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Finding common ground.

A former K-5 public school principal turned author, presenter, and leadership coach, Peter DeWitt provides insights and advice for education leaders. Former superintendent Michael Nelson is a frequent contributor. Read more from this blog .

12 Books You Need on Your Leadership Bookshelf

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Every so often I love when I get into a space of learning where I can sit down, read a book, and take multiple notes because the book inspires me to read, reflect, and write. Sometimes it’s due to writing a new book or blog, so it’s a part of the research that I’m doing. Other times it may be that I want to give a presentation a makeover, and I’m looking for fresh perspectives to cite during a workshop or keynote.

Recently, I have become acquainted with some books that have not been out for long, and reacquainted with a few that I have read several times before. To be honest, I started this list with six books and then it quickly doubled. The books in the list are meant for anyone in a leadership position who is looking to put a focus on learning, build on collective ideas within their school, or are new to leadership and they’re worried or insecure about their decisions.

Why These Books? Books are meant to teach us, inspire us, and sometimes bring us together as a group because they challenge our thinking and we have to find commonalities together. The authors in the list do just that, and I believe if readers want to try something new in their position, they could find fresh ideas in one of these books, even though some of them are several years old.

This is a list of books that I believe would be helpful for any school leader or someone in a leadership position. If you have a book that you believe would be equally as helpful, please feel free to add it to the comment section. I believe we should all be able to share our opinions about books. Especially those books that will help us in our position.

The twelve I’ve been diving into lately are:

Leading Collaborative Learning (Corwin Press) by Lyn Sharratt and Beate Planche . Collaboration is a word we hear so much about in leadership circles, but so often it’s much more complicated than just bringing people together. Systems experts Sharratt and Planche offer a strategic path for leaders and teachers to follow which will help them improve student learning.

Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems (Corwin Press) by Michael Fullan and Joanne Quinn. Fullan and Quinn have laid a foundational leadership book. So often, leaders get sidetracked by opportunites that may not provide them with the best impact. Fullan and Quinn provide leaders with a road map that will help leaders decide what might be the best course of action for their schools. I have long admired Fullan, and he has been one of my favorite leadership experts since before I was a leader. Although he is the author or co-author of many, many books, he delivers powerful leadership resources for leaders over and over again. Coherence is a book not to be missed.

From Teacher to Leader: Finding Your Way As a First Time Leader Without Losing Your Mind (Dave Burgess Consulting) by Starr Sackstein . I have been a big fan of Starr’s for a while because she has a very raw and unapologetic look at teaching, leading, and learning, and I find that to be refreshing. She has no issue writing about her mistakes and successes, and we can all learn from those. I especially like this book because it’s been many years since I started my leadership position, and Sackstein helped me go back to those beginning days to remember what it was like to be a new leader.

Visible Learning and the Science Of How We Learn (Routledge) by John Hattie and Gregory Yates . I have been working with Hattie for the last five years and I’ve read this book twice already, but I wanted to give it another read due to their focus on surface-, deep-, and transfer-level learning. Regardless of how someone feels about Hattie’s research, this book offers us so much when it comes to how students learn. Each chapter offers research, practice, and challenges our thinking when it comes to how students learn. This is the first book in a long time that I actually answered the questions at the end of each chapter and was inspired to look at the authors’ citations and read some of those as well. Truth be told, it is my favorite book by Hattie.

Conceptual Understanding: Harnessing Natural Curiosity for Learning That Transfers (Corwin Press) by Julie Stern with Natalie Lauriault and Kristin Ferraro . Like Visible Learning and the Science Of How We Learn, this is a book that has inspired me to take copious notes. I sat in the barstool at the island in my kitchen and wrote note after note. The authors have helped refresh my memory around surface, deep, and transfer learning, and inspired new thinking on my part when it comes to both student and adult learners. If you care about student learning, or want to be inspired to think of new ways to offer professional learning to adults, this is the book for you. I know I will be referencing it for many, many years.

What we know about grading: What works, what doesn’t, and what’s next? (ASCD) Edited by Tom Guskey and Susan Brookhart . Guskey has written multiple guest blogs for Finding Common Ground, and to be perfectly honest, he is one of my favorite presenters/researchers to learn from, and I consider myself fortunate to call Tom a friend. He has helped me behind the scenes more times than I can count because of his extensive knowledge and his patience with all of the questions I send to him, and you can find that knowledge in this book around the topic of grading. Guskey and Brookhart have edited a book filled with practical ideas that will help any school leader focus on this never-ending important topic of grading. If leaders are going to call themselves “instructional leaders,” they shouldn’t do it without reading this book.

Hacking Leadership (Times 10 Publications) by Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis . This is part of a larger series of Hacking books, and it’s written by two people I respect very much. Not only are Sinanis and Sanfelippo practioners but they are two of the most energized guys in educational leadership that I have met. This book is filled with practical suggestions that are proven to give school districts the positive shot in the arm that they need.

Collaborative Professionalism: When Teaching Together Means Learning For All (Corwin Press) by Andy Hargreaves and Michael T. O’ Connor . For full disclosure, I am the series editor for this particular book. What I loved is not only working with Hargreaves and O’Connor on the topic of collaborative professionalism, but what I learned through the editing and final stages of it as well. This book helps guide leaders into the collaborative process by highlighting some great leaders and school teams from around the globe, some of whom I was able to spend time with at a conference in Norway when I facilitated the panel. Hargreaves has long been one of my leadership gurus, but more important than that, he and O’Connor have a no-nonsense way to get to the heart of the issue of collaboration. If leaders really want to build a democratic school that fosters the voices of the community, this is the book for them.

Collective Efficacy: How Educators’ Beliefs Impact Student Learning (Corwin Press) by Jenni Donohoo . Donohoo is a colleague and a friend, but more importantly, she is someone who challenges my thinking more than anyone I know. She has deep knowledge around research and learning, and only has to look at me and say, “But I am wondering ...” and I know I need to be prepared to be challenged. Additionally, Jenni has extensive knowledge around building collective efficacy, and in this book, she offers protocols to help leaders do it effectively. This will help leaders focus on growth with a team, and get to the heart of how to do it through the collective efficacy process.

The Superintendent’s Rule Book: A Guide to District Level Leadership (Routledge) by Patrick Sweeney . Books just for Superintendents seem to be few and far between, and this is a new book by a new author. I reviewed the book before it came out, and Sweeney has a good way to approach difficult subjects by using humor and his extensive knowledge as a superintendent. For full disclosure, Sweeney was my high school X-country coach and one of my first mentors, but that’s not why the book made the list. The book made the list because Sweeney took those impactful mentorship qualities and put them in a book.

Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times (Corwin Press) by Eric Sheninger. Sheninger is my technology guru, and has been for a long time. So often schools buy devices but do not implement them well, and this book focuses on how to do a better job of that. I’m excited because Eric has written a 2nd edition for this book which will come out in the next few months.

Student Centered Leadership (Wiley) by Viviane Robinson . Leaders looking for a practical guide to helping have an impact on student learning will love this book. Robinson is out of the University of Auckland and I been a fan for years. This book has a great mix of practical suggestions based in research.

In the End There are many times I pick up books and put them back down rather quickly. Perhaps it’s due to the topic or the timing of when I pick them up, but I do not always feel engaged when I’m reading. I need something that will pull at me from a moral standpoint or inspire me to think at a deeper level. For me, the best sign that I am reading a book is when I wake up in the morning thinking about it. These twelve books have done that for me lately.

If you are thinking about what book you should read next, consider picking up one of the books from my list. If you have been deeply inspired by a book lately, consider adding the book in the comment section. And not that popular books don’t need to be highlighted, but consider adding a book you read that is not making all of the rounds on social media. Thanks for reading about my list.

Peter DeWitt, Ed.D., is the author of several books including Coach It Further: Using the Art of Coaching to Improve School Leadership (Corwin Press. 2018). Connect with him on Twitter .

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The opinions expressed in Peter DeWitt’s Finding Common Ground are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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11 Books To Refresh Your Leadership Library

We asked educators in our community to share the books that most profoundly influenced their leadership approach in recent years. Here are their top picks.

From Warren Buffet to Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey, many of the most successful leaders are voracious readers . And yet, among school leaders, reading can get short shrift. “Of all the professional development lessons I’ve learned in the principalship, reading strikes me as one we don’t talk enough about,” writes Kathryn Fishman-Weaver , an author and the executive director of Mizzou Academy. “Are the texts we choose ones that shed light on a wide range of lived experiences, including the cultures and experiences included in our student body?”

We asked our community to weigh in and share which leadership books—recently published titles as well as classics—profoundly influenced their leadership approach in recent years. A few clear crowd favorites emerged, among them Harry and Rosemary Wong’s bestseller, The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher . Several authors—Anthony Muhammad, Brené Brown, Simon Sinek, and Shane Safir—had multiple titles nominated, though we selected just one from each in order to keep the list lean. Finally, several unexpected suggestions showed up in the threads, including The Tao of Pooh , The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , and Treasure Island . 

The following books offer a cornucopia of perspectives and cover topics ranging from grading practice to staff dynamics, school culture and climate, to classroom instruction. Here are eleven books that school administrators say will challenge and strengthen your leadership practice.  

The First Days of School: How to Be An Effective Teacher Harry and Rosemary Wong A teacher-focused how-to manual originally published in the nineties (now in its fifth edition) may seem like an unusual pick for the top of a leadership books list—but it garnered the most votes by far on our social channels. While it’s considered a “must read” for teachers, it’s also a valuable resource for administrators, educators told us. Chapters examine the evidence-based practices of high-functioning classrooms and offer teacher-tested advice for structuring and organizing classrooms, and holding high expectations for all kids. Though some critics argue that the authors’ approach to classroom management may “stifle spontaneity in classrooms and lead teachers to become overly controlling,” many consider The First Days of School an authoritative resource for all educators—especially leaders who regularly observe and evaluate teachers in action. 

Dare to Lead Brené Brown Brown believes leaders face pervasive cultural challenges to organizational success, including a desire to avoid hard conversations, a lack of honest but productive feedback, a fear of taking smart risks or sharing bold ideas, and perfectionism. Her exploration of vulnerability, shame, relationships, and communication echoes some of her other work, and the book’s inspirational and self-improvement focused tone may not be for everyone. Yet leaders looking to create a culture of empowerment may benefit from what Brown offers. Courage and trust are important components of any workplace, and this book offers a lens through which to look at both. 

The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity George Couros When a student walks into a classroom, full of questions and curiosity, what happens next? Couros—whose career credentials include classroom teacher, technology facilitator, and school and district administrator—explores what it looks like to create a learning environment where students are encouraged to think differently, innovate, and do more than just perform well when tested. With accessible insights on leadership and learning interspersed with discussion questions, we heard from many educators and school leaders who tackled this text together in their PLCs or as part of their personal professional development. One caveat from a reviewer: “If you are looking for a book that provides all of the answers, this is not the one.” But it may be the book that inspires you to start looking in the right direction. 

Connecting Through Conversation: A Playbook for Talking with Students Erika Bare and Tiffany Burns After cataloging conversations that moved the needle with students, authors Bare and Burns—currently serving as an assistant superintendent and principal, respectively—felt they had hard-won insight to contribute on the topic of how to talk to kids in school. The pair channeled their collective 40 years of education experience to develop a student-centered, trauma informed, and culturally responsive framework for communicating with and building durable relationships with students. This book includes a conversation planning guide, sentence stems, and an array of other resources. Connecting Through Conversation, the authors explained in a Q&A , offers insights on how to “use body language, tone, and volume to communicate safety and invite connection,” navigating challenging behaviors, while also ensuring educators prioritize their own physical, emotional, and mental health.

Leaders Eat Last Simon Sinek In the U.S. Marines during mealtime, Sinek explains, it’s common for the highest ranking officers to fix their plates last. This not only ensures everyone on the team is fed, but sends an important message: Leaders look after their people first. But Sinek’s people-first approach is only one component of a larger narrative that includes segments on creating a safe environment within your organization—he refers to this as the “Circle of Safety”—and the surprising impacts of what he calls “selfless chemicals” like serotonin and oxytocin on leadership style. 

Pedagogy of the Oppressed Paulo Freire A lot has changed since 1968 when this book was first published in Portuguese, but it’s still widely considered a seminal text on education. Freire’s own experiences with poverty in Brazil, as well as his work with marginalized communities—many of which could not read—helped forge his views on knowledge, access, education reform, and class. Heavily academic and at times jargon-filled, this can be a dense philosophical read though its central message is simple: Education at its core, Freire writes, is a symbiotic relationship in which neither the role of the student or the teacher is fixed. Teachers themselves have many things to learn alongside their students; students have lots of things that they can teach. Freire’s pioneering analysis of the “banking” system of education urges educators to examine their pedagogy and practices. 

Street Data Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan When checking on the health of a school, administrators often turn to what the authors refer to as satellite data like attendance, graduation rates, and test scores. While this information is important, it doesn’t provide a nuanced enough picture, they argue. For a more equitable and comprehensive approach, the authors examine what they call map data , a sort of “GPS of learning trends and gaps in a school community,” Safir writes in EdWeek . They also look at street data , which provides “real-time, leading indicators on the messy work of school and instructional improvement.” For some schools already deep into their equity journey, this book may not feel particularly new, some reviewers say. What it may introduce, however, are resources and tools to help leaders and school communities understand why data should be utilized differently and how to begin that process. 

Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms Joe Feldman Ensuring accuracy, preventing bias and subjectivity, and presenting a dynamic picture of academic performance can all be factors that make grading a particularly challenging task. What’s more, how can educators help students focus on the learning and not the grade? Feldman examines these points as well as how grading relates to identity, the history of grading, unreliable practices, why traditional grading can demotivate and disempower students, and how to chart a path forward. In spite of the nuance involved in determining what works best for each school community, Feldman’s insights provide a starting point for an examination of school-wide grading practices. 

The Assistant Principal 50: Critical Questions for Meaningful Leadership and Professional Growth Baruti K. Kafele Whether you’re pursuing a career as an assistant principal or aspiring to become a principal, Kafele argues the role of an AP is “one of the most misunderstood and underutilized positions in education.” Kafele aims to help prospective and current APs navigate the ambiguity of each step of their journey, offering reflective questions, insights, and guidance with some personal anecdotes mixed in. Although some readers note the book's emphasis on the role of the administrator as disciplinarian, which may not apply depending on your school's culture and climate, Kafele offers a wealth of ideas that can be adapted to a variety of school ecosystems. 

Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division Anthony Muhammad Every school building has its own unique cast of characters. The tensions that may arise between them—potentially becoming a roadblock to progress and change, Muhammad explains—stem from shifting dynamics, relationships, and the beliefs or assumptions of four groups: the Believers, the Fundamentalists, the Tweeners, and the Survivors. Based on a study of 11 elementary, 14 middle, and 9 high schools, Transforming School Culture offers solutions for transforming an ailing school climate into a healthy high-functioning environment for learning. 

Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students Zaretta Lynn Hammond What does it mean to be a culturally responsive educator? Hammond’s take is informed by recent neuroscience research and aims to help schools with diverse classrooms bolster engagement and foster deeper learning in a way that honors students. Designed to prompt self-reflection and action, Hammond’s book aims to leave educators and instructional leaders with a more fleshed out understanding of how to effectively implement brain-based culturally responsive instruction and create a culture of independent learners.   

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12 Great Books on Educational Leadership

By Med Kharbach, PhD | Last Update: May 16, 2024

Leaders in education hold the formidable task of shaping not just academic institutions but the minds and futures of the learners within them. As the educational sphere continues to evolve rapidly, especially with the advent of technology and changing societal needs, the role of a school leader transcends administrative duties, morphing into a multi-dimensional endeavor that demands innovation, empathy, foresight, and adaptability.

In the quest to foster these qualities and broaden the horizons of what effective leadership can achieve, a treasure trove of wisdom lies in the pages of books penned by some forward-thinking and influential minds in the field of education. These books on educational leadership are compasses that guide educators through the complexities of leadership, offering insights, strategies, and real-life examples that illuminate the path to excellence in education.

From exploring the intricacies of transforming school cultures to embracing the digital revolution in education, and from nurturing the growth mindset essential for innovation to understanding the profound impact of leadership on student achievement, these books provide a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted role of educational leaders.

Whether you are at the helm of an educational institution, aspiring to take on a leadership role, or simply passionate about contributing to the evolution of educational paradigms, these books will definitely on educational leadership will definitely offer an enlightening journey, one that enriches your understanding and equips you with the practical tools and visionary outlook necessary to navigate the challenges and opportunities of leading in the ever-changing landscape of education.

Related: Best Websites Offering Free Audiobooks for Kids

Books on Educational Leadership

Here are some of our favourite books on educational leadership:

1- The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact  , by Michael Fullan

Michael Fullan’s book is a clarion call for principals to redefine their role from being mere managers to becoming agents of profound educational change. Fullan identifies three critical keys for principals aiming to maximize their impact: Leading Learning, Being a District and System Player, and Becoming a Change Agent. He argues against the pitfalls of micromanagement and overemphasis on administrative autonomy, instead advocating for a balanced, systemic approach.

Fullan emphasizes the importance of principals understanding the intricacies of teaching and learning, participating constructively in district and system-level initiatives, and proactively driving change by fostering a culture of continuous improvement. His strategic framework is designed not just for theoretical contemplation but for immediate, actionable implementation, offering principals a roadmap to transform their schools and, by extension, the wider education system.

2- The Innovator’s Mindset , by George Couros 

George Couros’s ‘The Innovator’s Mindset’ is an invigorating exploration into how educators can cultivate an environment that prioritizes and nurtures innovation. Couros challenges traditional educational paradigms, advocating for a cultural shift towards embracing the unknown and encouraging creative risk-taking.

He emphasizes that for students to become innovative thinkers, the educators themselves must embody this mindset, fostering a learning environment where questioning the status quo, problem-solving, and exploring creative avenues are deeply ingrained practices.

Couros discusses practical ways to empower learners and educators, transforming schools into vibrant hubs of curiosity and innovation. The book serves as both an inspiration and a guide for educators and leaders aiming to instill and lead a culture brimming with creativity and forward-thinking.

3- Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times 1st Edition, by Eric C. Sheninger

In ‘Digital Leadership,’ Eric C. Sheninger addresses the pressing need for a paradigm shift in educational leadership to align with the digital age. Sheninger explores how leaders can leverage digital tools to create a transparent, engaging, and collaborative school culture.

He emphasizes that digital leadership is not about flashy gadgets and technology but about using digital tools strategically to improve communication, enhance student engagement, and foster a more inclusive and effective learning environment.

Sheninger’s approach combines the richness of traditional leadership strategies with the transformative potential of technology, offering leaders a comprehensive framework to lead schools in a time where technology is an integral part of education and society.

4- What Great Principals Do Differently: Eighteen Things That Matter Most , by Todd Whitaker

Todd Whitaker’s ‘What Great Principals Do Differently’ offers a clear and compelling exploration of the practices that distinguish exceptional principals. The book is structured around eighteen fundamental principles that effective principals embody.

