledge, and are evidence-based or theoretically consistent. By applying these criteria, we guarantee that the books we recommend provide our readers with the most valuable and relevant insights.

We welcome our audience to suggest their favorite books for our jury to consider, as we strive to offer the most current and relevant knowledge. Please submit your suggestions here: XYU


How we are selecting books

What is a good leadership book: Our selection criteria

There are already many selections of best business or management or leadership books available. So, why does it require another one? The answer is simple: because we did not like the other selections!

In fact, it is not always clear what criteria are being adopted to develop specific selections of titles, nor is it clear who is influencing such selections and for what reasons. Either way, we do not like the outcomes.

Leadership requires professional development and is, by its very nature, multi-faceted. Good leaders must develop a wide understanding, through both practice and theoretical learning, about domains like philosophy, psychology, management science, economics, history, political science, sociology - to name just a few. In addition, most leaders have already got a basic understanding of relevant areas, so the focus must be on writings that can provoke new and critical insights, and go beyond traditional wisdom. Finally, much of the prevalent literature is not sufficiently underpinned by credible academic research - and much of academic literature is obscure and unreadable.

So our intention is to provide a set of texts that we - and our invited experts - have found:

  • Breaking new grounds: promoting or offering critical thinking on important leadership topics
  • Credible: based on academic research or well-rounded theories
  • Well-written: ideas are expressed in a way that the truly interested and curious reader can follow
  • Caring: authors do not only offer a critical perspective, but a genuine desire to do good

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OUR BIG THANKS GO TO ALL OUR PARTICIPANTS: ED FREEMAN, ALAN WATKINS, FRANK MARTELA, JANE DUTTON, MONICA WORLINE, LUIGINO BRUNI, MATS ALVESSON, AXEL HONNETH, SCOTT PARSONS, MANFRED KETS DE VRIES, GIANPIERO PETRIGLIERI, MIKE O’DONNELL, GERT BIESTA AND MORE - thank you all very much for sharing your personal wisdom!

Top 100 Leadership Books - Updated Q1 2023

You can engage with us easily by searching for #goodleadershipsociety

Please always use the hashtag if you want to connect with us or directly post on the GoodOrganisations page

Moral Philosophy and Ethics in Business

Rebalancing Society: Radical Renewal Beyond Left, Right, and Center

by Henry Mintzberg

Managing the Myths of Health Care: Bridging the Separations between Care, Cure, Control, and Community

by Henry Mintzberg

Bedtime Stories for Managers: Farewell to Lofty Leadership. . . Welcome Engaging Management

by Henry Mintzberg

The Structuring of Organizations (Theory of Management Policy) - New edition coming soon

by Henry Mintzberg

Mintzberg on Management

by Henry Mintzberg

Strategy Bites Back: Strategy in Far More, and Less Than You Ever Imagined

by Henry Mintzberg

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning:
Mintzberg concludes that the term is an oxymoron.

by Henry Mintzberg

Handbook Strategy as Practice:
This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of an
Alternative View on Strategy.

By Damon Golsorkhi and co-authors

Virtues and Virtue Education in Theory and in Practice

by Catherine A. Darnell and Kristján Kristjánsson

Virtues and Vices

by Phillipa Foot

Friendship for Virtue

by Kristján Kristjánsson

Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

by Immanuel Kant

The Morality of War

by Brian Orend

Aristotle and the Virtues

Howard J. Curzer

Just and Unjust Wars

by Michael Walzer

Virtue Ethics - A Contemporary Introduction

by Liezl van Zyl

Teaching and Learning the Westpoint Way

by Morten G. Ender, Raymond A. Kimball, Rachel M. Sondheimer, Jakob C. Bruhl

Character Strengths and Virtues

by Christopher Peterman and Martin Seligman

The Origins of Totalitarianism

by Hannah Arendt

Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity

by Stephen Edelston Toulmin

Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

by Hannah Arendt

Kohlberg Revisited (Moral Development and Citizenship Education)

by Boris Zizek (Editor), Detlef Garz (Editor), Ewa Nowak (Editor)

Moral Development & Reality: Beyond the Theories of Kohlberg and Hoffman

by John C Gibbs

Moral Development: Guide to Piaget and Kohlberg

by Ronald F. Duska (Author), Mariellen Whelan

Personality, Identity, and Character: Explorations in Moral Psychology

by Darcia Narvaez (Editor), Daniel K. Lapsley (Editor)

Agency and Ethics: The Politics of Military Intervention (SUNY series in Global Politics)

by Anthony F. Lang Jr. (Author)

Shooting to Kill: The Ethics of Police and Military Use of Lethal Force

by Seumas Miller (Author)

Military Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know

by George Lucas (Author)

