Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
Ever heard of Pixar Animation Studios? Yeah, so has just about everyone else. Creativity, Inc. is a one-of-a-kind book co-authored by Ed Catmull, the head of Pixar. This book is half history of Pixar and half leadership development. The history part is a fascinating story of hard work, creativity, and success (it could probably fit in the success and creativity sections as well). The leadership section can get quite dry, but there are leadership principles heavily salted throughout that make reading the story of Pixar a leadership learning experience. If you've ever wanted to learn about how to build a creative company or lead a creative team, look no further. I can't say I agree with all the principles in this book, but I loved most of them and was challenged by all of them. This is worth a read. And a second read. And even more reads for a refresher.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell
This is a classic in leadership books. There are few people as well-respected on the topic of leadership as John Maxwell. This book is a must-read for all leaders, whether you are just starting out or you've been leading for a long time. Like most books that I read, I don't agree with everything the author says (I even disagree with the theses of one or two of his irrefutable laws), but if you ever read a book where I agree with everything, you're not thinking for yourself. I have to say, this book gets better as it goes on. The second half is packed full of awesome information and challenging subject matter. I cannot recommend it enough.
Leadership is an Art by Max De Pree
Leadership is an Art is considered a classic of leadership books and is a seminal writing in many leadership courses. What I loved about this book was that it was written by the owner and leader of a successful 20th century manufacturing company. This is not a book about fancy new techniques that cater to a new generation or a specific industry; the lessons in this book were drawn from decades of hard work in the trenches of leadership, leading a company of thousands of employees, building a company that built furniture. This is about as blue-collar as you can get in leadership books, and I found it refreshing.
