Looking for some leadership reading to kickstart the New Year with? Then take a leaf out of CEOs’ books: Fortune asked a handful of chief executives from the U.S. to Europe, to recommend their best reads of 2023.
From non-fiction novels that have just hit the shelves to classic business books that are still inspiring bosses decades after their release, dive into the 7 books that CEOs couldn’t put down this year and are sure to be inspiring their management style in 2024.
Elon Musk – by Walter Isaacson
Recommended by: David Abrahamovitch, CEO of the British coffee chain Grind
Big takeaway:
“Musk is obviously a very complex individual and not everything he does is to be recommended, but there’s no doubt that he is a once-in-a-generation individual who is pushing a number of frontiers in a way which is hard to imagine. What I’ve learned is that, most of all, you need to focus at all times on the mission and make all decisions, and structure your teams and goals around that objective.”
The Airbnb Story – by Leigh Gallagher
Recommended by: Zeb Evans, CEO and founder of the productivity platform ClickUp
Big takeaway:
“Brian Chesky told all of his executives, ‘Leaders are in the details.’ There’s a myth in business that leaders who get into the details are micro-managers. But that’s not true. Micro-management is telling people what to do, but being in the details is having enough context to make great decisions and give great feedback, having smaller and more nimble management teams, and helping the team focus on fewer but higher impact projects.”
The Case for Good Jobs – by Zeynep Ton
Recommended by: Nigel Vaz, the CEO of the global transformation agency Publicis Sapient, whose clients include Goldman Sachs, Disney, and McDonald’s.
Big takeaway:
“The idea that there is a set way in which things work, that cannot be reimagined, has always been anathema to me. In The Case For Good Jobs, Zeynep Ton dismantles the orthodoxy that low-wage, low-engagement jobs are a necessary evil. In its place, she builds a compelling argument and roadmap for how companies can address inefficiencies and processes to improve the experience of workers, and customers and ultimately create competitive advantage. As someone in the business of transforming our clients’ companies to make a difference to people’s lives, Ton’s premise of mutual benefit from better business really resonates.”
Purple Cow – by Seth Godin
Recommended by: Emily M Austen, founder and CEO of the PR Agency Emerge, whose clients include 1Rebel, RayBan and Missoma.
Big takeaway:
“My favorite learning is the story of the hair care brand Head and Shoulders. When the sales and marketing team were challenged with doubling sales, they scratched their heads. How could they double their customer base in the short time they had? Instead of trying to double customers to double sales, they thought if they could double usage with the current customer base, this would be an easy behavioral direction to impact sales. As such, they changed the packaging to read ‘rinse and repeat.’ Customers used the product twice as fast, thus doubling sales.”
Gravitas – by Lisa Sun
Recommended by: Delores Druilhet Morton CEO of Step Up, the Reese Witherspoon-backed mentorship not-for-profit
Big takeaway:
“It wasn’t a typical ‘girl boss’ kind of book. It was practical and useful. While I got to know fashion entrepreneur and former McKinsey & Company consultant Lisa Sun while reading it, I also was able to get to know myself better. I zeroed in on what makes me uniquely the leader that I am.
The Leader Who Had No Title – by Robin Sharma
Recommended by: Tony Jamous is the CEO and co-founder of the employment platform and one of 20 B Corp unicorns in the world, Oyster
Big takeaway:
“As the world continues to go through turbulent times, leadership is more challenging than ever. This short, refreshing story is a great reminder that all organizations need to elevate their leadership at all levels. The most important learnings are that everyone can lead, you don’t need permission or a title to do so; tough times build great leaders; the deeper your relationship, the stronger your leadership; and to be a great leader, you must first become a great person. I recommend this book to anyone looking to develop their leadership competencies.”
Think Twice – by Michael Mauboussin
Recommended by: Glenn Fogel, president and CEO of Booking Holdings, the parent company of Booking.com, Kayak, OpenTable, and more.
Big takeaway:
“This inspiring book encourages leaders to challenge their reliance on human intuition when making decisions, suggesting that intuition alone can lead to bias and complacency. Mauboussin suggests tools such as keeping a decision journal and hosting ‘pre-mortem’ discussions for more proactive decision-making. As a leader, it’s an important refresher and reminder on the importance of weighing several different potentials ahead of time and not just relying on assumptions as issues rapidly evolve and advance.”