Introduction to Military Ethics, An: A Reference Handbook

by Bill Rhodes

The Moral Dimension of Asymmetrical Warfare: Counter-terrorism, Democratic Values and Military Ethics

by Th a Van Baarda (Editor), D E M Verweij (Editor)

Military Ethics and Virtues

by Peter Olsthoorn

the-moral-warrior

by martin-l-cook (Author)

Making the Military Moral: Contemporary Challenges and Responses in Military Ethics Education (Military and Defence Ethics)

by Don Carrick (Editor), James Connelly (Editor), David Whetham (Editor)

Routledge Handbook of Ethics and War: Just War Theory in the 21st Century

by Fritz Allhoff (Editor)

The Ethics of Armed Conflict: A Cosmopolitan Just War Theory

by John W. Lango

Ethics and War in the 21st Century (LSE International Studies Series

by Christopher Coker (Author)

Rethinking the Just War Tradition (Suny Series, Ethics and the Military Profession)

by Michael W. Brough (Editor), John W. Lango (Editor), Harry Van Der Linden (Editor)

The Cambridge Handbook of the Just War (Cambridge Handbooks in Philosophy)

by Larry May (Editor)

Comparative Just War Theory: An Introduction to International Perspectives

by Luis Cordeiro-Rodrigues (Editor), Danny Singh (Editor), Alex J. Bellamy (Foreword)

Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind

by Nancy Sherman (Author)

Virtuous Emotions

by Kristján Kristjánsson (Author)

Virtue Ethics and Moral Education

by David Carr (Editor), Jan Steutel (Editor)

Education for Values: Morals, Ethics and Citizenship in Contemporary Teaching

by Jo Cairns (Editor), Roy Gardner (Editor), Denis Lawton (Editor)

Just War Theory (Studies in Moral Philosophy)

by Thom Brooks

Wonderful Life. Insights on Finding a Meaningful Existence.

by Frank Martela

The Meaning of Life. A Reader.

Edited by E.D. Klemke and Steven M. Cahn

Beyond Realism and Antirealism: John Dewey and the Neopragmatists.

by David L. Hildebrand

The Social Construction of Reality.

by J.R. Searle

Man's Search for Meaning

by Viktor E. Frankl

Dialogues of Plato

The Morality of Happiness

by Julia Annas

Systems Intelligence – A New Lens on Human Engagement and Action

edited by Raimo P. Hämäläinen and Esa Saarinen

Narcissus and Goldmund is contrasting the careers of two friends, one of whom goes on the road, tangled in the extremes of life, the other staying in the monastery and struggling to lead a life of spiritual denial.

by Hermann Hesse (Author)

Every weekend, in basements and parking lots across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded for as long as they have to.

by Chuck Palahniuk (Author)

Willpower - 12 Tools For Doing The Right Thing

by Frank Martela

Escape from Freedom

by Erich Fromm

How to lead in a world where leadership extends to a whole range of stakeholders inside and outside an organization

by Nicola Pless (Editor), Thomas Maak (Editor)

The Power of And offers a new narrative about the nature of business, revealing the focus on responsibility and ethics that unites today’s most influential ideas and companies.

by R. Edward Freeman (Author), Bidhan L. Parmar (Author), Kirsten Martin (Author)

Business can be understood as a system of how we create value for stakeholders. This worldview connects business and capitalism with ethics once and for all.

by R. Edward Freeman (Author)

This book examines the body of research related to Stakeholder Theory and assesses its relevance for our understanding of modern business.

by R. Edward Freeman (Author)

This book offers a case-study approach to stakeholder theory that moves beyond theoretical analysis to the applied.

by R. Edward Freeman (Editor), Johanna Kujala (Editor), Sybille Sachs (Editor)

This book presents a number of tools that managers can use to implement stakeholder thinking, better understand stakeholders and create value with and for them.

by R. Edward Freeman (Author), Jeffery S. Harrison (Author), Stelios Zyglidopoulos (Author)

This book presents a method that might be called an Aristotelian common-sense approach to ethical decision making.

by Ronald Duska (Author), Norman E. Bowie (Editor), Patricia H. Werhane (Editor)

The Blackwell Guide to Business Ethics acquaints the reader with theoretical and pedagogical ethical issues in the practice of business

Norman E. Bowie

Managing for Stakeholders helps leaders develop a mindset that asks the Value Creation Question: How can we create as much value as possible for all of our stakeholders?

by R Edward Freeman (Author), Jeffrey S Harrison (Author), Andrew C Wicks (Author)

Although it is on occasion useful to distinguish between factual claims and value judgments, it positively harmful when identified with a dichotomy between objective and purely "subjective."