Whitaker dives into the essence of what makes a great leader in education, discussing the importance of setting high expectations, creating a positive school culture, making decisions based on best practices and student needs, and handling disciplinary issues effectively.

This book is not just about leadership; it’s a reflection on the profound impact a principal can have on a school’s atmosphere, teachers’ performance, and students’ lives. Whitaker’s practical, experience-based insights serve as an invaluable resource for both aspiring and seasoned school leaders.

5 The Principal 50: Critical Leadership Questions for Inspiring Schoolwide Excellence , by Baruti K. Kafele

Baruti K. Kafele’s ‘The Principal 50’ is a thought-provoking journey into the soul of educational leadership. Kafele presents fifty critical questions that every principal should regularly ponder to introspectively assess their leadership impact and effectiveness. These questions delve into personal leadership identity, vision, school culture, instructional leadership, and moral and ethical dimensions of leading a school.

Kafele’s approach encourages principals to continually reflect on and refine their practice, ensuring that their leadership effectively addresses the multifaceted needs of their school community. This book is a powerful tool for principals committed to inspiring excellence and fostering a successful, nurturing educational environment.

6- Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World , by Tony Wagner

In ‘Creating Innovators,’ Tony Wagner, a renowned expert in education, takes readers on a journey to understand what it takes to nurture the innovators of tomorrow. Wagner explores how educators, parents, and employers can collectively contribute to developing young minds that think creatively, work collaboratively, and are adept at solving complex problems.

The book is rich with real-world examples, showcasing how innovative practices in teaching and learning can transform students into proactive, innovative thinkers. Wagner emphasizes the importance of creating a culture that values curiosity, encourages taking calculated risks, and allows for learning from failure. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the critical role that education plays in shaping the future of society by fostering innovation in the younger

7- Lessons of Hope: How to Fix Our Schools , by Joel Klein

Joel Klein’s ‘Lessons of Hope’ is more than a memoir; it’s an impassioned narrative and a strategic guide drawn from his tenure as the chancellor of NYC schools. Klein shares his firsthand experiences, challenges, and victories, offering an unvarnished look at the complexities of reforming one of the largest school systems in the United States.

He discusses innovative strategies, tough decisions, and the critical importance of leadership in driving educational improvement. Klein’s story is a testament to the potential for change in education systems and serves as a compelling blueprint for leaders facing similar challenges in their own contexts.

8- School Leadership That Works: From Research to Results , by Robert J. Marzano  (Author), Timothy Waters (Author), Brian A. McNulty (Author)

This influential book by Marzano, Waters, and McNulty bridges the gap between research and practice, offering a robust, evidence-based analysis of school leadership. The authors delve into the specific leadership practices that have a measurable impact on student achievement, providing a comprehensive framework for effective school leadership. The book is a resource trove of best practices, strategies, and actionable insights, making it an indispensable guide for school leaders aiming to make informed decisions that drive school effectiveness and student success.

9- Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools, by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

In ‘Leverage Leadership,’ Bambrick-Santoyo presents a hands-on, practical approach to school leadership that is both transformative and replicable. The book outlines seven core principles or “levers” that exceptional leaders use to catalyze school success. These principles encompass data-driven instruction, observation and feedback, curriculum and assessment, and much more. With detailed case studies, step-by-step guides, and a focus on consistent, high-leverage practices, this book is a comprehensive manual for leaders aiming to build and sustain high-performing schools.

10- A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future , by Daniel H. Pink

Daniel H. Pink’s ‘A Whole New Mind’ offers a visionary outlook on the skills and mindsets needed in the contemporary world, where creative and empathetic right-brain qualities are becoming increasingly valuable.

Pink argues that the future belongs to individuals who can combine logical, analytical thinking with the ability to empathize, understand the nuances of human interaction, and create meaningful narratives. The book is a fascinating exploration of how education and leadership can evolve to nurture these essential skills, preparing students and organizations for a future where creativity and innovation are paramount.

11- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action , by Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek’s ‘Start with Why’ introduces a profound and influential concept known as ‘The Golden Circle.’ Sinek argues that the most impactful leaders and organizations are those that start by asking “why” – understanding and communicating the deeper purpose behind their actions.

This book provides a compelling framework for leading in a way that inspires action, fosters innovation, and builds organizations that are driven by a clear sense of purpose. It’s an essential read for educational leaders who wish to create a culture of motivation and inspiration in their schools and beyond.

12- The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance, by James A. Autry 

James A. Autry’s ‘The Servant Leader’ sheds light on the transformative power of servant leadership, a philosophy where the leader’s primary role is to serve others. Autry discusses how leaders can cultivate trust, foster a spirit of collaboration, and nurture the growth and well-being of their teams.

The book is replete with practical advice on building a positive team culture, developing great morale, and achieving performance goals, all through the lens of servant leadership. It’s a vital resource for educational leaders who believe in leading by example, supporting their staff, and creating an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute to collective success.

Final thoughts

Leaders in education are not just administrators; they are visionaries, catalysts for change, and architects of the future. The insights gleaned from these texts underscore the profound impact that knowledgeable, empathetic, and innovative leadership can have on schools, communities, and the broader educational landscape. From the strategic application of digital resources to the cultivation of a culture that celebrates creativity and innovation, the lessons contained within these books are both timeless and timely.

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Meet Med Kharbach, PhD

Dr. Med Kharbach is an influential voice in the global educational technology landscape, with an extensive background in educational studies and a decade-long experience as a K-12 teacher. Holding a Ph.D. from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada, he brings a unique perspective to the educational world by integrating his profound academic knowledge with his hands-on teaching experience. Dr. Kharbach's academic pursuits encompass curriculum studies, discourse analysis, language learning/teaching, language and identity, emerging literacies, educational technology, and research methodologies. His work has been presented at numerous national and international conferences and published in various esteemed academic journals.

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February 29, 2024 — Comments are off for this post.

Top 10 (plus 2!) Education Leadership Books for School Leaders

As a school leader, you're probably often on the hunt for books that can provide recommendations and insights regarding wellbeing, leadership advice, and general education information. At Edurio we regularly produce research related to school improvement, staff and pupil wellbeing, EDI and more , so we’re always on the lookout for the best books talking about education.

Here are some excellent books (in no particular order) that have been published on school improvement recently, surrounding school improvement and leadership. As an added bonus, we’ve included a book for teachers and one book to look out for this year!

1. Outstanding School Leadership by Peter Hughes (2023)

Through a series of case studies and interviews with successful school leaders, Hughes identifies the core principles and practices that lead to outstanding outcomes for schools and students alike creating a blueprint for excellence in educational leadership. This book is an essential resource for anyone looking to elevate their leadership skills and drive meaningful change in the education sector.

2. Diverse Educators: A Manifesto by Bennie Kara and Hannah Wilson (2022)

The importance of equality, diversity and inclusion in schools is more important than ever. This book takes the structure of the Equality Act and lays out chapters on each of the Protected Characteristics with contributions from various people in the sector speaking directly to their experience. An enlightening read for anyone dedicated to creating a more inclusive environment in their organisation.

3. Terms of Engagement: New Ways of Leading and Changing Organizations by Richard H. Axelrod (2010)

Although not one of the newest books on our list, Terms of Engagement is a must read for any leader working to make changes happen in their organisation. The key to successful change is communication and Axelrod lays out a framework that will guide you through roadblocks when communication stalls or miscommunication happens, getting you to involve the right stakeholders and building true solutions no matter what type of organisation you work in.

4. Women Navigating Educational Leadership by Jana L. Carlisle (2024)

What’s it like to be a woman working in educational leadership today? Interviewing 37 women leaders between 2020 and 2022, this book takes a look at their experiences in a broad range of settings and experiences. This speaks to the underrepresentation of women in educational leadership positions today and invites discussion around what can be done to support women more effectively.

5. Humble Leadership by Edgar H. Schein (2018)

In "Humble Leadership," Edgar H. Schein, with his extensive experience in organisational psychology, explores the power of humility in leadership. Schein argues that the key to effective leadership and organisational success lies in building deeper, trust-based relationships with team members. By fostering an environment where vulnerability and openness are valued, leaders can unlock the full potential of their teams. This book is a compelling read for anyone interested in transforming their leadership style to cultivate a more inclusive and collaborative workplace culture.

6. Imperfect Leadership in Action: A practical book for school leaders who know they don’t know it all by Steve Munby and Marie-Claire Bretherton (2022)

A practical resource based on Munby’s previous book, Imperfect Leadership, is designed to help leaders reflect on their role and embrace the imperfect aspects of leadership. A great resource for anyone wanting some more directed prompts and practical case studies to grow as a leader in challenging situations.

7. School Leaders Matter by Helen Kelly (2023)

Drawing on research and real-world examples, Kelly highlights the strategies and qualities that distinguish effective school leaders, emphasising the pivotal role of leadership in shaping the success of educational institutions. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities in educational leadership, offering valuable insights for current and aspiring school leaders aiming to make a significant impact on their communities.

8. New School Leader. What now? By Neil Renton (2023)

This is the definitive guide for newly appointed school leaders navigating the complexities of their roles. This book covers everything from setting a vision and building a supportive culture to managing finances and handling difficult conversations. Renton's practical advice and real-life anecdotes provide a roadmap for making a positive and lasting impact in your school.

9. The Authentic Leader by Andrew Morrish (2022)

Morrish challenges conventional leadership wisdom, advocating for a leadership style rooted in authenticity and integrity. Through personal stories and examples from a range of sectors, Morrish illustrates how authentic leaders inspire trust, foster innovation, and drive performance. This book is a must-read for leaders seeking to develop a leadership style that is true to themselves and effective in today’s dynamic world.

10. My School & Multi Academy Trust Growth Guide by Al Kingsley (2023)

This is an essential manual for educational leaders looking to navigate the complexities of expanding their schools and trusts. With a practical approach, Kingsley shares insights on strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, financial management, and sustainable growth practices. This book also delves into the importance of leveraging technology and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. A must-read for any leader aiming to scale their educational institution while maintaining quality and integrity.

If you’re looking to support teaching and learning, get teachers to read this:

Just Great Teaching by Ross Morrison McGill (@TeacherToolkit) (2019)

Ross Morrison McGill, known online as @TeacherToolkit, distils decades of teaching experience into "Just Great Teaching." This book delves into practical strategies and innovative approaches to overcome common classroom challenges. With a focus on enhancing pupil engagement, curriculum design, and assessment methods, McGill offers insights that are both practical and inspiring. A go-to guide for teachers seeking to refine their practice and make a tangible impact in their students' learning journey.

Coming soon: Schools of Thought by David James and Jane Lunnon (2024)

We’re excited for "Schools of Thought" by David James and Jane Lunnon, an upcoming exploration into the diverse educational philosophies and practices that shape today’s schools. By examining the theories and ideas that underpin various educational models, the authors aim to provide educators and school leaders with a deeper understanding of how they can adopt and adapt these practices to benefit their students. Anticipated to be a thought-provoking read, this book is expected to spark debate and inspire innovation in the field of education.

Stakeholder Feedback Hub Digital Book

Complementary resource ! This is a good practice guide to stakeholder surveying in schools and multi-academy trusts.

This resource brings clarity and structure into the surveying process to help your school or multi-academy trust gather, analyse, and implement stakeholder feedback.

Inside, you will find a handy guide to help you conduct a successful survey:

• Setting Smart Goals
• Designing and Running Surveys
• Analysing Survey Results
• Taking Informed Action

Access your free copy here.

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Leadership Books That’ll Up Your Game

There’s a book for every skill you need to work on.

Being a school leader means constantly being in improvement mode. It also means having an ever-running loop of new ideas about how to make your school the best it can be for your students, staff, and community. And though there is a seemingly endless supply of valuable advice, time is precious, and you can’t read every leadership book on the market. That’s why we put together this list of thought-provoking school leadership books.

Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!

Start strong.

The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julie Zhuo

In a personal, approachable style, Julie Zhuo, a VP of design at Facebook, writes, “Your job, as a manager, is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together.” This is an essential read for anyone just starting out as an administrator.

Lead boldly.

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts by Brené Brown

Brené Brown is the leadership guru that we’ve been waiting for. With her approachable style and her honest storytelling, Brown has the unique ability to inspire with the truth. In Dare to Lead, she lays out four skill sets that are, in her words, “100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable.”

Seek balance. 

The Principal’s Survival Guide: Where Do I Start? How Do I Succeed? When Do I Sleep? by Susan Stone Kessler, April Snodgrass and Andrew Davis

Most school leadership books focus on how to juggle the many aspects of the job from a performance perspective. This one has a refreshing focus on not only meeting the needs of your students and teachers, but doing so in a way that ensures you also take care of yourself. A great for newbies and veterans alike. 

Challenge conventional thinking. 

Relentless: Changing Lives by Disrupting the Educational Norm by Hamish Brewer

Brewer, a National Distinguished Principal®, is on a mission of “total passion and purpose.” His no-holds-barred approach to placing love at the center of the practice will empower children to overcome adversity and create a better future for themselves. 

Fine-tune your vision.

Good to Great : Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t  by Jim Collins

As an administrator, it’s common to lose your way at times. Collins’ classic book can help an administrator get to the heart of what’s important. Best of all, he addresses how to get even your grumpiest faculty member on board.

Be a better coach.

The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More and Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier

This book provides a fascinating framework for helping your colleagues reach their full potential. Rather than doling out advice and suggestions, Stanier’s method is to ask simple yet strategic questions which can have transformational results. The questions that Stainer has designed clearly communicate and prompt the people you are trying to support, even in moments when communication is difficult.

Master the art of giving essential feedback.

Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott

If you are an introvert and a naturally empathetic person, total candor can be a challenge. However, if you have found yourself struggling to deliver important feedback to members of your team, this book has exactly what you need. This former Google manager lays out real solutions for communicating essential feedback with positivity.

Think about your staff in a new way. 

Move Your Bus: An Extraordinary New Approach to Accelerating Success in Work and Life by Ron Clark

For fans of Ron Clark’s hard-nosed, no-nonsense approach to school leadership, Move Your Bus identifies the many types of workers that make up any organization. From drivers and runners to joggers, walkers, and riders, it’s the school leader’s job to recognize where their team members fall and encourage them to keep the “bus” moving by working together.

Manage change more smoothly.

Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives by Jennifer Abrams 

Change is difficult for everyone, especially in education, where it seems like something new is coming down the pike at every turn. Enact strategic change in your school by following Abrams’ four basic principles: think before speaking, preempt resistance, respond to resistance, and manage oneself through change and resistance. 

Run better meetings.

Making Every Meeting Matter by the Harvard Business Review

Who among us can say that every single meeting they’ve run has been an amazing and efficient use of time? How many of us can say we’ve walked away from every meeting inspired and with a clear directive? I can do better, and so can you. Reading this book is the first step toward making meetings productive. Now let’s design better faculty meetings !

Rally your crew.

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek

Thought leader Simon Sinek’s hypothesis in Leaders Eat Last is a simple one: Behind every great team is an awesome leader. Here’s what an awesome leader does: They protect their team, and they help teams manage internal threats that could keep them from performing their best. Your job as leader, Sinek suggests, is to keep your team healthy and whole. If you want to make your team stronger and more nimble, this book should be at the top of your list.

Learn to speak your staff’s language.

The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People by Gary Chapman and Paul White

Have you ever wondered how some colleagues get very excited about donuts in the breakroom, while others complain about them? How can it be that some people love icebreakers , while others roll their eyes? This excellent book will help you meet more needs and differentiate your approach to team building.

Build a stronger team.

The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard And Spencer Johnson

An easy read that breaks down three of the most practical tent poles of good leadership—setting goals, praising your team, and redirecting when things go awry. You’ll develop ways to do so quickly, concisely, and of course, effectively!

Discover what motivates your people.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

If you can’t motivate, you can’t lead—and this book is packed with the secrets of motivation. Hint? Rewards and punishment actually don’t bring out the best in others!

Improve your communication.

Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently by John C. Maxwell 

“Connecting is everything when it comes to communication,” counsels John Maxwell. This book, told in an engaging anecdotal style, pins down the principles and practices that will help you connect with your staff as a school leader. 

Pare down your tasks.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

The idea is if you can discipline yourself to take on only the tasks that are absolutely essential—your level of productivity will soar, opening up more time and energy in your life to focus on the things that really matter—and really make you happy.

Play to your strengths.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

The big question asked in this book is: What makes high achievers different? The answers may surprise you, as Gladwell looks at success from an unconventional perspective—including what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Boost your confidence.

The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

A 2018 Pew study polled over 4,000 Americans to explore what personal characteristics we value in people. Would you be surprised to know that strength and ambition were more highly valued in men, while compassion and responsibility were more valued in women? The Confidence Code addresses this disconnect head on. With a truthful analysis of how gender dynamics can play out in the workplace, this book is a must-read for women interested in strengthening their self-confidence .

Change how you start your day.

The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8 AM) by Hal Elrod

Change your morning routine, change your life is the message of this best seller. You’ll learn how to wake up each day with more energy, motivation, and focus so you can take your personal and professional life to the next level.

Write your way into leadership.

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron

Creative thinkers have been following Cameron’s 12-week program for years, crediting it for the ability to finish novels, write songs, or reignite a passion for the arts. So, what can you learn here about leadership? Well, if you’re feeling creatively fulfilled, it becomes contagious to those around you.

Listen to your heart.

The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho

This classic fable about a traveling shepherd boy who meets several spiritual messengers on his quest for treasure may not seem like a leadership guide. But this boy’s encounters are great lessons about listening to your heart and following your dreams—two qualities every great leader adheres to.

Reframe your thinking.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

This book is about reframing your mental outlook to create affluence. But at the core, it’s about changing your mindset to achieve anything you desire. And it’s a nice reminder that positivity is the best motivator in the workplace!

Create a leadership plan.

True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George

True North teaches you how to create your own Personal Leadership Development Plan. It’s centered on knowing your authentic self, defining your values and leadership principles, understanding your motivations, building your support team, and staying grounded by integrating all aspects of your life.

Master your core principles.

The Truth About Leadership by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

Trust, credibility, and ethics are the core principles discussed in this book. The authors say these are crucial for every good leader who wants to succeed!

See what other leaders have done.

Winners by Alastair Campbell

From Michael Phelps to Barack Obama, this collection features real, raw, and in-depth interviews with some of the most successful people on the planet. They don’t hold back about their drive and how they achieved goals beyond their wildest dreams.

What are your favorite books on leadership? Share with us in our  Principal Life Facebook group . 

Plus, leadership videos you don’t want to miss.

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The 10 Books Every School Leader Should Read

Blog » Authentic and Ethical Leadership » The 10 Books Every School Leader Should Read

  Recently, I’ve been finding that I’m increasingly asked by the School Leaders I work with and by others who’ve read my book “Staying A Head: Stress Management Secrets for School Leaders” for recommendations as to what books can help them to further their learning and in turn, better support their leadership practice.   I’ve noticed more and more that I frequently refer leaders to the same books time and again, not for lack of ideas but rather because they are quite simply the best I’ve come ever come across in the field, in terms of both inspiration and expertise.   In fact, I recommend these books so frequently that I thought I’d create a list of these 1o books for you in case you ever need a great book to help alleviate the stress of the day-to-day and bring a sense of perspective back into their lives. I hope amongst the recommended titles, that you might find a book or two that you’d like to add to your reading list…  

1. “ The Element”  – 

Ken robinson.

