The power of female business thinkers … 60 great strategy and leadership books written by women
July 11, 2018
Which business book is having most impact on companies right now? In my anecdotal experience it is Carol Dweck’s book Mindset about how to reframe your thinking towards a relentless pursuit of betterness.
Spending time with the Microsoft teams at their head offices in Redmond, USA, I am constantly amazed at how many technology people have been liberated by CEO Satya Nadella’s crusade to introduce a growth mindset, as Dweck coined it. Not to seek mere iteration and optimisation, but to explore and experiment, to constantly find new ways to grow your self and your business.
There are so many great female thinkers around – personally I’m inspired by the likes of Rachel Botsman on rediscovering trust, Nancy Duarte on the power of design, Whitney Johnson on reinventing yourself, Charlene Li on the power of communities, and Rita McGrath on innovative strategy.
When I look at the Thinkers50 ranking of the top business thinkers, women are sprinkled across the rankings, but still not significantly enough. As a second anecdotal experience, when I walk into organisations it does seem that women in leadership roles are much more open to new ideas, new ways of working, than men.
So here you are 60 books about strategy and leadership, written by women and listed in no particular order:
- Mindset, by Carol Dweck
- Blue Ocean Strategy, by Renée Mauborgne
- 101 Reasons to Get Out of Bed, by Natasha Milne
- In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules, by Stacy Perman
- Lean In and Option B, by Sheryl Sandberg
- The Change Masters and Confidence (and many others), by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
- Groundswell and Open Leadership, by Charlene Li
- Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, by Margaret Wheatley
- Rising Strong, by Brene Brown
- Nimble, Focused, Feisty: Organizational Cultures That Win in the New Era and How to Create Them, by Sara Roberts
- Emotional Intelligence 2.0, by Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves, Tom Parks
- Key to Yourself, by Dr. Venice Bloodworth
- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain
- Think Like a Leader, by Herminia Ibarra
- Slide-ology and Resonate, by Nancy Duarte
- Presence, by Amy Cuddy
- The Shift, Hot Spots, and The 100 Year Life, by Lynda Gratton
- The Signals are Talking, by Amy Webb
- Weapons of Math Destruction, by Cathy O’Neil
- The Confidence Game, by Maria Konnikova
- The Moonshot Effect, by Kate Purmal and Lisa Goldman
- Branding Pays, by Karen Kang
- The End of Competitive Advantage, by Rita Gunther McGrath.
- Invent It, Sell It, Bank It!: Make Your Million-Dollar Idea into a Reality, by Lori Greiner
- Multipliers, by Liz Wiseman
- Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Ducksworth
- Radical Candor, by Kim Scott
- I’d Rather Be In Charge, by Charlotte Beers
- Think Like A Negotiator, by Eldonna Lewis Fernandez
- ROAR: How to Build a Resilient Organization, by Sandy Asch
- Bridge Builders, by Maria Keckler
- #Values, by Dr. Betty Uribe
- Leading by My Ponytail, by Karen M. Walker and Julie Ducharme
- Purpose Driven Leadership: Building and Fostering Effective Teams, by Brigette Hyacinth
- Business as Unusual, by Anita Roddick
- Thanks for the Feedback, by Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone
- The New Social Learning, by Marcia Conner
- Show Your Work, by Jane Bozarth
- Darling, You Can’t Do Both, by Janet Kestin and Nancy Vonk
- How to Wow, by Francis Cole Jones
- All the Leader You Can Be, by Suzanne Bates
- Profit from the Positive, by Senia Maymin & Margaret H. Greenberg
- Awakening Compassion at Work, by Jane Dutton and Monica Worline
- Leading so People Will Follow, by Erika Andersen
- Winning Well, by Karin Hurt & David Dye
- It’s Not Rocket Science: 7 Game Changing Traits For Uncommon Success, by Mary Spio
- Unfinished Business, by Anne-Marie Slaughter
- Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth
- The Transformational Consumer, by Tara-Nicholle Nelson
- Thick Face Black Heart, by Chin-Ning Chu
- A to Z: Your Navigator to Success, by Joanna Thompson
- Rising to the Challenge, My Leadership Journey by Carly Fiorina
- Shift Into Thrive, by Lynn Schmidt, PhD & Kevin Nourse, PhD
- Rookie Smarts, by Liz Wiseman
- The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs
- Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity, by Peggy Holman
- Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert’s Roadmap to Getting Out There, by Morra Aarons-Mele
- Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
- The New IT: How Technology Leaders are Enabling Business Strategy in the Digital Age, by Jill Dyche
- Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, by Jane McGonigal