by Hilary Putnam (Author)

In A Theory of Justice Rawls assumed a "well-ordered society". Now Rawls asks how a just society can live in concord when divided by reasonable but incompatible doctrines?

by John Rawls (Author)

Marking a new stage in the evolution of his thought, Rorty’s final masterwork identifies anti-authoritarianism as the principal impulse and virtue of pragmatism.

by Richard Rorty (Author)

The best professionals rely less on formulas learned in graduate school than on the kind of improvisation learned in practice.

by Donald A. Schön (Author)

Plato brought a richness and complexity to common ideas about the nature and purpose of leadership. Rather than attempting to give a single 'one-size-fits-all' definition, his strategy was to break it into its different strands.

by Dominic Scott (Author), R. Edward Freeman (Author)

In Development as Freedom Amartya Sen explains how in a world of unprecedented increase in overall opulence millions of people living in the Third World are still unfree.

by Amartya Sen (Author)

This book is about humanizing business. The volume travels outside the world of business to explore what Humanities – such as Philosophy, History, Literature, Creative Arts, and Cultural Studies – can offer to business.

by Michel Dion (Editor), R. Edward Freeman (Editor), Sergiy D. Dmytriyev (Editor)

Standing at the crossroads of psychology and religion, this catalyzing work applied the scientific method to a field abounding in abstract theory.

by William James (Author), Martin E Marty (Introduction, Editor)

If you have philosophical inclinations and want a good workout, this conscientious scrutiny of moral assumptions and expressions will be most rewarding.

by Alan Donagan (Author)

The 99 Percent Economy: How Democratic Socialism Can Overcome the Crises of Capitalism

by Paul S. Adler

The Oxford Handbook of Sociology, Social Theory, and Organization Studies: Contemporary Currents

by Paul S. Adler

The Firm as a Collaborative Community: The Reconstruction of Trust in the Knowledge Economy

by Charles Heckscher, Paul S. Adler

The Oxford Handbook of Sociology and Organization Studies: Classical Foundations

by Paul S. Adler

Healing Together: The Labor-Management Partnership at Kaiser Permanente

by Thomas A. Kochan, Adrienne E. Eaton, Robert B. McKersie, Paul S. Adler

How to be anAnti-capitalist for the 21st Century

Erik Olin Wright

The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time

by Karl Polanyi

Numbskull in the Theatre of Inquiry: Transforming Self, Friends, Organizations, and Social Science

by Bill Torbert

Action Inquiry: The Secret of Timely and Transforming Leadership

by Bill Torbert

Personal and Organisational Transformations: Through Action Inquiry

by Dalmar Fisher, David Rooke, Bill Torbert

Creating a Community of Inquiry: Conflict, Collaboration, Transformation [Download]

by Bill Torbert

Learning from Experience: Toward Consciousness [Download]

by Bill Torbert

Managing the Corporate Dream: Restructuring for Longterm Success [Download]

The Power of Balance: Transforming Self, Society and Scientific Inquiry [Download]

by Bill Torbert

Eros/Power: Love in the Spirit of Inquiry

by Hilary Bradbury, William Torbert

Being for the Most Part Puppets [Download]

Torbert, William R.; Rogers, Malcolm P.

Street Smart Awareness and Inquiry-in-Action

by Ms Jane Allen, Ms Heidi Gutekunst, Mr William R. Torbert

Credo

by William Sloane Coffin

The Collected Sermons of William Sloane Coffin, Volumes One and Two: The Riverside Years

by William Sloane Coffin

The Fourth Way: Teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff

by P. D. Ouspensky

The Social Contract

by Jean-Jaques Rousseau

A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition

by J Rawls

Critique of Pure Reason

by Immanuel Kant

Philosophical Organization Theory

by Haridimos Tsoukas

Institutions and Organizations: A Process View (Perspectives on Process Organization Studies)

by Trish Reay, Tammar B. Zilber, Ann Langley, Haridimos Tsoukas

Organizational Routines: How They Are Created, Maintained, and Changed

by Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Claus Rerup, Ann Langley, Haridimos Tsoukas (Editors)

Constructing Identity in and around Organizations

by Majken Schultz, Steve Maguire, Ann Langley, Haridimos Tsoukas

The SAGE Handbook of Process Organization Studies

by Ann Langley, Haridimos Tsoukas (Editors)