  We all love Sir Ken Robinson and eagerly await the day when he is appointed Minister of Education! Until that day, we’ll all have to take comfort from his inspirational TED talks and this wonderful book. If you are ever in need of inspiration and a reminder of why you are a teacher or Headteacher then read this book.   It will make you laugh, it will make you smile, and it will remind you of what passion is all about and why each and every day you need to remain connected to what matters to you most.  

2. “Resonant Leadership” –  

Richard boyatziz and annie mckee.

  This book is a must for all stressed head teachers and School Leaders! It gets to the very core of what happens to leaders who are in ‘high power, high stress’ roles. It also talks with real compassion about what successful leaders need to do, to stop themselves become victims of the Sacrifice Syndrome.   A syndrome that is common to so many head teachers … that of sacrificing your own needs in order to meet the needs of others. If you want to know how to lead a far healthier and happier life as a School Leader, then this book should definitely be on your reading list.  

3. “Thinking, Fast and Slow” –

  daniel kahneman.

  If you want to understand yourself better as a School Leader and exhibit greater control over your thoughts and actions, then this is the book for you! It may take you some time to plough through it, but what you will gain in the end, will be well worth the effort!  

4.  “ Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential – 

Dr carol s.dweck.

  I love this book!  If you have ever wondered why some teachers cause you more stress than others, then this book will definitely give you a few key insights. Dweck explains that  “It’s not just our abilities and talent that bring us success, but whether we approach our goals with a fixed or growth mindset.”    When you understand the traits of each mindset, you will get a far better understanding of your staff team and how their behaviours impact on your efforts to drive forward school improvement.  

5. “Well Being: The Five Essential Ele ments” –

  tom rath and jim harther.

  Co-written by #1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath, this book takes ‘five  universal, interconnected elements that shape our lives:  Career Wellbeing, Social Wellbeing, Financial Wellbeing, Physical Wellbeing, and Community Wellbeing.”  If you want to give yourself a personal MOT over a weekend or holiday period,  then this is another book to add to your list.  

6. “Daring Greatly” – 

Brene brown.

  For any School Leader this is a must read. It is a book that I recommend to all head teachers and senior leaders that I work with.  Brene Brown reminds us that contrary to commonly perceived wisdom on the subject, vulnerability is more a sign of courage and strength, than it is a sign of weakness.   Her writings and insight on the subject are like a breath of fresh air. In an educational climate in which so many false and conflicting messages about strength in leadership abound, Brene Brown shows us how the ability to be vulnerable reconnects us with our humanity and it is here, where we find our strength.  

7 . “Leading out of Who You Are” –

   simon p walker.

  How many of us, would like to be able to lead from a place where we truly trust ourselves? Where we were not knocked from pillar to post by the opinions and advice of others, but were able to lead from a place of deep inner trust and self belief?   From my own experience as a Headteacher and from the work that I now do as an Executive Coach for School Leaders, I know  it is a place that we all long to be able to lead from. In his sensitively written book on the subject of leadership, Simon P Walker provides an excellent overview of the inner journey every leader needs to go on, if they are ever to experience true inner trust and self belief.  

8 . “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” – 

 stephen r covey.

  An all time favourite. If you haven’t read this book, then it really is one that you should go out and buy now. Not only will his seven habits help you to develop the tools to lead yourself better, but hey will also help you to understand how you can get the best out of those that you lead and manage.   When you read his book you will have no doubt about how you can excel as a School Leader and equally what others will need from you so that they can also excel.  

9. “Every  Teacher Matters” –

  kathryn lovewell.

  As a School Leader you know that your teachers are your most valuable resource. You will also know from your own experience as a classroom teacher the types of stress that many of your teachers face and the impact that it has on their ability to perform well.   If you want to give your teachers really practical advice on managing stress then buy this book for each and every one of them.  Kathryn’s book will show them how mindfulness not only reduces stress , but also helps to re-ignite a sometimes forgotten passion for teaching.  

10. “Supporting the Emotional Work of School Leaders” –

 belinda harris.

  In those dark times, when the pressures of the role seem insurmountable, this book will remind you that you are not alone! Harris’ book is an honest account of what it really means to be a School Leader today, ‘ exploring the personal, social and emotional challenges of School Leadership.’   If you are seeking to develop your own emotional resilience this book will provide you with a few tools to help you bounce back that much higher when the inevitable challenges of School Leadership come your way.

“Staying A Head – Stress Management Secrets of Successful School Leaders” by Viv Grant

Every School Leader should read this book because it opens the closed world that many School Leaders inhabit. But rather than leave the world ‘exposed’, it offers new and experienced School Leaders practical and effective methods that nurture inner understanding to bring out the best in others and foster organisational transformation. Mike Jones Head teacher, South Failsworth Primary School, Oldham

If you’d like to get a flavour of the book. then you can now download a completely free Chapter of my book! In this chapter, you’ll discover why the meeting of your emotional needs are central to your success as a School Leader and  find answers to the questions:

  – What are our basic emotional needs? – Why do School Leaders need to have their emotional needs met? – What are the consequences of unmet emotional needs? – What role does empathic listening play in meeting emotional needs?  

To download your copy of this chapter, simply follow the link below…

Download a Free Chapter of “Staying A Head”

One Response

I’ve read someof those but if I had to pick one it would be Belinda Harris.

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Are you a supply teacher or teaching assistant looking for some help and advice? If so, you are in the right place. Our blogs offer tips and tricks on everything from classroom management to interview tips and support, along with day in the life case studies from real supply teachers, ECTs and cover supervisors. They also give you an insight into what  working for Smile  is like, the ways which we support local communities and charities  and the training and events that we offer. 

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The 10 must-read books for every school leader

Lots of school leaders often ask us what books we’d recommend and so we’ve put together this handy list of our 10 top must reads. Below you’ll find books on everything from wellbeing to practical tips and advice on becoming a leader. 

Making the Leap: Moving from Deputy to Head - Jill Berry

Is currently number 1 on Amazon’s best sellers list for school governors. The book offers practical advice to anyone considering a headship. The book leans on Jill’s own experiences in the matter and answers questions such as how can I ensure the early months and years of headship are as successful as possible and how can I establish the most positive and productive relationship with the outgoing head?

It’s a definite must read for any teachers, middle leaders or senior leaders who are considering becoming a headteacher within a school setting. 

A Manifesto for Excellence in Schools - Rob Carpenter

Rob Carpenter is the CEO of the Inspire Partnership and author of the aforementioned book. He took  a school from Special Measures to Outstanding in less than two years and firmly believes that the quality of teaching and leadership holds the key to raising standards in our schools today.

The book contains a balance of practical advice, examples, resources and ideas to help teachers and school leaders alike plan and deliver high quality learning experiences. When asked why he wrote A Manifesto for Excellence Rob said:

“I want people to use A Manifesto for Excellence in Schools as a reference point for what schools can be when we place 'whys' before 'whats' and 'hows'. Above all else, I hope those who read this can feel inspired to stand up to the policy wonks, placing children at the centre of our beliefs and actions. There is a better way….”

Back on Track: Fewer Things, Greater Depth - Mary Myatt

Released just last year, Back on Track is already becoming a firm favourite for school leaders. The book calls upon leaders to reevaluate their focuses and look at whether some of the processes in our schools are really adding value to the core purposes of schools.

Chunked into short sections the book is easy to read and easily digestible. Despite only being released less than a year ago It’s racked up 165 reviews on Amazon with 93% of those being 5-4 star! 

Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools: A blueprint for a revitalised profession - John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley

Wellbeing is high on everyone’s agenda so it’s no surprise that this book made its way onto the list. Authors John Tomsett (headteacher at Huntington School, York) and Jonny Uttley (CEO of The Education Alliance Multi Academy Trust) believe that happy teachers provide the best educational experience for their students. In their book is a blueprint which unapologetically puts staff first.

The Wisdom of Heads: short advice for school leaders - Dr Denry Machin PhD

Combining wisdom and humour with knowledge and experience, you’ll certainly find it tough to put this book down. This book full of insightful anecdotes from a range of headteachers on a variety of topics. One reviewer actually described it as being similar to a “Zoom meeting between the world’s best heads”.

Reading this book will give you an insight into how leaders cope with change and how they survive the stresses of the job and what resources you should buy to make your life easier and those to avoid - all from headteachers who have been there and done it. 

The Headteacher's Handbook: The essential guide to leading a primary school - Rachel Snape

As the title suggests this book is aimed at primary headteachers - both aspiring and existing. Though, we have a slight confession to make - it’s not actually out yet - it gets released in August this year. Early reviews, however, have been positive and describe the book as: “comprehensive guide which covers every aspect of taking on the headteacher role. It is at once practical, honest, insightful and, probably most importantly, incredibly useful.”

If that doesn’t convince you, it may be worthwhile knowing a little more about Rachel who is an experienced headteacher in Cambridge and is a National Leader of Education.  She is also Vice Chair of the DfE's Primary Headteachers' Reference Group, Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, and Ambassador for HundrED.org. 

Riding the Waves: Finding joy and fulfilment in school leadership - James Hilton

Here, author James Hilton explores how primary and secondary school leaders can find fulfilment in their challenging roles in order to lead their schools successfully. Riding the Waves offers practical strategies, advice, reflective questions and activities for developing the fulfilling aspects of school leadership to carry school leaders through these challenging times.

This is the book for you if you are a school leader looking enhance your mental health, improve your work-life balance, you want to take control and take a break. 

Supporting the Emotional Work of School Leaders - Belinda Harris 

Another book which focuses on wellbeing. This practical book deals with the emotional and moral dimensions of school leadership. If you are seeking to develop your own emotional resilience this book will provide you with a few tools to help you bounce back that much higher when the inevitable challenges of school leadership come your way. Belinda provides a range of person-centred strategies for building communities of professionally committed, relationally competent, collaborative individuals.

It comes highly recommended by headteachers and deputy heads alike with one saying commenting that if schools leaders are to read any book it should be this one! 

Staying A Head: The Stress Management Secrets of Successful School Leaders - Viv Grant

Staying A Head is a book about overcoming the stresses of school leadership. The book is written by Executive Coach and Director of Integrity Coaching, Viv Grant, specialises in working with head teachers and school leaders in urban schools, where both the challenge to succeed and the stress levels are high.

You should read this book if you are a school leader who is looking to develop greater emotional resilience, stop stressing and achieve their vision without sacrificing their own health and personal wellbeing. 

Leaders With Substance: An Antidote to Leadership Genericism in Schools' - Matthew Evans

This book draws on research evidence to explore the specific things that expert leaders know and do, arguing for a notion of school leadership rooted in the realities of leaders' daily experiences. It presents a case for how school leaders can develop their expertise and, in doing so, places domain-specific knowledge at the heart of school improvement efforts.

But do not be fooled, Leaders With Substance is not a handbook. It sets out to change the way we think of leadership and school improvement. It is both a critique, a manifesto, and a call to arms.

If you’d like more help or advice, Smile Leadership is on hand to help. We have over 10 years experience working in a range of educational settings and have supported school leaders all over the UK in finding their dream role.

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15 of the World’s Best Leadership Books

Great leaders intentionally make time for continued education. As difficult as it may be to step away from the office, reading a variety of books on leadership is an important key to refueling and refocusing yourself as a leader. For instance, it helps reveal your strengths, weaknesses, and provide the tools needed for innovation and growth.

The 15 top leadership books every great leader needs on their bookshelf :

1. the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership.

Author: John Maxwell 

Favorite Quote: “ I believe the bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others. That is achieved by serving others and adding value to their lives. ”

2. Good to Great : Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t

One-Sentence Description: This book follows a five-year study that determines how “good” companies become great, beat their competitors, and achieve long-lasting success. 

Why You Should Read It: Good to Great : Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t emphasizes the point that success doesn’t happen overnight. For entrepreneurs and leaders who feel frustrated, tired, and out of steam, this book helps reinvigorate drive and passion . Additionally, it’s comforting to know that many of the difficulties business owners experience as they grow aren’t uncommon. In fact, growing pains are evidence that a company is developing. Overall, the core message is progress is a process.  

3. Start with Why

Author: Simon Sinek

Favorite Quote: “ People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe. ”

4. Think and Grow Rich 

One-Sentence Description: Published in 1937, Think and Grow Rich studies the lives of wealthy individuals such as Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie, defining 13 habits successful people share. 

Why You Should Read It: Consistently ranked as one of the best books on leadership of all time, Think and Grow Rich helps readers understand the unique mindset of high performers. On the whole, Hill spent 25 years researching, analyzing, and understanding what makes people successful. Through 500 interviews, he found and wrote a formula for prosperity. Undoubtedly, the directive strategies are easily applicable, motivational, and provide timeless wisdom to anyone interested in leadership .

Click Here to Purchase

5. Wooden on Leadership 

Author: John Wooden

Favorite Quote: “ The best leaders are lifelong learners; they take measures to create organizations that foster and inspire learning throughout. The most effective leaders are those who realize it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts most. ”

6. Extreme Ownership

One-Sentence Description: Written by two Navy SEAL officers, this best-selling book relates their special operations experience to the leadership qualities all business owners, executives, and managers should possess.  

Favorite Quote: “ Implementing Extreme Ownership requires checking your ego and operating with a high degree of humility. Admitting mistakes, taking ownership, and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team. ”

Why You Should Read It: The unique, interesting angle the authors take creates a fresh perspective within the genre. While some professionals might not feel this book would be applicable to their businesses, Extreme Ownership teaches lessons that help leaders understand what it truly means to lead—not manage or direct—others. With unique messaging filled with real-life experience, the book additionally provides instruction on how to successfully develop high-performing teams that can fulfill even the most difficult mission.

7. Dare to Lead

Author: Brené Brown

Favorite Quote: “ I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential. ”

8. The Effective Executive

One-Sentence Description: This book focuses on effectiveness as a form of self-discipline—a requirement for all leaders (and a skill anyone can learn).

Why You Should Read It: Success is dependent on effectiveness. From exacting change to inspiring employees, this is a quality leaders can’t afford to lack. Nevertheless, many business owners and executives unknowingly or knowingly behave, act, and communicate in ways that don’t positively impact their organizations. For example, ineffective leaders lack emotional intelligence and don’t dedicate themselves to learning how to become stewards of their employees and customers. In essence, The Effective Executive is for people who want to actively learn how to work on eliminating ineffective leadership traits and become drivers of positive impact.

9. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Author: Stephen R. Covey 

Favorite Quote: “ As you care less about what people think of you, you will care more about what others think of themselves .”

10. The Art of War

One-Sentence Description: The Art of War teaches leaders how to create and implement strategic initiatives.

Why You Should Read It: Out of all the best leadership books mentioned, this 5th century B.C. military treatise is the oldest. There’s a reason it’s continued inspiring generations of strategic thinkers. While it was written for military leaders, the text translates well for business owners and executives who are responsible for developing and executing the company’s vision. In short, it takes readers through 13 chapters, each dedicated to a particular stage in the strategic implementation process.

 11. Awaken the Giant Within

Author: Tony Robbins

Favorite Quote: “ Enjoy making decisions. You must know that in any moment a decision you make can change the course of your life forever . . . If you really want your life to be passionate, you need to live with this attitude of expectancy. ”

  12. The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team

One-Sentence Description: Lencioni uses his knack for storytelling to resolve five common dysfunctional behaviors that inhibit even the best teams.  

Why You Should Read It: Leaders must know how to both guide their teams and be a team player. This book stresses the importance of having a cohesive team dynamic. While the book is a fictional fable, it is a story many business owners and executives struggle with. Companies cannot succeed unless their teams work together. For this reason, the book points out dysfunctional behaviors that harm team culture . As a result, leaders can repair and avoid toxicity within their organizations using this insight.

13. How to Win Friends and Influence People 

Author: Dale Carnegie 

Favorite Quote: “ You can’t win an argument. You can’t because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it. ”

14.   Team of Rivals

One-Sentence Description: In this Lincoln biography, Kearns shows how the president united his former political competitors to abolish slavery and win the Civil War. 

Why You Should Read It: This leadership book is a masterclass on leadership and an interesting read for anyone who loves history. It shows how important it is to toss your ego aside when working with others. Rather than punishing his rivals, Lincoln welcomed several of these people into his cabinet and created a unified front that was capable of holding the country together. While the book has a rather political motif, it teaches executive leaders the value of bringing teams together toward a collective cause. Personal beliefs of individual group members may vary but there can be healthy competition among them, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of a larger, common objective.

15.   15 Invaluable Laws of Growth

Author: John C. Maxwell

Favorite Quote: “ Most people who decide to grow personally find their first mentors in the pages of books. ”

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Best leadership books: 29 of the most impactful reads

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Best leadership books for personal development

Best leadership books for people managers

Best leadership books for organizational leaders

Whether you’re a new leader or a veteran entrepreneur , a commitment to learning will help you become as effective as you can be — and there’s certainly no shortage of great leadership and management books to help you do just that.

The problem is that if you search "leadership books" on Amazon, you'll see over 50,000 titles. So how do you know where to begin? We’re here to make it simple for you with this list of the best leadership books of all time.

"Self-awareness and self-love matter. Who we are is how we lead" Brené Brown

If you want to become a good leader, it starts with working on yourself . Why? Effective leadership requires you to be able to manage yourself as well as others.

When you have a foundation of psychological strength, emotional intelligence , and self-awareness, it will naturally impact and improve your leadership skills. 

Below are the best leadership and self-help books for anyone who wants to work on their mindset, emotional regulation, and beyond. 

1. The Gifts of Imperfection , by Brené Brown

The Gifts of Imperfection is about practicing self-compassion and self-love. It asks us to embrace our own imperfections as we would anyone else’s and to accept our talents and gifts less as gifts for ourselves, and more as a gift to give to others. Once we know who we are and love who we are, we can engage others at that same level.

2. The Art of Possibility , by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

The Art of Possibility teaches readers how to think divergently about the possibilities in front of them. The 12 practices for this pursuit can then open new avenues of thought and self-image. As a result, you can become a more insightful, better leader.

3.  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , by Stephen R. Covey

“If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control: myself.” ― Stephen Covey

So many of us are outwardly successful, but still find ourselves wrestling with our inner habits. Enter bestselling author Covey’s seven habits to help you become more productive, build stronger relationships, and focus on priorities.

4. The Untethered Soul , by Michael Singer

The Untethered Soul is one of the most philosophical and spiritual leadership books available. It can help you pursue your inward journey by observing your ego self more objectively and dispassionately. By untethering yourself from the automatic thoughts and emotions that limit your conscious awareness, you can open the door to growth . 

5. Immunity to Change , by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey

This book offers an approach to change that can help you get unstuck from patterns that no longer serve you. By understanding your goals and what behaviors get in the way, you can release them and find the path forward.

