Books to improve your leadership skills

We asked an esteemed few of our London Business School professors to share a leadership book that they have recently read. Here are their personal reviews on the titles they’ve chosen, each offering invaluable guidance on how you can be a better leader.

Creativity, Inc. Overcoming the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration by Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace

Recommended by Helen Edwards, Adjunct Associate Professor of Marketing

It doesn’t matter what business you are in, creative problem-solving and imaginative thinking are vital to survival and growth. This first-hand account from the former Pixar president is a fantastic source of knowledge and ideas for how to build and lead a business that competes on creativity. 

From workspace design to the challenging honesty of the ‘Braintrust’ meeting, it’s a book I keep coming back to when thinking about how to lead breakthrough growth.

Calling Bullshit: The Art of Scepticism in a Data-Driven World by Carl T. Bergstrom & Jevin D. West

Recommended by Selin Kesebir, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour

Critical thinking is an essential leadership skill that is perhaps not getting the attention it deserves. Leaders need to tell apart sense from nonsense if they want to be effective problem-solvers and decision-makers. Their challenge is exacerbated by the current phenomena of big data, fake news and artificial intelligence. 

For those who want to think more clearly and become more sophisticated consumers of information, this book is a great choice. It offers a highly readable discussion on how we can avoid the many traps that leave us with distorted, inaccurate, and incomplete models of reality. 

Being You: A New Science of Consciousness by Anil Seth

Recommended by Dan Cable, Professor of Organisational Behaviour 

What does it feel like to be you, and why does it matter? Anil Seth’s book is fascinating and accessible, exploring the nature and origin of conscious experience. Anil, a neuroscientist and philosopher, argues that reality and the self are constructions of the brain, based on its predictions and perceptions. He challenges common assumptions about what it means to be you, and offers a new perspective on the mystery of consciousness. 

I love the book’s examples, insights, and experiments that make us rethink our sense of self and reality, which can help leaders improve their self-awareness, empathy, and decision-making. By understanding how the brain constructs reality and the self, leaders can learn to question their assumptions, challenge their biases, and recognize their blind spots. 

Leaders can develop a more nuanced and flexible sense of identity, and appreciate the diversity and complexity of other people’s perspectives. Being You inspires us to be more curious, humble, and open-minded.

The Power of Flexing: How to Use Small Daily Experiments to Create Big Life-Changing Growth by Susan J. Ashford

Recommended by Kathleen O’Connor, Clinical Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Director of Executive Education

To become a different kind of leader, you need to lead differently. I offer that simple observation to students on the first day of my EMBA leadership course. Imagine my joy when Susan Ashford’s book, The Power of Flexing: How to Use Small Daily Experiments to Create Big Life-Changing Growth landed on my desk. 

With an emphasis on self-reflection, experimentation, and real-time feedback, Susan’s book is a toolkit for helping people lead differently by making small adjustments to their behaviour. Firmly rooted in gold-standard empirical research, her stories of real people bring the lessons to life and inspire readers to bravely make small changes that will help them become different (and better) leaders.