Philosophy and Organization Theory

by Haridimos Tsoukas, Robert Chia

Complex Knowledge: Studies in Organizational Epistemology

by Haridimos Tsoukas

The Oxford Handbook Of Organization Theory: Meta-theoretical Perspectives

by Haridimos Tsoukas

Being and Time

by Martin Heidegger

Organisational Learning -An integrated HR and knowledge management perspective

by Roderick Smith

Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach

by Martha C. Nussbaum

Development as Freedom

by Amartya Sen

The Road to Serfdom

by F. A. Hayek

Sensemaking in Organizations

by Karl E. Weick

Philosophical Investigations

by Ludwig Wittgenstein

Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity

by Stephen Edelston Toulmin

Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

by Hannah Arendt

Heart of Enterprise

by Stafford Beer

Good Economy and Management

Successful Management by Motivation -Balancing Intrinsic and Extrinsic Incentives

Bruno S. Frey, Margit Osterloh

Incentives and Performance - Governance of Research Organizations

Isabell M. Welpe, Jutta Wollersheim, Stefanie Ringelhan, Margit Osterloh

Prozessmanagement als Kernkompetenz: Wie Sie Business Reengineering strategisch nutzen können

by Margit Osterloh, Jetta Frost

Investition Vertrauen -Prozesse der Vertrauensentwicklung in Organisationen

Margit Osterloh, Antoinette Weibel

The Future of the Commons: Beyond Market Failure & Government Regulations

by Elinor Ostrom

Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 1: Reason and the Rationalization of Society

by Jurgen Habermas

Identity Economics: How Our Identities Shape Our Work, Wages, and Well-Being

by George A. Akerlof

Industrial Organization (The International Library of Critical Writings in Economics series)

by Oliver E. Williamson

The Economics of Transaction Costs

by Oliver E. Williamson

Alternatives to Neoliberalism: Towards Equality and Democracy

by Bryn Jones (Editor), Mike O'Donnell (Editor)

Crises and Popular Dissent: The Divided West

by Mike O'Donnell

Radicalism and Social Movement Activism

by Bryn Jones and Mike O'Donnell

The Power Elite

The Power Elite

How to Be an Anticapitalist in the Twenty-First Century

by Erik Olin Wright

The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time

by Karl Polanyi

The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy

by Mariana Mazzucato

Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of Trump

by Joseph Stiglitz (Author)

Liberalism: The Classical Tradition

by Ludwig von Mises (Author)

The Road to Serfdom

by F. A. Hayek (Author)

Anthropologies of Modernity: Foucault, Governmentality, and Life Politics

by Jonathan Xavier Inda (Editor)

Envisioning Real Utopias

by Erik Olin Wright
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strange-Non-Death-Neo-Liberalism-Colin-Crouch/dp/0745652212/ref=sr_1_1?crid=40Q2QTESH9I2&keywords=crouch+neo+liberalism&qid=1660647291&sprefix=crouch+neo+liberalism%2Caps%2C62&sr=8-1

The Strange Non-Death of Neoliberalism

by Colin Crouch

The Common Good

by Robert Reich

Amusing Ourselves to Death

by Neil Postman

Selection from the Prison Notebooks

by Antonio Gramsci

Turbulent and Mighty Continent

by Anthony Giddens

Thather and Thatcherism

by Eric J. Evans

Deliberation and Democracy: Innovative Processes and Institutions

edited by Stephen Coleman, Anna Przybylska, and Yves Sintomer

Classical and Contemporary Sociological Theory and Issues

By Mike O'Donnell

Liberalism and its Discontents

by Francis Fukuyama

The Wound and the Blessing

Luigino Bruni

Thomas Aquinas and the Civil Economy Tradition

by Paolo Santori

Civil Economy and Organisation

by Roberta Sferrazo

The Economy of Salvation

by Luigino Bruni

Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice

by Martha Nussbaum

Commodities and Capabilities

by Amartya Sen

Corporate Social Responsibility Across Europe

by André Habisch, Jan Jonker, Martina Wegner, René Schmidpeter

The German Chambers of Commerce and Industry: Self-governance, Service,...[Download]

by Eberhard Sasse, Andre Habisch

Corporate Citizenship: Gesellschaftliches Engagement von Unternehmen in Deutschland (Unternehmen und Gesellschaft) (German Edition)

by André Habisch

Cultural Roots of Sustainable Management: Practical Wisdom and Corporate Social Responsibility

by André Habisch, René Schmidpeter

Tradition und Erneuerung der christlichen Sozialethik in Zeiten der Modernisierung

by André Habisch, Hanns Jürgen Küsters, Rudolf Uertz

Erfolgsfaktor Verantwortung: Corporate Social Responsibility professionell managen (German Edition)

by Kaevan Gazdar, André Habisch, Klaus Rainer Kirchhoff, Sam Vaseghi

Handbuch Corporate Citizenship: Corporate Social Responsibility für Manager (German Edition)

by André Habisch, René Schmidpeter, Martin Neureiter

Practical Wisdom and Diversity: Aligning Insights, Virtues and Values

by André Habisch et al.