6. Lean In , by Sheryl Sandberg

In Lean In , former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg shares practical tips to help women succeed at home and in the workplace . The book is a compelling read backed by hard data and research, inspiring many women to take more risks and boldly pursue their goals.

7. Man’s Search for Meaning , by Victor Frankl

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” 

This quote from the author, who survived Nazi concentration camps, sums up the essence of this book quite nicely. 

8. GO: Put Your Strengths To Work , by Marcus Buckingham

Buckingham proposes that our strengths are those things that energize us (and make us stronger) and weaknesses are those things that drain our energy. Through that lens, we can look past our learned skills to our authentic talents.

9. The Five Thieves of Happiness , by John Izzo

Izzo’s main premise is that our natural state is happiness, yet there are forces at work to steal it from us. He names the five thieves as control, conceit, coveting, consumption, and comfort. Understanding the thieves lays a path back to happiness, or at least contentedness.

10. The Power of Meaning , by Emily Esfahani Smith

In The Power of Meaning , Smith teaches that ‘meaning’ and ‘purpose’ are not synonymous. Instead, purpose is but one of four pillars of meaning. The other three are belonging, storytelling, and transcendence. Each of us has a unique mix of these pillars that creates meaning in our lives. 

Knowing that allows us to apply ourselves more consciously to increase our sense of meaning, and thus increase engagement in our work. As leaders, we may also try to understand what gives our team members meaning.

11. How to Win Friends and Influence People , by Dale Carnegie

"Success in dealing with people depends on a sympathetic grasp of the other person’s viewpoint." - Dale Carnegie

Every successful leader knows that empathy is crucial to team collaboration. If you can’t connect on a deeper level with your employees, you’ll struggle to get results from them. Carnegie’s book is a roadmap to building that skill.

12. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us , by Daniel H. Pink 

13. Tomorrowmind,  by Gabriella Rosen Kellerman and Martin Seligman

Navigating today's workplace can be challenging. With increasing fluctuations in workplace wellness, economic uncertainty, and work environments, flourishing can seem like an uphill battle. In their future-forward book, Seligman and our very own CPO, Gabriella Kellerman, have analyzed hundreds of thousands of workers in global industries to identify five psychological powers that are critical for workplace thriving in the 21st century. In their book, they offer actionable advice and science-backed insights to help leaders and their teams thrive.

The best leadership books for people managers 

Once you know how to manage yourself and your career , you’re ready to become an effective leader and manager. This is tricky, though, because leading people is about more than practical communication skills. There are many theories on what makes a great leader .

You’ll need to work on leadership traits like accountability and trustworthiness, as well as concrete things like managing poor performance and holding productive meetings . 

To help you learn both, here are the best leadership and business books for anyone in charge of managing a team .

14. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership , by John C. Maxwell

“True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from influence, and that cannot be mandated. It must be earned.” - John C. Maxwell

Maxwell is a widely respected author and speaker with over 30 years of leadership experience. In this foundational book, he shares the core, timeless laws of leadership that you’ll be sure to reference many times over the course of your career. 

15. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win , by Leif Babin and Jocko Willink 

In this bestselling leadership book, U.S. Navy Seal Officers Willink and Babin share lessons learned on the battlefield. Using their experience as leaders of the most highly decorated special forces unit in the Iraq war, they teach readers powerful strategies to succeed in life and at work. 

16. True North , by Bill George

True North is about the art of leading others. According to George, True North is “the internal compass that guides you successfully through life. It represents who you are as a human being at your deepest level. It is your orientation point that helps you stay on track as a leader.” In short, this is a guidebook for authenticity in leadership .

17. Dare to Lead , by Brené Brown 

In this book, prolific author Brené Brown works to answer the question that early-stage startups, Fortune 500 companies, and everyone in between is asking: “How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture?” The insights gained from her research will be sure to help you become a better, bolder, and more empathetic leader for your team.

18. Primal Leadership , by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee

Primal Leadership is all about the importance of emotionally intelligent leadership. In addition to offering practical advice, the authors address why great leaders need self-awareness and empathy in our increasingly technologically complex and oft-uncertain world. 

19. Beyond the Wall of Resistance , by Rick Maurer

Maurer is a change management advisor who understands that you have to overcome inevitable resistance in order for change to happen. He provides a compelling description of three levels of resistance: “I don’t understand it” (a knowledge gap); “I don’t like it” (an emotional gap); and “I don’t like you” (a trust gap). Then he explores strategies to make successful changes more often.

20. Five Dysfunctions of a Team , by Patrick Lencioni

“Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” -Patrick Lencioni

This book is important for teams looking to overcome the five common “dysfunctions”: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability , and inattention to results. When leaders carry a clear understanding of these five behaviors and how to remedy them, they are more likely to identify and correct them.

21. The 11 Laws of Likability , by Michelle Lederman 

This book explores the 11 laws that contribute to how likable someone is, and the success they will have networking and building relationships. The power in the laws comes from finding the ones most authentic to us and using them to tailor our engagement with others. 

The best books for organizational leaders 

The most senior business leaders in an organization are responsible for defining the company’s mission, values, culture, and strategy. The following books address many of these topics, for organizational leaders and those who want to become them.

22. Conscious Business , by Fred Kofman 

"Consciousness is the main source of organizational greatness." - Fred Kofman

This bestseller describes conscious business as transferring our conscious values as individuals into our work, and even better, into company values . It explores expressing values, understanding boundaries, communicating constructively, effective negotiations, and more.

23. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap , by Jim Collins

"Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice." - Jim Collins

Good to Great is a classic, must-read leadership book. In it, Collins outlines the research-based principles that separate consistent market segment outperformers from other companies with equal opportunity to do the same. 

It also provides insights into what makes a successful leadership team, how to build a culture of discipline, and how technology and analytics can make a difference in an organization's growth – when used correctly.

24. Start with Why, by Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek is an inspirational speaker and author best known for Start with Why . In the book, Sinek outlines his leadership theory , which is called the Golden Circle theory. Basically, he argues companies need to go beyond the practical benefits of what they offer. Instead of focusing on the “what,” they should turn their attention to “why?” This is because as Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

25. Leaders Eat Last , by Simon Sinek

After the success of Start with Why , Sinek continued his work with the New York Times bestseller Leaders Eat Last. Using true stories from Sinek’s work with the military, big business, and beyond, the book unpacks the idea that the best leaders sacrifice for their teams. Instead of operating solely from self-interest, they foster cooperation, trust, and safety.

26. Dealing with Darwin , by Geoffrey Moore

The core of this book is about understanding what gives organizations market power, and why it is difficult to find the resources to exploit those traits. The “core vs. context” framework of this book is brilliant in its ability to define the true power of your company, how to release resources for pursuing that advantage, and the implications for managing the strengths of your organizational talent pool .

27. How to Be an Anti-Racist , by Ibram Kendi 

When social injustices exist at the levels they do today, simply not being racist isn’t enough — one must be anti-racist. Kendi has a great knack for reducing this charged topic to a set of definitions and dimensions surrounding racism. 

This allows for more rational, and less emotional, discussions about dealing with racist policies and ideas rather than racists. The book contains a blueprint for organizations that want to re-examine their approach to inclusion and unconscious bias .

28. Moneyball , by Michael Lewis

Moneyball is a book about market disruption and competitive strategy. It chronicles the low-budget 2002 Oakland Athletics team and how they disrupted their industry with new approaches that gave them a distinct competitive advantage. That is until the industry changed.

Disruption sounds harsh, and it can be, both to your competitors and to your team who may be stuck in “old ways.” That said, good change management creates an opportunity for added market power.

29. The Hard Thing About Hard Things , by Ben Horowitz

“That’s the hard thing about hard things—there is no formula for dealing with them.” - Ben Horowitz

Ben Horowitz is a successful Silicon Valley founder and investor. His book is one of the best guidebooks out there for entrepreneurs , whether they’re just starting out or raising their final round of funding. Even if you’re not building a company from scratch, Horowitz provides great insights on mindset, business strategy, and old-fashioned hard work. 

Moving forward

Whether it’s audiobooks, e-books, or hard copies, consuming leadership books is one of the best ways to grow your skills and accelerate leadership training . — and your business. The most important thing is to take the time to prioritize learning from the many amazing business leaders who came before you.

Lead with confidence and authenticity

Develop your leadership and strategic management skills with the help of an expert Coach.

Ian Munro is a BetterUp Fellow Coach. Ian's passion in life is facilitating progress for others by synthesizing separate ideas and concepts into new ways of moving forward. As a Coach, he helps others find their authentic vitality and ways to let that lead the way in their life and career. Ian is a happy denizen of Vancouver Island off the west coast of Canada. His career as a leader in various business facets of IT allowed him to build a broad context of what makes businesses tick. He's never had a book speak to his true self as much as Fred Kofman’s Conscious Business (Brené Brown’s Gifts of Imperfection comes close).

Shift 2018: reimagining work and bringing more meaning to the employee experience

The key mindsets sales leaders need to unlock success: q&a with brad mccracken, global vp of sales at betterup, data shows since pandemic team performance hinges on this leader skill, 5 top companies share their best leadership development practices, how leadership coaching helps leaders get (and keep) an edge, how to build a high performance team, according to patty mccord, what makes an inclusive leader these 6 behaviors are a good start, professional leadership skills to incorporate on your resume, reflections on shift: cracking the code to people transformation in the workplace, and beyond, leading people as people, a conversation with cynt marshall, ceo of the dallas mavericks, refine your approach with these 7 leadership theories, the importance of being an ethical leader and how to become one, boss versus leader: develop the skills to bring out the best of both, become a better leader by learning how to stop micromanaging, how to be an empathetic leader in a time of uncertainty, what is a leadership development program and why do you need one, the most critical skills for leaders are fundamentally human, looking inward can make you a better leader, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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Top 20 Books for 21st Century School Leaders

18 Dec Top 20 Books for 21st Century School Leaders

Hooray! It’s holiday time for many School Leaders around the world!

Teachers and Principals work long hours and face many challenges each day so the holiday season is a wonderful time to catch up with family and friends, have some fun and just relax .

Holidays also provide the opportunity to read and reflect on your leadership growth and development.

I’ve created a Top 20 list of books to help you grow as a 21st Century School Leader . I hope you find something that will inspire and motivate you to make 2017 your best year yet!

• Focus: The Hidden Driver of Success (2015) by Daniel Goleman
• Uncommon Learning: Creating Schools That Work for Kids  (2015) by Eric Sheninger
• Leadership: Key Competencies for Whole System Change (2015) by Lyle Kirtman and Michael Fullan
• Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World (2014) by John Kotter
• The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact  (2014) by Michael Fullan
• The Triple Focus: a New Approach to Education  (2014) by Daniel Goleman and Peter Senge
• Digital Leadership – Changing Paradigms for Changing Times  (2014) by Eric Sheninger
• Thrive – The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder  (2014) by Arianna Huffington
• Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead  (2013) by Sheryl Sandberg
•   World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students  (2012) by Yong Zhao
• Creating Innovators – The Making of Young People Who will Change the World  (2012) Tony Wagner
• Truth, Beauty and Goodness Reframed: Educating for the Virtues in the 21st Century  (2011) by Howard Gardner
• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action  (2011) by Simon Sinek
• Nine Things Successful People Do Differently  (2011) by Heidi Grant Halvorson
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us  (2009) by Daniel H Pink
• T he Talent Code: Greatness isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How  (2009) by Daniel Coyle
• Spark! How exercise will improve the performance of your brain  (2009) by John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman
• The Success Principles  (2004) by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer
• Leadership Wisdom from the Monk who Sold his Ferrari  (2003) by Robin Sharma
• How to Win Friends and Influence People  (1936, revised edition 1981) by Dale Carnegie

If you would like more help in developing your leadership potential why not attend  Leadership for the 21st Century  a 2-day workshop for a whole new generation of School Leaders at the Professional Learning Hub, NIST International School, Bangkok. Click here for more details.

Download our "Top 3 Challenges Facing School Leaders today" whitepaper and learn how to overcome them.

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Best Books for Teachers and School Leaders – Updated for Summer 2022

Learning Ladders Blog Best Books for Teachers and School Leaders – Updated for Summer 2022

Education books are a valuable resource that help teachers and leaders improve their knowledge and skills. Not only that, they’re often funny, inspiring and packed full of actionable advice. Educators pour so much time into creating these CPD books for teachers that provide value to so many – but they rarely get the attention they deserve.

As the school holidays kick off in the UK, we wanted to award the best books for teachers and school leaders to read in summer 2022. After longlisting over 100 education books for teachers, our panel of experts narrowed this down to a shortlist of 40 titles. Then, we compiled our top ten picks and our winner – which you can find at the bottom of this post.

Our panel includes teachers, school leaders and EdTech entrepreneurs, such as Matt Koster-Marcon, CEO of Learning Ladders and Chair of EdTech at the British Educational Suppliers Association. To be clear: this list contains no affiliate links, and we earn no revenue from including these titles. We simply wanted to award the best CPD books for teachers to help inform your summer reading list. We’ve broken down the titles into topics, including wellbeing and educational leadership books, so you can jump to the section most relevant to you. Why not bookmark this page, so you have a library of top books for teachers ready to dive into?

Top Wellbeing Books for Teachers

A Little Guide for Teachers: Teacher Wellbeing and Self-Care

“Our book was written partly before but also during the pandemic. It’s a practical book, backed up by evidence, that guides teachers and school leaders in how to look after themselves so they can teach well but also so they can lead fulfilling lives inside and outside of the classroom. 

“But our book isn’t just about self-care and helping teachers cope within a broken system. We purposefully chose to end our book with a focus on agency and the small steps that teachers and leaders can take to not only after themselves but also to change things for the better in the wider education system. It might be small but it packs a punch and we hope it’s a book educators keep coming back to [and help teachers] restore their sense of perspective to help them focus on what really matters.”

Emotion Coaching with Children and Young People in Schools: Promoting Positive Behavior, Wellbeing and Resilience

“Emotion Coaching is an evidence-based, ‘in the moment’ strategy which has been shown to be a valuable ‘tool’ for educators and school leaders to bring about positive change and help reduce stress in schools.  

“The book is timely given the current global COVID-19 crisis and the disruptive impact this has had on children and young people in schools. The book takes the reader on a step-by-step journey to understand how Emotion Coaching supports the work of educators in helping pupils to, for example, understand their emotions, manage their anxiety and anger, and problem solve more effective ways to cope with their feelings so that they follow school rules more effectively and focus on their work.  

“It is filled with real-life illustrations of how staff have been able to de-escalate challenging situations with pupils, reduce incidents and exclusions in school, improve attendance and academic attainment, and enhance the wellbeing of staff and students alike through using Emotion Coaching.”

The Spread the Happiness Approach: Happy Teachers, Happy Classrooms, Better Education

“This book includes detailed case studies, a five-week programme of taster challenges and a section on measuring outcomes and sharing success. The Spread the Happiness approach invites teachers to undertake a 27-day challenge, which encourages problem-solving and challenges them to make their immediate workplace happier. It identifies the strengths of adults and children and sets realistic goals to achieve as an individual, as a team and even as a community.

“This powerful resource will be of great interest to all teachers and school leaders, as well as trainee teachers and students on leadership or early educational courses.”

The Teacher’s Guide to Self‑Care

“While there are undoubtedly larger factors that need to be addressed within education, practicing self-care is critical to building resilience and creating a sustainable career as a teacher. The Teacher’s Guide to Self-Care will help you leave the teacher-martyr complex behind and embrace a lifestyle that includes taking care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually while continuing to make a difference in the world. 

“Whether you’re a brand-new teacher preparing for your first year in the classroom or a veteran educator realizing you need to take better care of yourself, The Teacher’s Guide to Self-Care will help you create the self-care routines you need for a sustainable career.”

Love Teaching, Keep Teaching: The essential guide to improving well-being at all levels in schools

“With so many teachers and leaders questioning whether they can continue with the job or resigned to just ‘surviving’, never before has there been a greater need to reignite a passion for teaching and re-think the way we do education.

“Love Teaching Keep Teaching provides the stimulus and tools to help education professionals at all levels to look after themselves, lead with emotional literacy and challenge thinking and norms which undermine the wellbeing and progress of our staff and students. This is not just about avoiding burnout but about loving coming to school again. It’s about, together, transforming school culture so that our schools and classrooms really do what they are supposed to: change lives and change the world.”

Educational Leadership Books

Middle Leadership Mastery: A toolkit for subject and pastoral leaders

“The book also pulls ideas from a wide range of professions, such as call centres and Silicon Valley to provide a toolkit for subject and pastoral leaders to use when dealing with students and parents.

“Middle leadership is also as much to do with supporting your team as it is designing your curriculum. Middle Leadership Mastery has specific sections devoted to the building of successful teams and the supporting of colleagues in times of crisis. Middle leadership is a challenging role and so the book aims to provide tangible advice on how to effectively manage a leader’s own wellbeing and cope with the pressures of high stakes accountability.”

Irresistible Learning: Embedding a culture of research in schools

“The author offers a practical guide on how to engage in meaningful research that will have a deep and lasting impact on you and your organisation. You will be taken on a journey through a Research Cycle that will build your confidence and purpose as a researcher; deepening professional relationships and improving outcomes for all. 

“You will then be introduced to a range of systems that construct a culture of research in your school, building a climate where the voice of every member of staff is deeply valued and has the potential to influence the strategic development of the organisation. If you are interested in research in schools, this book is for you.”

Making the Leap – Moving from Deputy to Head

“I have been overwhelmed by the response. Since the book came out, I have been in steady receipt of messages of appreciation from readers who tell me how much they valued the advice, encouragement and practical guidance the book supplies for those on their journey into and through headship. Readers have told me that the book helped them to strengthen their applications, to be more confident at interview, and to deal with the reality of moving into the head’s role.  

“Strong, well-prepared leaders at all levels are crucial to the success of our schools, and so to the success of young people. I feel privileged to have been able to contribute to this preparation of future generations of heads and principals who work hard to serve pupils and communities.”

Thrive Through the Five: Practical Truths to Powerfully Lead through Challenging Times

“We all have that small percentage of our work (and life) when things are really hard. And we’ve all had years, like this past one, where that percentage of the work that is difficult is so much higher than 5%. 

“The goal of this book is to help us not just survive those moments, days and seasons, but to truly THRIVE! The work educators and leaders get to do is an incredible privilege – but it is not without cost. My hope is that the tips shared in this book will help you live and lead better. Because it is not enough to just survive. We owe it to ourselves and everyone around us to truly thrive.”

General Books for Teachers

The Action Hero Teacher: Classroom Management Made Simple

“But without effective classroom behaviour strategies, you will never be able to reach them no matter how smart you are.

“The Action Hero Teacher book helps teachers become the ‘heroes’ of their classrooms. The AHT book gives educators a grab bag of Classroom Management tools to build relationships, deal with poor behaviour and helps educators become the best versions of themselves to inspire their pupils.

“The AHT book is not another dusty, boring textbook. It’s a practical roadmap written by Karl C Pupé, a former NEETs Coordinator with ten years’ experience, who has worked with London’s most challenging students and managed to turn them around. Karl has worked with prestigious organisations like the National Education Union (NEU), Charted College of Teaching and the University of Essex to help teachers master classroom management.”

