For leaders at all levels, 2020 has been a tough year. In times of uncertainty, the organizations that thrive are led by top performers who are constantly learning.
To lead others, you need to be the best version of yourself. These eight books released in 2020 will help you improve yourself, build your leadership skills and inspire others to excel through adversity in 2021:
1. Friday Forward: Inspiration & Motivation to End Your Week Stronger Than It Started
Leadership depends on your ability to connect with and inspire others. This book from entrepreneur and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Robert Glazer offers actionable advice on how to do just that.
Friday Forward takes the 52 most impactful stories from Glazer’s inspirational newsletter of the same name, which reaches more than 100,000 readers in more than 60 countries. From stories of struggling entrepreneurs who turned things around to new hires rising to the occasion, Glazer’s latest book can give you the push you need to make an impact in your own network.
2. Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You
Frances Frei is one of the world’s foremost authorities on leadership. In Unleashed, she teams up with Anne Morriss — a woman leader in the genomics industry — to teach leaders how to dig deep and empower others.
Leadership takes grit, toughness and the ability to motivate others. Frei and Morriss offer advice from top-performing organizations that can help you raise your game as a leader and pull others up along the way.
3. Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life
Leaders must train their brains the same way elite athletes train their bodies. World-class brain coach Jim Kwik offers strategies in Limitless that you can use to expand your mind, improve your performance and tackle any obstacle.
From exercises that will help you change your mindset for the better to techniques that will help you read faster, make quicker decisions and easily master new skills, Kwik’s actionable advice makes this book a must-read.
4. Personality Isn’t Permanent: Break Free from Self-Limiting Beliefs and Rewrite Your Story
Personality is fixed, right? Not according to organizational psychologist and prolific writer Benjamin Hardy, who insists our current personality hardly matters. Instead, he pushes readers to consider who they want their future self to be.
But Hardy’s book isn’t theoretical. In it, he explains how to change your priorities, habits and environments to become the version of yourself. If you’re looking to break free of old modes of thinking in 2021—as every leader should be—you can learn a lot from Hardy’s thoroughly researched, insightful guide.
To lead others and pursue audacious change, we need to be self-aware and draw from our own lives. In her memoir, artificial intelligence entrepreneur Rana el Kaliouby shares her story of transformation, showing how her experiences have inspired her to lead a technology revolution.
Through el Kaliouby’s story, leaders can learn how to draw from their own experiences, make intentional changes in their lives and infuse more humanity into their work.
6. Honest to Greatness: How Today’s Greatest Leaders Use Brutal Honesty to Achieve Massive Success
There’s a revolution happening in what customers expect from the brands they buy from, and the turmoil of 2020 has pressed this trend’s gas pedal. Honest to Greatness by bestselling author Peter Kozodoy shares how brands are walking away from deceitful or unethical practices and instead appealing to buyers with radical honesty and authenticity. The customers of tomorrow will want to support companies that are open and honest about how they operate. Kozodoy offers a guide for how any leader can embrace these qualities and win in the long term.
7. Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business
As a follow-up to Conscious Capitalism, legendary Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and his coauthors present a framework for how leaders drive change in society through their business leadership. This highly anticipated release features a renowned executive sharing the principles, vision and mindset he’s used to reach the top of the business world—and do plenty of good in the process.
Keith Ferrazzi, famous entrepreneur, coach and author of the game-changing book Never Eat Alone, presents a daring, research-backed model of collaborative work. Ferrazzi details a new principle, co-elevation, that enables employees at all levels of an organization to connect with colleagues, collaborate freely and inspire their shared growth. Leaders can learn how to use co-elevation in their own organizations to help their teams build trust, manage stress, and improve performance across the entire company.
This year has been a daunting one for the business world, but it’s also caused brilliant leaders to step up and share their expertise. Don’t miss out on the chance to learn from these game-changing books and strengthen your leadership skills in 2021.