Christliche Unternehmer (Deutsche Führungsschichten in der Neuzeit, Band 19)

by Francesca Schinzinger

Léon Harmel: Entrepreneur as Catholic Social Reformer (Catholic Social Tradition)

by Joan L. Coffey

The Power of Creative Destruction: Economic Upheaval and the Wealth of Nations

by Philippe Aghion, Céline Antonin, Simon Bunel

Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond

by O Neill

The Evolution of Ethics: Human Sociality and the Emergence of Ethical Mindedness

by B. Fowers

Frailty, Suffering, and Vice: Flourishing in the Face of Human Limitations

by Blaine J. Flowers, Frank C. Richardson, et al.

Virtue and Psychology: Pursuing Excellence in Ordinary Practices

by Blaine J. Fowers

Beyond the Myth of Marital Happiness: How Embracing the Virtues of Loyalty, Generosity, Justice, and Courage Can Strengthen Your Relationship

by Blaine Fowers

Re-envisioning Psychology: Ethics and Values in Modern Practice

by Frank C. Richardson, Blaine J. Fowers, Charles B. Guignon

The Will to Power

by Friedrich Nietzsche

Spiritual Capital

Danah Zohar

Good Organisations and Business Transformation

Civil Economy: Another Idea of the Market

by Luigino Bruni, Stefano Zamagni

Cooperative Enterprise – Facing the Challenge of Globalization

by Stefano Zamagni, Vera Zamagni

Handbook on the Economics of Reciprocity and Social Enterprise

Edited by Luigino Bruni, Stefano Zamagni

Lezioni di storia del pensiero economico: Un percorso dall'antichità al Novecento

di Stefano Zamagni, Luigino Bruni, Paolo Santori

Responsabili: Come civilizzare il mercato

di Stefano Zamagni

Prosperità inclusiva. Saggi di economia civile

di Stefano Zamagni

La logica del bene comune. Coscienza, memoria, responsabilità, dialogo.

di Riccardo Milano (a cura di), Stefano Zamagni (Prefazione)

Economia civile e sviluppo sostenibile. Progettare e misurare un nuovo modello di benessere

di Leonardo Becchetti, Luigino Bruni, Stefano Zamagni

Economia civile. Efficienza, equità, felicità pubblica

di Luigino Bruni, Stefano Zamagni

The Microeconomics of Wellbeing and Sustainability: Recasting the Economic Process

Leonardo Becchetti, Luigino Bruni, Stefano Zamagni

Incivilire la finanza. Una bussola per leggere una forma di «amore intelligente». Dalla «Caritas in veritate╗ di Benedetto XVI alla «Laudato si’» di Francesco

di Sergio Gatti, Stefano Zamagni

L'arte della gratuità. Come il capitalismo è nato dal cristianesimo e come lo ha tradito

di Luigino Bruni

The Invisible Hand?: How Market Economies have Emerged and Declined Since AD 500

by Bas van Bavel

Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action

by Elinor Ostrom

Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home

by Pope Francis

Holacracy: The Revolutionary Management System that Abolishes Hierarchy

by Brian J. Robertson

The Price of Inequality

by Joseph Stiglitz

Finance and the Good Society

by Robert J. Shiller

Capital in the Twenty-First Century

by Thomas Piketty

La Déraison de la raison économique: Du délire d'efficacité au principe de précaution

by Serge Latouche

Bowling Alone

by Robert Putnam

An Economist’s Lessons on Happiness: Farewell Dismal Science!

by Richard A. Easterlin

The Reluctant Economist: Perspectives on Economics, Economic History, and Demography

Richard A. Easterlin

Economia ed etica. La crisi e la sfida dell'economia civile

Stefano Zamagni

The Upswing: How We Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again

Robert Putnam andShaylyn Romney Garrett

Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm and Live with Themselves

by Albert Bandura

Awakening Compassion at Work

by Monica C. Worline and Jane E. Dutton

Energize Your Workplace

by Jane Dutton

How to be a positive leader

by Jane E. Dutton and Gretchen M. Spreitzer

Positive Organizational Scholarship. Foundations of a New Discipline

Edited by Kim S. Cameron, Jane E. Dutton, and Robert E. Quinn

The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship

Edited by Kim Cameron and Gretchen Spreitzer

Emotion in Organizations

by Stephen Fineman

Relational Being

by Kenneth J. Gergen

Homo Ludens

by Johan Huizinga

Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within

by Robert E. Quinn

Tales of The Filed. On Writing Ethnography

by John van Maanen

The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory

Edited by Theodore R. Schatzki, Karin Knorr Cetina, and Eike von Savigny

Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals

by Iris Murdoch

Dialogic Organization Development: The Theory and Practice of Transformational Change

by Gervase R. Bushe, Robert J. Marshak

Small Arcs of Larger Circles: Framing Through Other Patterns

by Nora Bateson

Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity

by Michael C. Jackson

Cynefin - Weaving Sense-Making into the Fabric of Our World

by Dave Snowden et al.