The Spelling Book: Transforming the Teaching of Spelling  

“Each edition of The Spelling Book includes daily and weekly spelling activities that are built on the fundamentals of teaching spelling using strong phonic foundations. Each book includes notes for teachers that suggest how to introduce the key concepts their pupils will be meeting, alongside proven methods to increase pupil retention. The book contains activities for the whole academic year. The activities within the books are adaptable and engaging, serving as a way for primary teachers to ‘up-the-ante’ in their spelling provision. 

“The Spelling Books outline a system of teaching spelling that relies on teachers to bring the ‘wonder of words’ to life. They allow enough room for creativity, whilst ensuring that all National Curriculum fundamentals are covered.”

Teaching Yourself to Teach: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fundamental and Practical Information You Need to Succeed as a Teacher Today

“Educators face a ridiculous number of changes, many of which coming from people with little experience in the classroom. I wanted to create resources that provide valuable information from experience, and that aren’t limited to a certain school year. Teachers can pick up this book tomorrow or in six months and the information will still be relevant.”

Put A Wet Paper Towel on It: The Weird and Wonderful World of Primary Schools

Paper cut? Wet paper towel!

Grazed knee? Wet paper towel!

Teacher retention crisis and well-being? Erm… slightly more complicated.

“We all know that teacher and school staff well-being is regularly paid lip service, but not enough is done to improve it. This book is all about raising smiles and will provide far more motivation than a pointless yoga staff meeting. 

“The current education system is broken but not unfixable. Lee Parkinson (ICT with Mr P) and his brother Adam Parkinson (The Other Mr P) are on a mission to entertain and inspire school staff to reignite their love for working in schools and to inform the masses that a career in education should and can still be, the greatest job in the world.”

Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn

“The authors use the very techniques described in the book to help readers understand in-depth concepts of learning in a simple, highly pictorial way, with plenty of fun metaphors to help clarify the concepts.  

“Coverage includes teaching today’s diverse students with their broadly varying working memory capacities; the importance of learning through and teaching to both the declarative (hippocampal) pathway and the procedural (basal ganglia) pathway; and easy-to-understand visuals that reveal how retrieval practice helps strengthen neural connections in long-term memory.  

“Above all, Uncommon Sense Teaching allows teachers to understand not just what to do in the classroom, but why. As teachers themselves know, understanding why can make all the difference.”

Shimamura’s MARGE Model of Learning in Action

“Through summarising the links Arthur Shimamura made between Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, the book ensures staff are aware of how these ideas can be used to improve the long-term learning of students. 

“Through the use of case studies from practising teachers and leaders, clear action ideas and tables “things to consider” when implementing these ideas, Shimamura’s MARGE Model of Learning in Action guides the reader through the process of implementing MARGE in the classroom.”

Sticky Teaching and Learning: How to make your students remember what you teach them: How to make your students remember what you teach them

“Additionally, it has a  practical toolkit of 50 teaching techniques that can be easily adopted into classroom practice. Teachers who read this book will be enthused to try the practical strategies it suggests, and confident of their pedigree because the book is firmly evidence based.”

Visible Learning: Feedback

“The book argues students prefer “where to next” feedback but most teacher feedback is about “where am I going?” and “how am I going”, and including praise with feedback about student work can dilute the feedback effect. 

“We have spent too much time on improving teachers’ feedback, whereas in this book we argue that it is more about students’ reception of feedback. We need to listen more what they hear, understand, and action from feedback and this not only helps teachers improve the nature and impact of their feedback it also invites teachers to teach students how to interpret and use the feedback.  

“Feedback thrives in a climate of openness, of seeing errors as opportunities to learn, and where there are appropriately challenging tasks.”

In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World-Class Schools

“This book is different from many other books: It goes beyond describing what an ideal high-performing school could be in theory by sharing the key principles and practical ideas about how an entire education system has been transformed to address collaboration, agency and teacher professionalism. 

“It reveals why teachers in Finland hold high status, and shows what school leaders and educators can do to build more trust in teachers as essential experts in the era of disruption and change. This makes In Teachers We Trust an essential reading for all teachers and administrators.”

100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Questioning

“The ideas also seek to bust common myths and misconceptions, such as open questions are always better than closed questions. While each idea can be used in isolation, as a whole the book presents a unique question-centred pedagogy that will encourage children to examine the world around them and become independent and critical thinkers. 

“It has an unusual philosophical depth and rigour for a primary-oriented book, yet it remains practical, easy to read and should be just as useful to secondary school teachers or anyone interested in good questioning.”

The Science of Learning: 99 Studies That Every Teacher Needs to Know

“The Science of Learning seeks to redress that balance. It covers a range of topics and answers questions that are at the heart of teaching. This includes how to best motivate bored students, why do students often forget things we have taught them, and how do we help develop resilience? 

“It also covers hot topics, such as banning mobile phones, the importance of sleep, should we do mixed-ability teaching and what actually is metacognition and cognitive load theory? 

“The book has been read by teachers from all over the world, with it’s impact being felt in classrooms in New Zealand, Australia, America, England, Canada, Norther Ireland and Dubai. This is because it is easy to read, simple to understood and contains strategies that are based on research that teachers can start to use immediately.”

Unpack Your Impact: How Two Primary Educators Ditched Problematic Lessons and Built a Culture-Centred Curriculum

“Educators all over the world have raved about how their lessons have been changed for the better after reading this book. In this book, readers will find themselves thinking about practices and strategies that they have engaged in previously and how they can make them more globally relevant. 

“The authors provide big ideas that are quickly followed up with concrete examples from their own classrooms. You will rethink everything that you do in the classroom after reading this book. Although it is told through the lens of two primary educators, Unpack Your Impact is a must-read for teachers of all grade levels and subjects because of the ease with which the reader can swap out their stories and topics for their own.”

Giving Students a Say: Smarter Assessment Practices to Empower and Engage

“Perhaps for too long we’ve overlooked this third element, and the origins of the word assessment might help us recalibrate. We get ‘assessment’ from the Latin ‘assidere’ which means ‘to sit beside’. Unfortunately, assessment in schools involves the teacher usually sitting across from the student – literally and figuratively. 

“In this timely book, Dueck argues that for much of our collective educational experience, assessment is what we have done to students, not with them. With a balance of ‘real world’ applications, research and tools that teachers could use immediately, Giving Students a Say opens the door for how we can empower and harness student voice, choice, self-assessment and self-reporting in the realm formerly reserved only for teachers – assessment.”

Assessing with Respect: Everyday Practices That Meet Students’ Social and Emotional Needs

“Readers of this book will need to consider their current practices, their own biases and will learn to work in more equitable ways. Student voice and choice are at the center of the practice and there is a big focus on building relationships to set up a culture in the classroom where risk-taking and reflection are key. School leaders need to support their teams with instructional practices that put the needs of students first and the book helps with that.”

Word Aware 1: Teaching Vocabulary Across the Day, Across the Curriculum

“‘Word Aware’ provides schools with tools and resources to implement a whole school approach to develop all children’s vocabulary. It is based upon research, but applies this in a practical, time-efficient manner. Developing vocabulary is not a quick fix, so ‘Word Aware’ provides fun ways to engage children and their families right across the primary age range.

“The ‘Word Aware’ approach is being used in many schools across the UK and internationally. Research studies have shown it is effective and children love it too. School leaders will love it because improved vocabulary results in better learning outcomes and increased attainment.”

The Teacher and the Teenage Brain

“The first chapter in the book is a simple introduction to the brain, entitled “Ten things every teacher needs to know about the teenage brain”. I then go on to cover the topics of cognitive development, risk, the importance of sleep for learning, and the management of stress and anxiety. My discussions with teachers led me to believe that this knowledge changes the way teachers understand their students. Perhaps most importantly, it allows them to see how critical these years are, and that there is capacity for change. My work has been hugely rewarding as I have seen how this knowledge can give teachers new insight and enhance relationships in the classroom.”

Creating the World We Want to Live In

“Throughout the 13 chapters, from childhood to relationships to the environment, the seven authors cite the evidence on wellbeing. They conclude that we need to move from a focus on what is good for me now to what is best for all of us in the longer term. Written to engage and inspire all readers, the science is illustrated with stories of good practice and solutions from around the globe. There are reflections and searching questions in each chapter to stimulate discussion. These provide an excellent resource for KS3-4, or even younger. 

“Our world is in a precarious place and young people are anxious about many things. What we all need is an injection of hope and practical ideas for a post-pandemic re-set. Education is about that future, for both individuals and the society they create.”

Grammarsaurus Key Stage 2: The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Non-Fiction Writing, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

“We felt that teachers would benefit from a book which would allow them to easily access high-quality texts which were both age-appropriate and contained the relevant writing, grammar, spelling and punctuation from the National Curriculum and the teacher assessment frameworks. We strongly believe that these skills should be taught in context, rather than in standalone grammar or punctuation lessons.

“We hope this book will support you when deciding what skills to teach and when. We ourselves use our text-specific overviews and model texts when planning: they are invaluable to us, and we hope they will become invaluable to you, too! The overviews will help you to decide when to teach different skills and the model texts will show how these skills can be used in different contexts. Whether you use the model texts to support your own knowledge or share them with your pupils to expose them to high-quality texts, we are sure they will be a great support.”

Teaching in the Game-Based Classroom: Practical Strategies for Grades 6-12

“Teachers and school leaders will learn a variety of strategies for engaging students as they return to classes from the isolation of COVID-19. For example, school leaders and teachers learn how Minecraft can build after-school communities and promote in-class creativity around any subject matter. 

“Other chapters show how students can write their own history-based stories using text adventure software or teach Biology using cutting edge immersive virtual reality in “Learning About Cells from the Inside Out”. Moreover, a triad of chapters will help teachers and support staff with best practices in the Social Emotional Learning domain vital to the post-pandemic school world. 

“You will even discover how to replace or supplement those deadening tests with playful assessments made possible learning games. In summary, readers will learn about the games and the stories behind the games through this engaging and informative book.”

Writing for Pleasure: Theory, Research and Practice

“The book explores what writing for pleasure means, and how it can be realised as a much-needed pedagogy whose aim is to develop children, young people, and their teachers as extraordinary and life-long writers. The approach described is grounded in what global research has long been telling us are the most effective ways of teaching writing and contains a description of what exceptional teachers of writing do that makes the difference.

“The authors describe ways of building communities of committed and successful writers who write with purpose, power, and pleasure, and they underline the importance of the affective needs of young writers, including promoting a sense of confidence, ownership, independence, desire, motivation, and writer-identity. 

“The book defines and discusses 14 research-informed principles which constitute a Writing for Pleasure pedagogy and show how they are applied by teachers in classroom practice. Case studies of outstanding teachers across the globe further illustrate what world-class writing teaching is.”

101 Playground Games: A Collection of Active and Engaging Playtime Games for Children

“During an average primary school day in the UK, children spend up to 20% of their time playing in the school playground. This provides an opportunity for one-fifth of a child’s time at school to be used to support their recovery and rehabilitation from the pandemic and for schools to ensure children regain confidence, rebuild relationships, and remember they are children again.

“101 Playground Games is a comprehensive resource to support primary schools to dramatically improve the quality of day-to-day playtimes and lunchtimes, with a consequent beneficial impact on lunchtime behaviour, engagement, learning, social, emotional, mental and physical health and wellbeing. 

“101 Playground Games offers enriching activities and traditional games to encourage active learning and social development among children at playtime. It is a book that will make playtime a richer experience for all.”

The Joy of Not Knowing: A Philosophy of Education Transforming Teaching, Thinking, Learning and Leadership in Schools

“It is fascinating to be experiencing this impact first-hand. Schools across the country are using the book to transform their culture, strategic thinking, professional development and pedagogy, which is then enabling every child to thrive emotionally, socially and academically. The love of learning that I’m seeing in these classrooms is extraordinary. The book also already forms the basis of many publications, NQT programmes, global educational conferences and courses. It has also become a key text in Initial Teacher Training and it is shaping the thinking of Governmental policymakers in the UK and in Uzbekistan through my work with APPG, FCCT, UNICEF.”

The Essential Blended Learning PD Planner: Where Classroom Practice Meets Distance Learning

“The Essential Blended Learning PD Planner: Where Classroom Practice Meets Distance Learning explores how the distance learning experience will impact the traditional classroom and how we can leverage the best practices developed to enhance learning through a combination of effective class­room instruction and technology. Most importantly, it examines how these changes can impact equity and access for all students and reinforce the pedagogical philosophy and resources needed to finally close the achievement gap.

“With a foreword by Michael Fullan and diagrams guiding the reader through the journey from theory to practice, this critical and timely book serves as a resource for school leaders and teachers to collaboratively design and implement a professional development program that supports all teachers during this transition. Included are interactive templates, tech tips, connections to instructional technology for social justice, and ideas for professional development sessions. Now is the time to take advantage of this momentous shift and forever alter the educational landscape.”

Diversity and Inclusion Books for Schools

10% Braver: Inspiring Women to Lead Education

“Its real impact is inspiring women to believe in themselves. For example, Parm Plummer said: ‘There are few books that can make a difference to people’s lives. For me, a woman of ethnic heritage, seeking to move into leadership but facing setbacks, reading 10% Braver had a huge impact. Up to then, I had full-blown Imposter Syndrome. The book galvanised me to action: I became a network leader for WomenEd to support other women. Now I’m a Global Strategic Leader of WomenEd’.”

Celebrating Difference: A whole-school approach to LGBT+ inclusion

“‘Celebrating Difference’ aims to inspire sustainable, compassionate change within individuals, learning communities and education systems. An inspiring initial chapter of painful (but uplifting) lived experience precedes a highly detailed, practical, tried, tested and multi-award-winning strategic process of personal, cultural and organisation change in respect of diversity, equitable inclusion and intersectional change deployable across the equality strands. 

“The text is informed by over twenty years in class-teaching, leadership, governance, strategic school improvement and enriched with unique experience as a global LGBT+ education advocate. 

“Recommended in Parliament, it features change strategies, research, anecdotal evidence, case studies, teaching, learning and curriculum guidance, impact study, challenge and reflection questions and strategic audit strategies supporting staff, leaders and governors to prevent prejudice whilst fostering conscious inclusion. 

“The book nurtures a sense of permission and empowerment, enabling readers to find their authentic voices whilst aspiring to validate, represent and educate all, not merely some, of our wonderfully diverse young people.”

No Outsiders: Everyone Different, Everyone Welcome: Preparing Children for Life in Modern Britain

“We teach children that there are No Outsiders in our school because everyone is welcome. We link our language to the Equality Act 2010 and British Values. No Outsiders is a whole school ethos that provides a framework for delivering a simple but effective curriculum steeped in an understanding of equality where all children feel proud to know they belong.”

50 Wellbeing Lessons for the Diverse Primary Classroom: Teaching Through Inclusive Practice

“Both accessible and fun, the collection of activities cover a wide range of pertinent topics that challenge children to reflect, ask questions, analyse and find solutions through open discussion and collaboration. It provides them with the opportunity to explore their feelings and understand empathy and develop coping strategies in order to promote wellbeing. The content covered in this resource includes key topics such as the impact of discrimination, the Black Lives Matter movement, prejudice, coping with loss, feeling left out, moving school and managing as a young carer.

“This practical guide is ideal for those new to teaching as well as more experienced practitioners. It addresses social and emotional wellbeing through themes that often affect marginalised groups and is crucial reading for anyone looking to embed an inclusive mental wellbeing culture within their school.”

Reading, Writing, and Racism: Disrupting Whiteness in Teacher Education and in the Classroom

“This book provides a framework to identify racist curriculum and argues that White teachers must reframe their understanding about race in order to advance racial justice, and that this must begin in teacher education programs. Drawing on two decades of experience preparing teachers to focus on social justice and antiracism, Picower demonstrates how teachers’ ideology of race, consciously or unconsciously, shapes how they teach race in the classroom. 

“With a focus on institutional strategies, the book supports leaders to understand how racial justice can be built into programs across the teacher education pipeline—from admission to induction. By examining the who, what, why, and how of racial justice teacher education, she provides radical possibilities for transforming how teachers think about, and teach about, race in their classrooms.”

Books for NQTs and New Teachers

How to Survive Your First Year in Teaching

“Often referred to as one of the first practical handbooks for teachers, I wrote the book as a summary of everything that I had learned in my first few years as a teacher, and which I thought would be useful for others new to the profession. I like to feel that I ‘blazed a trail’ for all the practical handbooks that followed with this, my first book, and also my second practical guide Getting the Buggers to Behave.

“As with all my books, the key to its success, and the reason it has stayed in print for so long, is that it is honest, realistic, practical and easy to dip into to find advice. Written in a down-to-earth way that appeals to teachers in real life classrooms, this is not an academic text, nor is it based on years of research. It is simply a collection of best practice, top tips, useful strategies and honest reflections on what it is like being a new teacher. If you want to not only survive, but to succeed as well, this is the book for you.”

Top Tips for New Teachers

“Teaching is incredibly difficult and requires a broad skill set which grows over time.  Nationally, there is not only a recruitment shortage but also a real retention problem with teachers within the profession.  Much of the success of a teacher’s integration into the profession rests on the quality of their mentor within their school. And this is not right.

“Many teachers are left to their own devices and are left to fend for themselves. I was fortunate enough to have a fantastic mentor who guided me through the first few years of teaching within a really supportive school.

“As my career progressed, I trained more and more teachers new to the profession and found myself repeating key points which were often overlooked or ignored in teacher training programmes.  As such, I wrote ‘Top Tips for New Teachers’ with the aim of sharing the best of what I have learned and experienced over time to help new teachers entering our wonderful profession.”

SEND Books for Teachers

SEND Assessment: A Strengths-Based Framework for Learners with SEND (The Essential SENCO Toolkit)

“The 7 C’s Learning Portfolio provides a language of SEN Support and helps teachers to work with learners and their families to identify 3 strengths and 3 areas for development that will inform the SEN Support for that half-term. Each ‘C’ contains 7 learning themes, so Cognition describes working memory, speed of processing, inference, anticipation, reflection, evaluation and analysis. There are a further 7 themes within Communication, Creativity, Control, Compassion, Co-ordination and Curriculum. 

“The book also contains a progress tracker, which can be used to identify a starting point or baseline for each of the 49 learning themes, and to then track progress. Capturing the movement of a learner from Emerging to Evolving to Effective, with the possibility of identifying an enhanced or exceptional skill too.

“The book is a practical resource that provides materials necessary to implement the 7 Cs Learning Portfolio in a functional, intermediate or extensive way.”

EdTech Books for Teachers

My Secret #EdTech Diary: Looking at Educational Technology through a wider lens

“The overriding aim of ‘My Secret #EdTech Diary’ is to demystify EdTech and make it accessible for everyone. Written in a conversational style, the book takes you on a journey through education technology and draws on 30 years of experience and insights from both educator and vendor perspectives, in a way that includes everyone within a school to feel able to join the conversation. 