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth

by Amy C. Edmondson

Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them

by Gary Hamel, Michele Zanini

MANY VOICES ONE SONG: SHARED POWER WITH SOCIOCRACY

by Ted J Rau, Jerry Koch-Gonzalez

Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage in Human Consciousness [Pay what feels right]

by Frederic Laloux

Holacracy: The Revolutionary Management System that Abolishes Hierarchy

by Brian J. Robertson

Open Strategy: Mastering Disruption from Outside the C-Suite (Management on the Cutting Edge)

by Christian Stadler, Julia Hautz

Good Leadership

Handbook of Eudaimonic Well-Being

by Joar Vittersø

The Tasks of Philosophy, Volume 1: Selected Essays

by Alasdair MacIntyre

After Virtue

by Alasdair MacIntyre

The Routledge Handbook of Virtue Epistemology

by Heather Battaly

Handbook of Virtue Ethics in Business and Management

by Alejo José G. Sison et al.

The Oxford Handbook of Virtue

by Nancy Snow

The Nicomachean Ethics

by Aristotle

The Analects

by Confucius (Author), D. C. Lau (Translator)

Dao De Jing: The Book of the Way

by Laozi

Handbook of Virtue Ethics in Business and Management

by Alejo José G. Sison et al.

The Moral Capital of Leaders: Why Virtue Matters

by Alejo José G. Sison

Business Ethics: A Virtue Ethics and Common Good Approach

by Alejo Sison, Ignacio Ferrero, Gregorio Guitián

Corporate Governance and Ethics: An Aristotelian Perspective

by Alejo Jose G. Sison

Happiness and Virtue Ethics in Business: The Ultimate Value Proposition

by Alejo José G. Sison

The Challenges of Capitalism for Virtue Ethics and the Common Good: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

by Kleio Akrivou, Alejo José G. Sison

La virtud, sintesis de tiempo y eternidad: la etica en la escuela de Atenas

Spanish edition by Alejo G Sison

After Virtue

by Alasdair MacIntyre

Virtue Ethics and Human Enhancement

by Barbro Fröding

The Regenerative Life: Transform any organization, our society, and your destiny

by Carol Sanford

The Regenerative Business: Redesign Work, Cultivate Human Potential, Achieve Extraordinary Outcomes

by Carol Sanford

No More Feedback: Cultivate Consciousness at Work

by Carol Sanford

The Responsible Business: Reimagining Sustainability and Success

by Carol Sanford

The Responsible Entrepreneur: Four Game Changing Archetypes for Founders, Leaders, and Impact Investors

by Carol Sanford

Indirect Work: The Oldest and Best Researched Way to Create Real Change

by Carol Sanford

Happiness and Economics: How the Economy and Institutions Affect Human Well-Being

by Bruno S. Frey, Alois Stutzer

Honours versus Money: The Economics of Awards

by Bruno S. Frey, Jana Gallus

Not Just for the Money: An Economic Theory of Personal Motivation

by Bruno S. Frey

Dealing with Terrorism – Stick or Carrot?

by Bruno S. Frey

21st Century Economics: Economic Ideas You Should Read and Remember

by Bruno S. Frey (Editor), Christoph A. Schaltegger (Editor

Happiness: A Revolution in Economics

by Bruno S. Frey, Hans–werner Sinn

Ökonomische Theorie der Politik

by Werner W. Pommerehne, Bruno S. Frey

Economics as a Science of Human Behaviour

Bruno S. Frey

Leadership: A Critical Text

by Simon Western

Coaching and Mentoring: A Critical Text

by Simon Western

Global Leadership Perspectives: Insights and Analysis

by Simon Western,Éric-Jean Garcia

Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene (Experimental Futures)

by Donna J. Haraway

Ecrits: A Selection

by Jacques Lacan

The Evolving Self: Problem and Process in Human Development

by Robert Kegan

Power: The Essential Works of Michel Foucault 1954-1984

by Michel Foucault

Experiences in Groups: and Other Papers

by W. R. Bion

We need to change our view of change and see it for the opportunity it really is. Step Change: The Leader’s Journey helps leaders to become gifted and skilful at moving through the change process

by Alan Watkins (Author)

Wicked & Wise is the compelling launch title in a groundbreaking new series exploring hotly debated issues facing the planet and its people, and offering unique ways to tackle seemingly intractable social and cultural challenges.

by Alan Watkins (Author), Ken Wilber (Author)

Most leaders are operating nowhere near their optimal level of performance. In this book, Dr Alan Watkins helps leaders at every level understand how they can transform their output and unlock their true potential.

by Alan Watkins (Author)

Crowdocracy: The End of Politics discusses one of the world’s most debated and critical issues – who decides our futureand how should we be governed?

by Alan Watkins (Author), Iman Stratenus (Author)

Businesses spend billions on innovation with very little to show for their investment or effort. This book challenges some of the ‘ingrained truths’ of innovation and suggests a different approach.

by Alan Watkins (Author), Simon May (Author)

The HR (R)Evolution describes the "Seven Great Waves" of change and explains how each wave impacted business. It’s for leaders who recognise that people issues are the central challenge of our time.

by Alan Watkins (Author), Nick Dalton (Author)

Today's leaders need to change radically to meet the challenge of complex organizations. This requires a step-change in development in three fundamental dimensions: how you do things, who you are, and how you relate to other people.

by Alan Watkins (Author)

Spiral Dynamics (SD) is a model of the evolutionary development of individuals, organizations, and societies. It was initially developed by Don Edward Beck and Christopher Cowan based on the emergent cyclical theory of Clare W. Graves,

Don Edward Beck

Spiral Dynamics in Action explores the evolution of modern business, and provides a model for moving forward amidst ever-increasing complexity and change.

by Don Edward Beck (Author), Teddy Hebo Larsen (Author), Sergey Solonin (Author), Dr. Rica Viljoen (Author), Thomas Q. Johns (Author)

Business success depends on the ability to build trust. Trusted leaders inspire followers, grow companies, revenues, and futures. Sadly, deceit has infected business and become widespread.

by Alan Watkins (Author), Simon Jones (Author)

A provocative examination of how the great religious traditions can remain relevant in modern times by incorporating scientific truths learned about human nature over the last century.

by Ken Wilber (Author)

An edifying view of Buddhism from one of today's leading philosophers: a look at its history and foundational teachings, how it fits into modern society, and how it (and other world religions) will evolve.

by Ken Wilber (Author)

A provocative and balanced examination of our current social and political situation -- by a cutting-edge philosopher of our times.

by Ken Wilber (Author)

Wilber traces human development from infancy into adulthood and beyond, into those states described by mystics and spiritual adepts.

by Ken Wilber (Author)

A leader in transpersonal psychology presents the first truly integrative model of spiritual consciousness and Western developmental psychology

by Ken Wilber (Author)

A concise, comprehensive overview of the "M Theory" and its application in today's world, by a renowned American philosopher

by Ken Wilber (Author)

Ken Wilber explores the ways science, which seeks truth, and religion, which seeks meaning, might be reconciled to further human happiness.

by Ken Wilber (Author)

This masterfully crafted book interweaves conversations between Campbell and some of the people he inspired

by Joseph Campbell (Author)

Arguing that mature masculinity is not abusive or domineering, Moore and Gillette provide a Jungian introduction to the psychological foundations of a mature, authentic, and revitalized masculinity.

by Moore (Author), Robert (Author), Gillette (Author), Douglas (Author)

In most organizations nearly everyone is doing a second job no one is paying them for--namely, covering their weaknesses, trying to look their best, and managing other people's impressions of them.

by Robert Kegan (Author), Lisa Laskow Lahey (Author), Matthew L Miller (Author), Andy Fleming (Author), Deborah Helsing (Author)

Using ancient self-care techniques rediscovered by Herbert Benson, M.D., a pioneer in mind/body medicine for health and wellness, you can relieve your stress, anxiety, and depression

by MD Herbert Benson (Author), Miriam Z Klipper (Author)

ecisions taken by a large group, even if the individuals within the group aren't smart, are always better than decisions made by small numbers of 'experts'.

by James Surowiecki (Author)

This book asks why it is that the things we value most – from the environment to frontline workers to keeping children well fed and educated – are so often neglected by the market.

by Mark Carney (Author)

Margaret Heffernan shows in this eye-opening look at competition, that it regularly produces just what we don't want: rising levels of fraud, cheating, stress, inequality and political stalemate.

by Margaret Heffernan (Author)

This practical guide offers an approach to organizational change based on the possibility of a more desirable future, experience with the whole system, and activities that signal ""something different is happening this time."

by David L. Cooperrider (Author), Diana Whitney (Author)

Upswing is Robert Putnam's brilliant analysis of economic, social, cultural and political trends, showing how America went from an individualistic ‘I’ society to a more communitarian ‘We’ society and back again

by Robert D Putnam (Author), Shaylyn Romney Garrett (Author)