“The book includes plenty of ideas to help schools shape their digital strategies, develop teachers’ and students’ digital skills, co-produce solutions with EdTech vendors, use EdTech to support improved communication, wellbeing and much more.

“With lots of links for readers to discover valuable resources and check best practice, it’s a great handbook to help everyone within a school understand the pedagogical and practical potential of EdTech in their schools, the opportunities it can bring – and the pitfalls to avoid!”

Books for Early Years (EYFS) Practitioners

Developing a Loving Pedagogy in the Early Years

“However, love is not a word that is often used in the context of education and this book changes this – it celebrates the natural way that many adults who are in loco parentis feel about the children in their care – a deep sense of love.  

“Developing a Loving Pedagogy draws upon my research, other research, theory and literature from academics and includes stories, anecdotes and case studies that I have gathered over a number of years.  

“This book gives educators permission to love the children in their care and also empowers and includes children by helping educators to hold them in mind and speak the same (love) language as their children.”

Top 10 CPD Books for Teachers Summer 2022

After careful consideration, here are our top 10 CPD books for teachers to read this year, including our winner: well done to Bree Picower! 

In a year marked by historic protests around the world, your book is helping to shape the next generation to dismantle racism in schools and beyond.  

10. Unpack Your Impact: How Two Primary Educators Ditched Problematic Lessons and Built a Culture-Centred Curriculum

9. 10% Braver: Inspiring Women to Lead Education

8. The Spread the Happiness Approach: Happy Teachers, Happy Classrooms, Better Education

7. The Science of Learning: 99 Studies That Every Teacher Needs to Know

6. Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn

5. Celebrating Difference: A whole-school approach to LGBT+ inclusion

4. In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World-Class Schools

3. Visible Learning: Feedback

2. Shimamura’s MARGE Model of Learning in Action

1. Reading, Writing, and Racism: Disrupting Whiteness in Teacher Education and in the Classroom

We hope you enjoyed our list for best books for teachers featured on this list! Learning Ladders improved year-end Primary results by 11% in two years for one school. Want to find out more about how you can accelerate pupil progress?

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Educational Leadership

Time for Change: Four Essential Skills for Transformational School and District Leaders

• Educational Leadership Development for Change Management
• By: Anthony Muhammad, Luis F. Cruz
• Narrated by: Peter Coates
• Length: 4 hrs and 10 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 5
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 4
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 4

Time for Change: Four Essential Skills for Transformational School and District Leaders (Educational Leadership Development for Change Management) offers powerful guidance for those seeking to develop and strengthen the educational leadership skills needed for change management. Throughout this authoritative guide, Anthony Muhammad and Luis F. Cruz share concrete tools and strategies that will prepare you to lead your school toward lasting, meaningful change.

• 5 out of 5 stars

The content offered examples of what works, why, and how to implement.

• By Melanie Dukes on 07-11-24
• By: Anthony Muhammad , Luis F. Cruz
• Release date: 09-29-23
• Language: English
• 5 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

Time for Change: Four Essential Skills for Transformational School and District Leaders offers powerful guidance for those seeking to develop and strengthen the educational leadership skills needed for change management....

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Regular price: $14.95 or 1 credit

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Dare to Lead

• Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
• By: Brené Brown
• Narrated by: Brené Brown
• Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 29,230
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 24,915
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 24,640

Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? This audiobook answers this question.

Brené's Work Has Changed My Life

• By Maximus on 01-12-19
• Release date: 10-09-18
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 29,230 ratings

Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give us meaning. She found that leaders all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver leaders and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? Dare to Lead answers this....

Regular price: $18.00 or 1 credit

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Leading the Unleadable

• How to Manage Mavericks, Cynics, Divas, and Other Difficult People
• By: Alan Willett
• Narrated by: Tom Parks
• Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 174
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 146
• Story 4 out of 5 stars 147

Difficult people are the worst part of a manager's job. Whether it comes from direct reports or people above, outbursts, irrational demands, griping, and other disruptions need to be dealt with - and it's your responsibility to do it. Leading the Unleadable turns this dreaded chore into a straight forward process that gently, yet effectively, improves behaviors.

• 1 out of 5 stars

Almost nothing to do with difficult people

• By Amazon Customer on 05-25-18
• Release date: 11-29-16
• 4 out of 5 stars 174 ratings
• Once you realize the potential for change, the book's simple steps, examples, and scripts explain how to right even the most hopeless situations....

Regular price: $20.00 or 1 credit

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Start with Why

• How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
• By: Simon Sinek
• Narrated by: Simon Sinek
• Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 27,055
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 22,988
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 22,841

The inspirational best seller that ignited a movement and asked us to find our why. Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time - with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the why of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever.

• 2 out of 5 stars

Useless Dribble

• By Chimdi Azubuike on 03-10-18
• Release date: 09-05-17
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 27,055 ratings

The inspirational best seller that ignited a movement and asked us to find our why. Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time - with more than 56 million views and counting....

Regular price: $20.25 or 1 credit

Sale price: $20.25 or 1 credit

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: 25th Anniversary

• Follow Them and People Will Follow You
• By: John C. Maxwell
• Narrated by: John C. Maxwell, Henry O. Arnold
• Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 682
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 578
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 575

HarperCollins and John C. Maxwell are celebrating the milestone anniversary of Maxwell’s bestselling The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership , with the publication of a revised and updated 25th anniversary edition. Included are insights from Maxwell on each law and how they have impacted his life as a leader and mentor. There will also be stories from some of today’s most impactful leaders, like IT Cosmetics' Jamie Kern Lima, Maxwell Leadership CEO Mark Cole, and author and marketing expert Jeff Henderson, on how they have applied these laws to their own success journeys.

Very intriguing views.

• By Jason Frampton on 11-11-22
• Narrated by: John C. Maxwell , Henry O. Arnold
• Release date: 05-31-22
• 5 out of 5 stars 682 ratings

HarperCollins and John C. Maxwell are celebrating the milestone anniversary of Maxwell’s New York Times bestselling book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership , with the publication of a revised and updated 25th anniversary edition....

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Hacking Leadership

• 10 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students, and Parents Love (Hack Learning Series)
• By: Joe Sanfelippo, Tony Sinanis
• Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
• Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 65
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 54
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 51

In Hacking Leadership , award-winning school administrators Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis demonstrate how to increase learning by leaving the office and engaging directly with all teachers and learners. They identify 10 problems with school leadership and provide dynamic, right-now solutions.

Easy read with simple practical suggestions

• By JA Montanez on 11-25-23
• By: Joe Sanfelippo , Tony Sinanis
• Release date: 05-26-20
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 65 ratings

In Hacking Leadership , award-winning school administrators Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis demonstrate how to increase learning by leaving the office and engaging directly with all teachers and learners....

Regular price: $11.17 or 1 credit

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Leaders Eat Last

• Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't
• Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 4,416
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 3,722
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,681

Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a "Circle of Safety" that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside. Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.

Very Disappointed

• By Jackson F. on 10-16-20
• Release date: 02-18-20
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4,416 ratings

Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a "Circle of Safety" that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside....

What Great Principals Do Differently

• 18 Things That Matter Most, Second Edition
• By: Todd Whitaker
• Narrated by: Steve Marvel
• Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 225
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 177
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 174

Inspire yourself and others with the second edition of this best-seller. With heartfelt advice, practical wisdom, and examples from the field, Todd Whitaker explains the qualities and practices that distinguish great principals.

Great for new leaders

• By Tyffany Jackson on 07-19-19
• Release date: 01-29-19
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 225 ratings

Inspire yourself and others with the second edition of this best-seller. With heartfelt advice, practical wisdom, and examples from the field, Todd Whitaker explains the qualities and practices that distinguish great principals....

Go See the Principal

• True Tales from the School Trenches
• By: Gerry Brooks
• Narrated by: Gerry Brooks, Angela Gonzales
• Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 347
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 304
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 301

Gerry Brooks is an elementary school principal turned YouTube celebrity who entertains K-12 teachers, administrators, and parents across the country. He tells jokes with the kind of mocking humor that gets a laugh yet can be safely shared in school. After all, even great schools have bad days - when lesson plans fall through, disgruntled parents complain, kids throw temper tantrums because they have to use the same spoon for their applesauce and mashed potatoes, and, of course, dealing with... The Horror! The Horror!... dreaded assessments.

• By Lady Dorminey on 07-06-19
• Narrated by: Gerry Brooks , Angela Gonzales
• Release date: 04-30-19
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 347 ratings

Gerry Brooks is an elementary school principal turned YouTube celebrity who entertains K-12 teachers, administrators, and parents across the country. He tells jokes with the kind of mocking humor that gets a laugh yet can be safely shared in school....

Regular price: $14.81 or 1 credit

Sale price: $14.81 or 1 credit

Educational Leadership and School Instructional Improvement

• By: Paul F. Davis
• Narrated by: Virtual Voice
• Length: 1 hr and 33 mins
• Overall 0 out of 5 stars 0
• Performance 0 out of 5 stars 0
• Story 0 out of 5 stars 0

Learn the foundational values, beliefs, and principles that uphold and guide effective educational leaders and their schools. Cultivate and sustain a positive culture within your academic community that effectively articulates your vision and purpose for academic instruction, curriculum, assessment, and achievement. Align and direct staff and teachers to collaborate to accomplish annual objectives. Plan and provide meaningful professional development to improve instructional strategies and increase student achievement. Assist teachers to clarify school and classroom instructional goals, ...

• Release date: 02-24-24
• Not rated yet
• Learn the foundational values, beliefs, and principles that uphold and guide effective educational leaders and their schools. Cultivate and sustain...

Regular price: $4.47 or 1 credit

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Lead Like a Pirate

• Make School Amazing for Your Students and Staff
• By: Shelley Burgess, Beth Houf
• Narrated by: Shelley Burgess, Beth Houf
• Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 119
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 98
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 97

Pirates are on a constant quest for riches, but pirate leaders seek even greater rewards: Amazing schools, engaged students, and empowered educators who know they are making a difference. In Lead Like a Pirate , education leaders Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf map out the character traits necessary to captain a school or district. You'll learn where to find the treasure that's already in your classrooms and schools - and how to bring out the very best in your educators.

• By Tina on 06-21-23
• By: Shelley Burgess , Beth Houf
• Narrated by: Shelley Burgess , Beth Houf
• Release date: 02-14-20
• 5 out of 5 stars 119 ratings

Pirates are on a constant quest for riches, but pirate leaders seek even greater rewards: Amazing schools, engaged students, and empowered educators who know they are making a difference....

Regular price: $19.95 or 1 credit

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Talk to Me: Find the Right Words to Inspire, Encourage, and Get Things Done

• By: Kim Bearden
• Narrated by: Kim Bearden
• Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 162
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 134
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 133

Talk to me. From Kim Bearden, cofounder of Ron Clark Academy and author of the best-selling book Crash Course: The Life Lessons My Students Taught Me , comes a powerful guide for improving communication and building better relationships. Whether you are a teacher, administrator, parent, or business professional, chances are you struggle at times to find the right words. Talk to Me gives you those words. In this instructional and inspirational handbook, you’ll learn how to choose words that inspire, encourage, and move people to action.

• 4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, practical principles

• By annygries on 02-20-19
• Release date: 08-31-18
• 5 out of 5 stars 162 ratings

Talk to me. From Kim Bearden, cofounder of Ron Clark Academy and author of the best-selling book Crash Course: The Life Lessons My Students Taught Me , comes a powerful guide for improving communication and building better relationships....

• Every Student. Every Day. Whatever It Takes.
• By: Jimmy Casas, Salome Thomas-EL
• Narrated by: Jimmy Casas
• Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 444
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 381
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 376

Average schools don't inspire greatness - and greatness is what our world needs if we are going to produce world-changing learners. In Culturize , author and education leader Jimmy Casas shares insights into what it takes to cultivate a community of learners who embody the innately human traits our world desperately needs, such as kindness, honesty, and compassion. His stories reveal how these "soft skills" can be honed while meeting and exceeding academic standards of 21st-century learning.

stick with this one

• By WinthropCunningham on 03-03-19
• By: Jimmy Casas , Salome Thomas-EL
• Release date: 06-30-18
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 444 ratings

Average schools don't inspire greatness - and greatness is what our world needs if we are going to produce world-changing learners. In Culturize , author and education leader Jimmy Casas shares insights into what it takes to cultivate a community of learners....

Regular price: $13.75 or 1 credit

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Hacking School Discipline

• 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy and Responsibility Using Restorative Justice (Hack Learning Series)
• By: Nathan Maynard, Brad Weinstein
• Narrated by: Brian Holden
• Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 133
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 110
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 106

Are you or your teachers frustrated with carrots and sticks, detention rooms, and suspension-antiquated school discipline practices that simply do not work with the students entering our classrooms today? Our kids have complex needs, and we must empower and embrace them with restorative practices that not only change behaviors but transform students into productive citizens, accountable for their own actions.

teacher and admin must read!

• By Jahart08 on 11-13-21
• By: Nathan Maynard , Brad Weinstein
• Release date: 05-29-20
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 133 ratings

In a book that should become your new blueprint for school discipline, teachers, presenters, and school leaders, Nathan Maynard and Brad Weinstein demonstrate how to eliminate punishment and build a culture of responsible students and independent learners....

The Ten-Minute Inservice

• 40 Quick Training Sessions that Build Teacher Effectiveness
• Narrated by: Edward Bauer, Annette Breaux
• Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 21
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 18
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 18

Written by popular education consultants Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux, this important book offers 40 teacher-tested, mini-workshops that can improve teaching in every classroom. The book covers a range of topics, from behavior challenges and parent engagement to motivating students and making lessons meaningful.

Great for New Administrators

• By Amber Wineinger on 07-09-23
• Narrated by: Edward Bauer , Annette Breaux
• Release date: 07-09-19
• 5 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

Written by popular education consultants Todd Whitaker and Annette Breaux, this important book offers 40 teacher-tested, mini-workshops that can improve teaching in every classroom. The book covers a range of topics, from behavior challenges and parent engagement to motivating students....

The Principal

• Three Keys to Maximizing Impact
• By: Michael Fullan
• Narrated by: Don Hagen
• Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 152
• Performance 4 out of 5 stars 131
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 125

Over the past two decades, Michael Fullan has written influentially about the change that school and district leaders must bring about as formalized achievement standards and new technology transform how schools are run. What he hasn't done until now is explore and discuss in detail how and why the principal's role itself must change.

very inspiring and concrete for educational leader

• By kristen hardy on 06-27-16
• Release date: 08-26-15
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 152 ratings
• Over the past two decades, Michael Fullan has written influentially about the change that school and district leaders must bring about....

Regular price: $21.48 or 1 credit

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The Listening Leader

• Creating the Conditions for Equitable School Transformation
• By: Shane Safir, Michael Fullan - Foreword
• Narrated by: Rachel L. Jacobs
• Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 45
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 35
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 35

The Listening Leader is a practical guide that will inspire school, district, and teacher leaders to make substantive change and increase equitable student outcomes. Rooted in the values of equity, relationships, and listening, this luminous book helps reimagine what is possible in education today. Drawing from more than 20 years of experience in public schools, Shane Safir incorporates hands-on strategies and powerful stories to show us how to leverage one of the most vital tools of leadership: listening.

Practical daily steps

• By Amazon Customer on 04-08-24
• By: Shane Safir , Michael Fullan - Foreword
• Release date: 08-27-19
• 5 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

The Listening Leader is a practical guide that will inspire school, district, and teacher leaders to make substantive change and increase equitable student outcomes.... 

Regular price: $17.19 or 1 credit

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The 12 Week Year

• Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months
• By: Brian P. Moran, Michael Lennington
• Narrated by: Tom Pile
• Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,249
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,923
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,907

Most organizations and individuals work in the context of annual goals and plans; a 12-month execution cycle. Instead, The 12 Week Year avoids the pitfalls and low productivity of annualized thinking. This book redefines your "year" to be 12 weeks long. In 12 weeks, there just isn't enough time to get complacent, and urgency increases and intensifies. The 12 Week Year creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end more of the important stuff gets done and the impact on results is profound.

Good idea but…

• By Mercedes on 02-08-23
• By: Brian P. Moran , Michael Lennington
• Release date: 07-27-20
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,249 ratings
• Are you ready to change your life? Update your thinking and avoid complacency with the 12 week year.

Public School Equity

• Educational Leadership for Justice
• By: Manya C. Whitaker
• Narrated by: Julienne Irons
• Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins

Efforts to address inequities within our schools tend to ignore the underlying beliefs that sustain injustices, and focus instead on short-lived policies and practices. This book takes a different approach to eradicating educational disparities. Drawing on more than 40 interviews with teachers, principals, and district leaders, Manya C. Whitaker offers educators guidance for leading a school or district grounded in social justice that centers teachers - not just teaching practices - and that focuses on the belief systems that shape decision-making.

• Release date: 02-08-22

Efforts to address inequities within our schools tend to ignore the underlying beliefs that sustain injustices, and focus instead on short-lived policies and practices. This book takes a different approach to eradicating educational disparities....

Regular price: $21.49 or 1 credit

Sale price: $21.49 or 1 credit

101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think

• By: Brianna Wiest
• Narrated by: Abby Craden
• Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,238
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,882
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,864

Over the past few years, Brianna Wiest has gained renown for her deeply moving, philosophical writing. This new compilation of her published work features pieces on why you should pursue purpose over passion, embrace negative thinking, see the wisdom in daily routine, and become aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life. Some of these pieces have never been seen; others have been read by millions of people around the world. Regardless, each will leave you thinking: This idea changed my life.

Finding ways on being a better version of yourself

• By Laura K. Alvarado Fonseca on 08-19-20
• Release date: 08-21-18
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,238 ratings
• 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think is a collection of author Brianna Wiest's most beloved pieces of writing.
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The Top 50 Best Books for Teachers – Professional Development Education Books You’ll Love

Table of Contents

1. the innovator’s mindset: empower learning, unleash talent, and learn a culture of creativity – george couros.

• 2. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way To Build Good Habits And Break Bad Ones – James Clear

3. So Much Reform, So Little Change: The Persistence Of Failure In Urban Schools – Charles M Payne 

4. vintage innovation: leveraging retro tools and classic ideas to design deeper learning experiences – john spencer.

• 5. An Educator’s Guide To STEAM: Engaging Students Using Real-World Problems – Cassie F Quigley, Danielle Herro, Deborah Hanuscin
• 6. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brene Brown
• 7. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything – Ken Robinson, Lou Aronica
• 8. The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change – Adam Braun
• 9. Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Transform, – Elise Ballard

Related articles:

10. the coddling of the amerian mind: how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure – greg lukianoff, jonathan haidt, 11. the whole-brain child: 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your child’s developing mind – daniel j. siegel, tina payne bryson, 12. the power of place: authentic learning through place-based education – tom vander ark, emily leibtag, nate mcclennen.

• 13. The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life – Chris Guillebeau
• 14. Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative – Ken Robinson
• 15. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are – Brene Brown
• 16. Walking on Water: Reading, Writing and Revolution – Derrick Jensen
• 17. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – Daniel H. Pink
• 18. The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact – Michael Fullan

19. Flipping Leadership Doesn’t Mean Reinventing the Wheel – Peter M DeWitt

• 20. Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator – Dave Burgess
• 21. Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools – Paul Bambrick-Santoyo
• 22. Shifting the Monkey: The Art of Protecting Good People From Liars, Criers, and Other Slackers – Todd Whitaker
• 23. The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools – Multiple Authors
• 24. What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 Things That Matter Most – Todd Whitaker
• 25. The Tech-Savvy Administrator: How do I use technology to be a better school leader? – Steven W. Anderson
• 26. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character – Paul Tough
• 27. Mindsets in the Classroom: Building a Culture of Success and Student Achievement in Schools – Mary Cay Ricci
• 28. The Way of Mindful Education: Cultivating Well-Being in Teachers and Students – Daniel Rechtschaffen
• 29. The Way They Learn – Cynthia Ulrich Tobias
• 30. Why Don’t Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom – Daniel T Willingham
• 31. The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child – Richard Lavoie
• 32. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning – Peter C Brown
• 33. How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching – Multiple Authors
• 34. Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning – John Hattie
• 35. Design For How People Learn (Voices That Matter) – Julie Dirksen
• 36. Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools – Michael B Horn, Heather Staker
• 37. The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning – Tom D Whitby, Steven W. Anderson
• 38. Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success – Carol Dweck
• 39. School Culture Rewired: How to Define, Assess, and Transform It – Steve Gruenert, Todd Whitaker
• 40. Shaping School Culture: Pitfalls, Paradoxes, and Promises – Terrence E Deal, Kent D Peterson
• 41. Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School – Andy Hargreaves, Michael Fullan
• 42. Cultures Built to Last – DuFour Richard, Fullan Michael
• 43. The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive And Thrive – Michael Fullan
• 44. Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World – Tony Wagner
• 45. Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day – Jonathan Bergmann, Aaron Sams
• 46. Worlds of Making: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School – Laura Fleming
• 47. Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners – Multiple Authors
• 48. Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner – Persida & William Himmele
• 49. Disrupting Class, Expanded Edition: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns – Multiple Authors
• 50. Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding – Jay McTighe, Grant Wiggins
• 51. The Understanding by Design Guide Set (2 Books)– Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe
• 52. Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty – Elizabeth F Barkley
• 53. Reinventing Writing: The 9 Tools That Are Changing Writing, Teaching, and Learning Forever – Vicki Davis
• 54. Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom – Sylvia Libow Martinez, Gary S Stager

More Professional Development Books and Educator Books For Teachers Reading List

There are a LOT of great books for teachers out there. Picking just fifty is no easy feat, but we’ve done our best to cover the best books for teachers from five different angles .

All of these are exceptional reads for teachers. They are in no particular order ; number one’s content is just as significant a teacher resource as number fifty. So, take a browse through the list or jump directly to your area of interest as a teacher, whether it’s inspiration, mindfulness, leadership ways, classroom management, improved student outcomes, teaching, learning culture, or educational psychology.

Top Professional Development Books For Teachers Compared

One of our favorite professional development books for teachers, The Innovator’s Mindset, contains numerous practical examples of innovative leadership. George Couros encourages any school teacher and administrator to shape students’ natural curiosity by empowering them to question and explore. Innovation starts at the top; this book shows educators how to become innovative thinkers. 

2. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way To Build Good Habits And Break Bad Ones –  James Clear

While not strictly a professional development book, it is one of my favorite books for teachers. In Atomic Habits, world-renowned habits expert James Clear explains how small changes can transform a teacher’s life and impact student learning and student behavior. This practical book reveals simple life hacks and explains why they form good habits and break bad ones.  

In this book, Charles M Payne vividly portrays the weakness of the social infrastructure and daily realities in today’s urban schools. However, the last decade has brought hope with insights into the causes of school failure and how some schools succeeded in improving.

John Spencer’s professional development books answer questions real teachers have about being innovative in the classroom without the best technology, spark creativity within constraints, and how to use vintage tools and approaches in new ways. Vintage Innovation shows the relevance for teachers to look back and forward, using timeless skills and strategies in new ways. 

5. An Educator’s Guide To STEAM: Engaging Students Using Real-World Problems –  Cassie F Quigley, Danielle Herro, Deborah Hanuscin

An Educator’s Guide to STEAM is a practical book to help K-8 grade teachers understand STEAM. The conceptual model illustrates key STEAM teaching aspects like integrating STEAM content and the correct teaching environment. One of the best STEAM-related professional development books for teachers, this book also offers strategies and elements of connected learning to help learners connect STEAM to real-world issues. 

6. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brene Brown

In Daring Greatly, Dr. Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability. Based on twelve years of research, she argues that vulnerability is not weakness but rather our clearest path to courage, engagement, and meaningful connection. Understanding these concepts can help a teacher in teaching learners and classroom management.

7. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything – Ken Robinson, Lou Aronica

The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve their highest levels. With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the Element and those that stifle that possibility.

8. The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change – Adam Braun

The riveting New York Times bestseller is about a young man who built more than 250 schools worldwide—and the steps anyone can take to lead a successful and significant life. The Promise of a Pencil chronicles Braun’s journey to find his calling, as each chapter explains one clear step that every person can take to turn their most significant ambitions into reality. An inspiring book to add to the reading list of professional development books for teachers.

9. Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Transform, – Elise Ballard

Have you ever experienced an epiphany, a life-changing moment, or a realization? Elise Ballard has, and she was so stunned by its effect on her life that she started asking others if they had ever experienced these kinds of breakthroughs.

• 8 Education Technology Books Every Leader Should Read
• 13 of the Best Minecraft Books for Kids Who Are Reluctant to Read
• Books to Inspire Coding & Robotics

First Amendment expert Greg Lukianhoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt make a case for how three terrible ideas in childhood education are the origins of new problem trends on college campuses. The three untruths are: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker, Always trust your feelings, and Life is a battle between good people and evil people. Embracing these untruths has a negative influence on the social, emotional, and intellectual development of children, hence poor school discipline and relationships. According to them, cognitive behavioral psychology (CBT) has tools to evaluate and rectify these situations. Excellent reading material for teachers, parents, and mainstream society concerned about a generation setup for trauma and failure. 

Teachers are lifelong learners, and this book is a great practical book on how to develop healthy brain development in children. New York Times bestsellers, the authors, offer a revolutionary approach to rearing children. Based on the latest neuroscience research on how young children’s right brain emotions rule over their logical left brain, they offer 12 key age-appropriate strategies to cultivate healthy emotional and intellectual development. According to the authors, the brain is “under construction” until a child is in their mid-twenties. This is a recommended reading not just for parents and new teachers in elementary education but for all teachers with a passion for teaching; an excellent.

Placed-based education (PBE) is adaptable learning anytime and anywhere where learning leverages the power of place for personalized learning. Since birth, children learn from their surroundings, and history shows that before industrialized education, the community was the classroom. Instead of the American classroom becoming an aspect of learning, it became the place where parents send their children to learn. This book provides teacher educators with ideas on how to enhance the benefits of place-based learning in the teaching profession. Another good read to add to parents’ and teachers’ bookshelves.

13. The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life – Chris Guillebeau

A remarkable book, the content, like his other books, will guide and inspire the teacher and students in the classroom. The Happiness of Pursuit reveals how anyone can bring meaning into their life by undertaking a quest. When he set out to visit all of the planet’s countries by age thirty-five, compulsive goal seeker, Chris Guillebeau never imagined that his journey’s biggest revelation would be how many people like himself exist – each pursuing a challenging quest.

14. Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative – Ken Robinson

“It is often said that education and training are the keys to the future. They are, but a key can turn in two directions. Turn it one way, and you lock resources away, even from those they belong to. Turn it the other way, and you release resources and give people back to themselves.” Learning to be Creative is one of the best books for teachers to inspire learners and educators to think and act differently toward each other.

15. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are – Brene Brown

In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown, a leading expert on shame, authenticity, and belonging, shares ten guideposts on the power of Wholehearted living—a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.

16. Walking on Water: Reading, Writing and Revolution – Derrick Jensen

Remember the days of longing for the hands-on classroom clock to move faster? Most of us would say we love to learn, but we hate school. Why is that? This book addresses what happens to creativity and individuality as we pass through the educational system. How can we change our lesson planning to help students retain their love for learning?

17. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – Daniel H. Pink

Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That’s a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink. In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction at work, at school, and home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

18. The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact  –  Michael Fullan

One of the best-known leadership authors in education, Fullan, explains why the answer isn’t in micro-managing instruction nor autonomous entrepreneurialism. He systematically shows how the principal’s role should change, demonstrating how it can be done in short order, at scale.

Part of The Corwin Connected Educator series, in this volume, you’ll use the principles of connectedness and flipped learning to engage stakeholders—teachers, administrators, and parents—digitally, so they’re ready for productive discussion when you meet in person.

20. Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator  –  Dave Burgess

Based on Dave Burgess’s popular “Outrageous Teaching” and “Teach Like a PIRATE” seminars, this development book offers inspiration, practical techniques, and innovative ideas that will help the teacher increase student engagement, boost your creativity and transform your life as an educator.

Also, see Fractus reviews of  Play Like a Pirate  and  Explore Like a Pirate .

21. Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools  –  Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

One of the best professional development books for teachers on leadership, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (Managing Director of Uncommon Schools), shows leaders how to raise their schools to greatness by following a core set of principles. These seven principles, or “levers,” allow for consistent, transformational, and replicable growth. With an intentional focus on these areas, leaders will leverage much more learning from the same amount of time investment.

22. Shifting the Monkey: The Art of Protecting Good People From Liars, Criers, and Other Slackers  –  Todd Whitaker

Poor employees get a disproportionate amount of attention. Why? Because they complain the loudest, create the greatest disruptions, and rely on others to assume the responsibilities they shirk. Learn how to focus on your good employees first and help them shift these monkeys back to the under-performers.

23. The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools  –  Multiple Authors

Why do some leaders double their team’s effectiveness while others seem to drain the energy right out of the room? Using insights from more than 100 interviews with school leaders, this development book pinpoints the five disciplines that define how Multipliers bring out the best across their schools and classroom.

24. What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 Things That Matter Most  –  Todd Whitaker

In the third edition of this renowned book, you will find pearls of wisdom, heartfelt advice, and inspiration from one of the nation’s leading authorities on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness. With wit and understanding, Todd Whitaker describes the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and interactions of great teachers and explains what they do differently.

25. The Tech-Savvy Administrator: How do I use technology to be a better school leader?  –  Steven W. Anderson

How can school leaders use technology to be more effective? In this professional development book, award-winning blogger and educational technology expert Steven W. Anderson explain how and why leaders should use technology and outlines what should be in every leader’s digital toolkit.

26. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character  –  Paul Tough

How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories—and the stories of the children they are trying to help—Tough reveals how this new knowledge can transform young people’s lives inside and outside the classroom.

27. Mindsets in the Classroom: Building a Culture of Success and Student Achievement in Schools  –  Mary Cay Ricci

When students believe that dedication and hard work can change their performance in school, they grow to become resilient, successful students. Inspired by the popular mindset idea that hard work and effort can lead to student success, Mindsets in the Classroom provides educators with ideas for building a growth mindset school culture. Learners are challenged to change their thinking about their abilities and potential.

28. The Way of Mindful Education: Cultivating Well-Being in Teachers and Students  –  Daniel Rechtschaffen

With attention spans waning and stress on the rise, many teachers are looking for new ways to help students concentrate, learn, and thrive. The Way of Mindful Education is a practical guide for cultivating attention, compassion, and well-being in these students and mindfulness in teachers themselves.

29. The Way They Learn  –  Cynthia Ulrich Tobias

Draw out the best in your children—by understanding the way they learn. If you’re frustrated that your child isn’t learning the way you did, chances are they are too! In this practical resource, Cynthia Ulrich Tobias explains that understanding how you learn can make all the difference.

30. Why Don’t Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom  –  Daniel T Willingham

Easy-to-apply, scientifically-based approaches for engaging students in the classroom. Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham focuses his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His professional development books will help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn.

31. The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child  –  Richard Lavoie

The Motivation Breakthrough explores proven techniques and strategies—based on six possible motivational styles—that will revolutionize the way teachers and parents inspire kids with learning disabilities to succeed and achieve. Backed by decades of experience in the classroom, educator and acclaimed author Rick Lavoie explodes common myths and gives specific advice for motivating children with learning disabilities.

32. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning  –  Peter C Brown

Drawing on cognitive psychology and other fields, Make It Stick offers techniques for becoming more productive learners and cautions against study habits and practice routines that turn out to be counterproductive. It’s one of those professional development books that speak to students, teachers, trainers, athletes, and all those interested in lifelong learning and self-improvement.

33. How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching  –  Multiple Authors

Distilling the research literature and translating the scientific approach into language relevant to college or university, this book for teachers introduces seven general principles of how students learn. The authors have drawn on research from a breadth of perspectives to identify a set of fundamental principles underlying learning, from how effective organization enhances retrieval and use of information to what impacts motivation.

34. Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning  –  John Hattie

Visible Learning for Teachers brings the results of more than fifteen years of research to an entirely new audience. Written for students, pre-service, and in-service teachers, it explains how to apply the principles of Visible Learning to any classroom anywhere in the world.

35. Design For How People Learn (Voices That Matter)  –  Julie Dirksen

Products, technologies, and workplaces change so quickly today that everyone is continually learning. Many of us are also teaching, even when it’s not in our job descriptions. Whether it’s giving a presentation, writing documentation, or creating a website or blog, we need and want to share our knowledge with other people.

36. Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools  –  Michael B Horn, Heather Staker

Blended is the practical field guide for implementing blended learning techniques in K-12 classrooms. Readers will find a step-by-step framework to build a more student-centered system, along with essential advice that provides the expertise necessary to make the next generation of K-12 learning environments.

37. The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning  –  Tom D Whitby, Steven W. Anderson

This information-packed resource from digital experts Anderson and Whitby makes it easy to build a thriving professional network using social media. Easy-to-implement ideas, essential tools, and real-life vignettes help a teacher learn to: Find and choose the best social media tools, products, and communities. Start and grow a collaborative, high-quality PLN using Twitter, blogging, LinkedIn, and more.

38. Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success  –  Carol Dweck

In decades of research on achievement and success, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has discovered a truly groundbreaking idea of the power of our mindset. Dweck explains why it’s not just our abilities and talent that bring us success – but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset.

39. School Culture Rewired: How to Define, Assess, and Transform It  –  Steve Gruenert, Todd Whitaker

Your school is a lot more than a center of student learning–it also represents a self-contained culture with traditions and expectations that reflect its unique mission and demographics. In this groundbreaking book for teachers, education experts Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker offer tools, strategies, and advice for defining, assessing, and ultimately transforming your school’s culture into one that is positive, forward-looking, and actively working to enrich students’ lives.

40. Shaping School Culture: Pitfalls, Paradoxes, and Promises  –  Terrence E Deal, Kent D Peterson

In this thoroughly revised and updated edition of their classic book, Shaping School Culture, Terrence Deal and Kent Peterson address the latest thinking on organizational culture and change. They offer new ideas and strategies on how stories, rituals, traditions, and cultural practices create positive, caring, and purposeful schools.

41. Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School  –  Andy Hargreaves, Michael Fullan

Winner of the 2015 Grawemeyer Award in Education! In this latest and most important collaboration, renowned educators Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan set out a groundbreaking new agenda to transform the future of teaching and public education.

42. Cultures Built to Last  –  DuFour Richard, Fullan Michael

Take your professional learning community to the next level! Discover a systemwide approach for re-envisioning your PLC while sustaining growth and continuing momentum on your journey. You’ll move beyond isolated pockets of excellence while allowing every person in your school system—from teachers and administrators to students—the opportunity to be an instrument of lasting cultural change.

43. The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive And Thrive  –  Michael Fullan

Successful organizations adjust quickly and intelligently to shifts in consumer tastes, political climate, and economic opportunity. How do they do it? The Six Secrets of Change explores essential lessons for business and public sector leaders to thrive in today’s complex environment.

44. Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World  –  Tony Wagner

In this groundbreaking book, education expert Tony Wagner provides a powerful rationale for developing an innovation-driven economy. He explores what parents, teachers, and employers must do to develop the capacities of young people to become innovators.

45. Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day  –  Jonathan Bergmann, Aaron Sams

It started with a simple observation: students need their teachers present to answer questions or provide help if they get stuck on an assignment; they don’t need their teachers to listen to a lecture or review content. From there, authors Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams began the flipped classroom – one of the best professional development books for a modern classroom.

46. Worlds of Making: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School  –  Laura Fleming

Get the nuts and bolts on imagining, planning, creating, and managing a cutting-edge Makerspace for your school community. Nationally recognized expert Laura Fleming provides all the answers. From inception through implementation, you’ll find invaluable guidance for creating a vibrant Makerspace on any budget.

47. Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners  –  Multiple Authors

Visible Thinking is a research-based approach to teaching thinking, a proven program for enhancing students’ thinking and comprehension abilities. Begun at Harvard’s Project Zero, the teaching way develops students’ thinking dispositions while at the same time deepening their understanding of the topics they study.

48. Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner  –  Persida & William Himmele

Total Participation Techniques presents dozens of ways to engage K 12 students in active learning and allow them to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge and understanding. The book provides easy-to-use alternatives to the stand-and-deliver approach to teaching that causes many students to tune out–or even drop out.

49. Disrupting Class, Expanded Edition: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns  –  Multiple Authors

Filled with fascinating case studies, scientific findings, and unprecedented insights on how innovation must be managed, Disrupting Class will open your eyes to new possibilities, unlock hidden potential, and get you to think differently. Professor Christensen and his coauthors provide a bold new lesson in innovation that will help you make the grade for years to come.

50. Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding  –  Jay McTighe, Grant Wiggins

What are essential questions, and how do they differ from other kinds of questions? What’s so great about them? Why should a teacher design and use essential questions in your classroom? Essential questions help target standards as you organize curriculum content into coherent units that yield focused and thoughtful learning.

51. The Understanding by Design Guide Set (2 Books) –  Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe

Unit creation and planning made easy for Understanding by Design novices and veterans alike! Introduction to version 2.0 of the UbD Template is one of the most practical professional development books for teachers. It allows you to download fillable electronic forms to help you more easily incorporate standards, advance your understanding of backward design, and improve student learning.

52. Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty  –  Elizabeth F Barkley

Student Engagement Techniques is a comprehensive resource that offers college teachers a dynamic model for engaging students. It includes over one hundred tips, strategies, and techniques proven to help teachers from various disciplines and institutions motivate and connects with their students.

53. Reinventing Writing: The 9 Tools That Are Changing Writing, Teaching, and Learning Forever  –  Vicki Davis

In this much-anticipated book from acclaimed blogger Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher), you’ll learn the key shifts in writing instruction necessary to move students forward in today’s world. Vicki’s book describes how the elements of traditional writing are being reinvented with cloud-based tools.

54. Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom  –  Sylvia Libow Martinez, Gary S Stager

There’s a technological and creative revolution underway. Excellent new tools, materials, and skills turn us all into makers. Using technology to make, repair or customize the things we need brings engineering, design, and computer science to the masses. Fortunately for educators, this maker movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of children and the power of learning by doing.