If machine brains one day come to surpass human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become very powerful.

by Nick Bostrom (Author)

Understanding Organizational Culture

by Mats Alvesson

Constructing Research Questions

by Mats Alvesson and Jorgen Sandberg

The Stupidity Paradox

by Mats Alvesson

Reflexive Leadership

by Mats Alvesson, Martin Blom, and Stefan

Reflexive Methodology

by Mats Avlesson and Kaj Skoldberg

The Triumph of Emptiness

by Mats Alvesson

The Return to Meaning

By Mats Alvesson, Yiannis Gabriel, and Roland Paulsen

Critical Theory Today

by Lois Tyson

Explaining Postmodernism

by Stephen Hicks

The Frankfurt School Critique of Capitalist Culture: A Critical Theory for Post-Democratic Society and Its Re-Education

By Ronald Jeremiah Schindler

Making Sense of Management

by Mats Alvesson and Hugh Wilmott

Leadership: Contemporary Critical Perspectives

Edited by Brigid Carroll, Jackie Ford, and Scott Taylor

Re-imagining the Research Process: Conventional and Alternative Metaphors

by Mats Alvesson (Author), Jorgen Sandberg (Author)

Critical Management Studies

by Mats Alvesson (Editor), Hugh Willmott (Editor)

Changing Organizational Culture: Cultural change work in progress

by Mats Alvesson (Author), Stefan Sveningsson (Author)

Metaphors We Lead By: Understanding Leadership in the Real World

by Mats Alvesson (Author)

Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers

by Robert Jackall (Author)

World-Centred Education: A View for the Present

by Gert Biesta

Educational Research: An Unorthodox Introduction

by Professor Gert Biesta

Beautiful Risk of Education: (Interventions Education, Philosophy, and Culture)

by Gert J. J. Biesta

The Rediscovery of Teaching

by Gert Biesta

Teacher Agency: An Ecological Approach

by Mark Priestley (Author), Gert Biesta (Author), Sarah Robinson (Author)

Jacques Ranciere: Education, Truth, Emancipation

by Charles Bingham and Gert Biesta

Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy (Interventions: Education, Philosophy, and Culture)

by Gert J.J. Biesta

Beyond Learning: Democratic Education for a Human Future (Interventions: Education, Philosophy, and Culture)

by Gert J. J. Biesta (Author)

Derrida, Deconstruction, and the Politics of Pedagogy (323) (Counterpoints: Studies in Criticality)

by Michael A. Peters and Gert J J Biesta

Improving Learning through the Lifecourse: Learning Lives

by Michael A. Peters and Gert J J Biesta

Obstinate Education: Reconnecting School and Society: 72 (Educational Futures)

by Gert Biesta

Learning Democracy in School and Society: Education, Lifelong Learning, and the Politics of Citizenship

by Gert J. J. Biesta

The Restructuring of Social and Political Theory

by Richard J. Bernstein (Author)

The Pragmatic Turn

by Richard J. Bernstein (Author)

Democracy And Education

by John Dewey

Philosophy of Education

by George Herbert Mead

Mind, Self, and Society: The Definitive Edition

by George Herbert Mead

The Philosophy of the Present the Paul Carus Lectures Third Series

by George Herbert Mead

Humanism of the Other

by Emmanuel Levinas (Author), Richard A. Cohen (Introduction), Nidra Poller (Translator)

The Ignorant Schoolmaster: Five Lessons in Intellectual Emancipation

by Jacques Rancière

Heidegger: The Question of Being and History (The Seminars of Jacques Derrida)

by Jacques Derrida (Author), Geoffrey Bennington (Translator)

The Theory of Communicative Action: Reason and the Rationalization of Society

by Jürgen Habermas (Author)

Existential Flourishing: A Phenomenology of the Virtues

by Irene McMullin

Power: The Essential Works of Michel Foucault

by Michel Foucault

The Portable Hannah Arendt (Penquin Classics)

by Hannah Arendt

Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, And Identity (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives)

by Etienne Wenger
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Additional resources

Interview with Henry and Ricardo

Chances are that someone has gifted you one of those multi-coloured, slogan-rich “airport” management books that often come with “washing lists” of highly critical characteristics, or secret “power traits”, of successful leaders...
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Interview with JB, Simon, Heidi

I will argue that Leadership is not about the leader, nor his ladder, nor the new direction, nor the mindset, and not even about “bringing your people with you” to embrace the new (your!) course. It’s not even about the narrative itself: it’s about what is invisible in the picture. Good leadership is about transforming an organisational capacity “to become” its own best future.In other words, and to stay with the image, it is mostly about the “pointing of the finger”...
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