• The Teacher’s Guide To Self-Care: Build Resilience, Avoid Burnout, And Being A Happier And Healthier You To The Classroom – Sarah Frost
• I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything For Our Kids –  Kyle Schwartz
• Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Succes – John C Maxwell and other Professional Development and Leadership Books by John C Maxwell
• Teach Like A Champion 3.0: Techniques That Put Students On The Path To College – Doug Lemov
• Educated: A Memoir –  Tara Westover
• Whole Brain Teaching: 122 Amazing Games!: Challenging Kids, Classroom Management, Writing, Reading, Math, Common Core/State Test s – Chris Biffle
• What School Could Be: Insights And Inspiration From Teachers Across America – Ted Dintersmith
• The First Days Of School: How To Be An Effective Teacher – Harry Wong
• Disruptive Thinking: Why How We Read Matters – Kylene Beers, Robert E. Probst

What are your best books for teachers? Leave your favorites in the comments below.

The founder of Fractus Learning, Nick is a pizza-loving Aussie living and working in Dublin, Ireland. With a background in education, engineering and digital product development, Nick launched Fractus to connect people with a shared passion for technology and how it can bring education to life.

10 Comments

This is a great list, and very current. I would add Debbie Silver’s Fall Down 7 Times, Get up 8: Teaching Kids to Succeed. It’s a wonderful blend of theory, practice and narrative.

Thanks Susie! Appreciate the recommendation and it’s now on the Amazon Wish List ;)

Excellent List! Thanks very much for creating and sharing it!

Another great book that was recently published and is a real self-training manual for language teachers is the book ‘Optimise your Teaching Competences: New Teaching Methodologies and CLIL Applications in Foreign Languages’. It contains innovative teaching methodologies and approaches as well as a wealth of teaching ideas for pair-work and group-work activities.

Thanks Eugenia, sounds great! Who is the author?

Great list, but I would have liked to see some more critical works that can incite discussion about the systems and conditions of learning. For example, Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Pedagogy of Freedom, McLaren’s Life in Schools, hooks Teaching to Transgress, Kumashiro’s Bad Teacher and Against Common Sense. As teachers we need to engage in theory and practice to make our reflections more than just a practitioner’s work.

Thanks for the comment and recommendations Chris!

Now many self help books are in the markets. But I couldnot understand why the readers are decrasing . I can’t say why the majority peoples hate books.

Great list. Some of your books are now on my order list. Thank you.

I suggest to add “Clean Language in the Classroom” by Julie McCracken. It has been published a few days ago. I do like it very much and I think it has the power to change the methods of teaching in grammar schools. It is a book not only for teachers, but also a great source for inspiration to all kind of educators and to parents. I got a lot of ideas from it as a coach and trainer.

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Educational Leadership

Contemporary Theories, Principles, and Practices

• © 2023
• Donnie Adams   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7777-5187 0

Department of Educational Management, Planning and Policy, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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• Includes educational leadership and management theories and models in the 21st century
• Includes international authors with deeply embedded understanding of educational leadership
• Also management in schools’ context, based on engagement with context specific policies, practices and research

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About this book

• Theories of Educational Leadership in the 21st century
• 21st century Leadership Theories in Education
• Theories of Educational leadership
• Organizational management
• Management in the 21st century
• Educational Management in the 21st Century
• Leadership for Learning
• Distributed Instructional Leadership
• Authentic and Moral Leadership
• Inclusive School Leadership
• Turnaround School Leadership
• Academic Leadership
• Technology Leadership
• Contextual Leadership

Table of contents (10 chapters)

Front matter, educational leadership in the twenty-first century.

Donnie Adams

Leadership for Learning in Schools in the Twenty-First Century

• Ashley Yoon Mooi Ng

Distributed Instructional Leadership: The SHARE Model

• Mohammad Noman

Authentic and Moral Leadership Practices in Schools

• Lokman Mohd Tahir, Siti Nisrin Mohd Anis, Mohd Fadzli Ali

Servant Leadership: Operationalising an Oxymoron

• Adrian Jarvis

Inclusive Leadership for Schools: Practices, Challenges, and Future Directions

• Donnie Adams, Shaheera Hussain, King Lok Tan

Contextual Leadership: Characteristics and Practices

• Tengku Faekah Tengku Ariffin, Suhaili Mohd Yusoff

Turnaround Leadership: Building the Sustainability of Schools

• Sock Beei Yeap, Donnie Adams

System Leadership in Educational Context

• Kenny S. L. Cheah

Technology Leadership for Schools in the Twenty-First Century

• Yuting Zhang, Donnie Adams, Kenny S. L. Cheah

Editors and Affiliations

About the editor, bibliographic information.

Book Title : Educational Leadership

Book Subtitle : Contemporary Theories, Principles, and Practices

Editors : Donnie Adams

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8494-7

Publisher : Springer Singapore

eBook Packages : Education , Education (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023

Hardcover ISBN : 978-981-99-8493-0 Published: 22 December 2023

Softcover ISBN : 978-981-99-8496-1 Due: 22 January 2024

eBook ISBN : 978-981-99-8494-7 Published: 21 December 2023

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XV, 165

Number of Illustrations : 24 b/w illustrations, 4 illustrations in colour

Topics : Administration, Organization and Leadership , Management Education , Education, general , Educational Policy and Politics

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14 Best Leadership Books to Read

By: Angela Robinson | Updated: July 23, 2022

You discovered our list of the best leadership books .

Leadership books are resources that teach leadership competencies, skills, and best practices. These works analyze which qualities great leaders share, and provide frameworks for building effective teams.

These books are similar to management books and books for CEOs , and include leadership books by women and mentorship books . These books help explore styles of leadership and develop leadership skills , executive skills and good leaders .

This article contains:

• the best leadership books for new leaders
• top leadership books
• good business leadership books
• executive leadership books
• the best books on leadership and management

So, here is the list!

List of leadership books

Here is a list of newer releases and older bestsellers that cover effective leadership.

1. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Like many great leadership books, Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek draws inspiration from military principles. The concept in question: high-ranking officers eat after their men, putting their reports’ needs before their own. Sinek makes the case that people-first leadership makes crews feel supported and respected. These feelings in turn compel employees to exhibit loyalty and exceed expectations. Sinek states that trust and psychological safety are the keys to excellence, illustrating this argument with multiple examples from different types of organizations around the world.

Notable Quote: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

Buy Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek .

2. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sanderson

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Facebook executive Sheryl Sanderson is one of the most popular leadership books for women. Inspired by personal experience and a TED Talk Sanderson gave in 2010, Lean In details the ways women hold back and miss career opportunities by being passive and polite. Sanderson encourages women to seek strong mentors, advocate for themselves, and assert their place in the business world. These actions can empower women to transform into leaders instead of merely accepting assigned roles.

Although the book is a few years old, the lessons are still relevant. Given the challenges to women’s careers a remote workforce presents, Lean In is worth a revisit.

Notable Quote: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”

Buy Lean In .

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3. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell

In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John C. Maxwell outlines clear guidelines for leaders to follow to maximize influence and ensure that employees achieve a common vision. The book shares wisdom such as “leadership develops daily, not in a day,” and “leaders understand that activity is not necessarily accomplishment.” The book explains each rule plainly and provides anecdotal examples, covering every aspect of leadership from attracting and forming teams to securing legacy by planning for succession.

Notable Quote: “You can’t move people to action unless you first move them with emotion…. The heart comes before the head.”

Buy The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership .

4. Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts by Brené Brown

Dare to Lead shares lessons on the power of vulnerability and empathy in leadership. Renowned “courage and shame” researcher Brené Brown makes the case that leadership is not about status or control, but rather recognizing potential in individuals and ideas. Dare to Lead presents a guide to becoming a courageous and confident leader.

Notable Quote: “I define a leader as anyone who takes responsibility for finding the potential in people and processes, and who has the courage to develop that potential.”

Buy Dare to Lead .

5. The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Consistently by Tony Dungy

Tony Dungy is a celebrated former NFL coach, and this work is a valuable leadership book. The Mentor Leader explains how to elevate those around you towards success with one simple principle: “your only job is to help your players be better.” Dungy outlines the critical elements of mentor leadership, including introspection, altruistic mindset, and modeling values. The Mentor Leader demonstrates how to maximize team potential and drive individuals towards optimal performance.

Notable Quote: “Engage, educate, equip, encourage, empower, energize, and elevate. Those are the methods for maximizing the potential of any individual, team, organization, or institution for ultimate success and significance. Those are the methods of a mentor leader.”

Buy The Mentor Leader.

6. Minority Leader: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrahms

Representative Stacey Abrahms’ Minority Leader: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change is one of the best leadership books around. The book gives instructions for leading as an outsider. For example, by using your unique perspective and resilience to enact impactful and lasting change even in the most seemingly rigid institutions. This work is a mix of memoir and instruction, guiding readers through steps to find passion and develop skills through topics like embracing otherness, owning opportunity, and overcoming failure.

Notable Quote: “Logic is a seductive excuse for setting low expectations.”

Buy Minority Leader .

7. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz

Becoming a leader may not mean assuming a pre-existing executive position within an established organization, but rather blazing an entirely new path and creating a company from scratch. In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz illustrates the realities of entrepreneurship, addressing how to build a business from the ground up, uncover unclear answers, and make tough calls and hard decisions with minimal guidance or backup.

Notable Quote: “Build a culture that rewards—not punishes—people for getting problems into the open where they can be solved.”

Buy The Hard Thing About Hard Things .

8. Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee

Emotional intelligence is one of the most underrated leadership skills. Leaders need to connect with their people to motivate and resonate with employees. Primal Leadership teaches professionals to identify and navigate feelings, empathize with employees, and build emotionally intelligent organizations. Emotionally intelligent leadership enables leaders to avoid misunderstandings and incorrect judgements, relate more closely to workers, and collaborate in true tandem with employees. The authors are professionals with years in the psychology and business consulting worlds, and illustrate their arguments through lived and observed experiences.

Notable Quote: “Not that leaders need to be overly “nice”; the emotional art of leadership includes pressing the reality of work demands without unduly upsetting people.”

Buy Primal Leadership .

9. Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Leaders have a lot of pressure to lead their staff through times of turmoil. Perhaps the guidance leaders most need is on navigating a crisis, and reassurance that history’s greats encountered comparable challenges. Leadership: In Turbulent Times analyzes the obstacles faced by four American presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. Goodwin’s work examines the struggles, triumphs, and tactical approaches of each subject, holding each president up as an example of how to turn tragedy into achievement. This book is a masterclass in crisis management and transformational leadership, as well as a roadmap out of dark times.

Notable Quote: “Establish a clear purpose; challenge the team to work out details; traverse conventional departmental boundaries; set large short-term and long-term targets; create tangible success to generate accelerated growth and momentum.”

Buy Leadership: In Turbulent Times .

10. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

The extreme environments of Navy SEAL missions provide the ultimate platform for leadership. Former commanders Jocko Willink and Leif Babin apply battlefield wisdom to the business world, preaching the philosophy of admitting mistakes and owning failure as a means to earn trust and respect from followers. Only by overcoming ego and facing reality head-on can leaders gain the clarity and strength to act in difficult situations. The authors employ military discipline and combat strategy to break down traits and approaches necessary to effective leadership.

Notable Quote : “Implementing Extreme Ownership requires checking your ego and operating with a high degree of humility. Admitting mistakes, taking ownership, and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team.”

Buy Extreme Ownership .

11. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends & Influence People is one of the top leadership books of all time. Almost a century after the book’s initial publication, the sentiments within the pages still ring true. Carnegie’s guide to winning favor in the business world is a masterclass in soft skills. Leadership hinges upon resonating with people and winning followers. Carnegie breaks down the basics of persuasion, revealing how to sell others’ on your abilities, convince them of your vision, and assure folks that you have their best interests in mind. After all, one of the main components of effective influence is reading your audience’s feelings and motivations and reflecting that psychology and desire in your pitch.

Notable Quote: “Instead of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness. “To know all is to forgive all.”

Buy How to Win Friends & Influence People .

12. Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business by John Mackey, Steve Mcintosh, and Carter Phipps

Conscious Leadership is a manifesto to moral business practice. Head author John Mackey founded Whole Foods, and his commitment to sustainability, integrity, and compassion flavor his leadership advice. Conscious Leadership champions purpose and value-based leadership, urging leaders to embody beliefs and serve as role models for their working and wider communities.

Notable Quote: “Whether they know it or not, every person and every organization has the potential to embrace, enact, and unify people around a higher purpose.”

Buy Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business .

13. Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse

Peter G Northouse’s Leadership: Theory and Practice is one of the best leadership books for new leaders. The book serves as a comprehensive textbook for leaders, covering a wide range of academic concepts and evidence-based learnings related to the field of leadership. The book covers various traits, behaviors, approaches, theories, and styles of leadership, serving as a catch-all index and manual for managers looking to make a mark.

Notable Quote: “Leaders who use coercion are interested in their own goals and seldom are interested in the wants and needs of followers. Using coercion runs counter to working with followers to achieve a common goal.”

Buy Leadership: Theory and Practice .

14. How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers by David M. Rubenstein

In How to Lead, David M. Rubenstein gathers insight, advice, and philosophies from trailblazing visionaries like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and more. Each chapter has a unique perspective on leadership, offering multiple viewpoints on the secrets of success and the qualities of an effective leader . From these examples, readers can find inspiration and guidance to achieve their own visions. The content of How to Lead comes straight from Rubenstein’s own experience interviewing these industry leaders throughout the years.

Notable Quote: “A fair question might be, why should anyone really want to be a leader? First, a leader can create the type of change or results that will improve the lives of others. Second, a leader can motivate others to become leaders, and in turn improve others’ lives. And third, a leader can feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement that provides human fulfillment and happiness.”

Buy How to Lead .

The simple act of reading a book will not automatically transform an individual into a skilled leader. However, these books provide insight, guidelines, and actionable advice to build strong teams, earn respect, maximize potential, and leave a lasting impression on organizations.

Next, check out our lists of employee engagement books and books on diversity and inclusion , and these post with employee engagement best practices and leadership activities for work .

You may also be interested in executive team building activities , these ways to differentiate managers vs leaders , this guide to collaborative leadership and this one on servant leadership at work .

Plus, this guide to employee management styles and this list of the top leadership conferences .

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FAQ: Leadership Books

Here are answers to common questions about leadership books.

What are leadership books?

Leadership books are works that teach readers how to be skilled and influential leaders. These books tend to be a mix of instructions, advice, and anecdotes from experts in the realms of psychology and business, and provide step by step guides to becoming a role model and visionary.

What are the best books about leadership to read?

There is no shortage of books about leadership full of expert advice on the market. Some great options include:

• Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
• Lean In by Sheryl Sanderson
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
• Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
• The Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy
• Minority Leader by Stacey Abrahms
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
• Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman
• Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
• How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Conscious Leadership by John Mackey, Steve Mcintosh, and Carter Phipps
• Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse
• How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers by David M. Rubenstein

Though these authors employ different approaches, one underlying principle runs throughout these works: good leaders are not necessarily born gifted, but rather, leadership is a developed skill that requires continual learning and effort.

What are good leadership books for women?

There are certain books that speak to the unique challenges of being a female visionary in the modern workforce. Particularly good leadership books for women include Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sanderson, Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts by Brené Brown, and Minority Leader: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrahms.

What are the best leadership books for new leaders?

The best leadership books for new leaders include Leadership: Theory and Practice by Peter G. Northouse, How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers by David M. Rubenstein, How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell

Author: Angela Robinson

Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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Enhancing Professional Practice: The Framework for Teaching, 3rd Edition

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More From Forbes

4 must-read books by women leaders to improve your leadership skills.

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Women are redefining what it means to be a leader. To help you harness your leadership abilities, ... [+] check out these books by top female executives.

Although the leadership gender gap still exists, women are steadily moving into supervisory and executive roles. As of February 2024, research estimates that nearly three out of 10 revenue-producing managerial positions are held by women. This percentage may be low, but it shows some progress toward gender equality across the highest corporate ladder rungs. That’s exactly the kind of progress needed to move the needle on the gender earnings gap that persists.

Women deserve the opportunity to join the leadership world if that’s their goal. After all, they bring unique skill sets, insights, and experiences that can prove invaluable to any company. This isn’t just opinion, either. The American Psychological Association recently dove into the scientific studies supporting women's leadership . The research indicated that when women were put in charge, businesses saw improvements in many areas, including performance, teamwork, and employee engagement through enhanced loyalty.

What’s the secret behind the innate power that women leaders bring to the table? To answer this and other questions, check out the inspiring and advice-packed books available from a few of today’s rising female superstars.

1. Amanda Hammett — How to Have Tough Conversations

Whether you’re a director, VP, or CEO, having uncomfortable discussions comes with the territory. However, knowing how to master “tough talk” isn’t always easy. In How to Have Tough Conversations , keynote speaker and acclaimed “millennial translator” Amanda Hammett breaks down how to tackle this aspect of leadership effectively and empathetically. She co-wrote the book with her husband, Gene Hammett, serving as a hands-on guide that offers practical, actionable advice for leaders.

This book is a lifesaver in the workplace, especially if you’ve been avoiding a difficult conversation with a colleague. As the co-authors point out, avoidance is a common problem—and it can be a costly one. The book shares a cautionary tale about the leader of a fast-growing organization who kept putting off a difficult discussion with a department head. His unwillingness to take immediate action ended up costing the company $250,000, all because he wasn’t confident about approaching tough discussions.

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Even if you’re not one to hesitate when a red flag problem pops up, you may not be effectively communicating your message. In that case, Hammett’s book can be a huge asset. The book lays out specific communication ground rules, including how to meet others halfway and not assume their reactions or intentions.

2. Bonnie Hammer — 15 Lies Women Are Told at Work: … And the Truth We Need to Succeed

Bonnie Hammer has succeeded for decades in the hard-edged, male-favored entertainment industry. And she’s learned lots of lessons along the way. In 15 Lies Women Are Told at Work: … And the Truth We Need to Succeed , she invites female readers to discard the misconceptions they’ve been told about how to “make it” in business. Hammer asserts that the longer you hold onto the myths about rising up occupationally, the harder it will be to achieve your true potential.

A huge advantage to settling down with Hammer’s book is that you’ll get an extremely affordable taste of her masterclass sessions. In fact, with each chapter, you’ll be able to slowly reduce your reliance on antiquated leadership advice and replace it with Hammer’s proven practices.

Though Hammer writes with clarity and punch, she incorporates a lot of heart and humor into her work as well. Think of this book as your personal guide for moving into the leadership spot you dream about—without losing yourself in the web of workplace lies and half-truths women too frequently fall for.

3. Jemma Roedel — She Thinks Like a Boss

Do you want to become a boss but keep getting overlooked for advancement opportunities? You might not be giving off the “boss vibes” that say that you’re ready to take the reins. Well-regarded author Jemma Roedel has the answer: Learn to think and act like a leader so you’ll net interviews and eventually be promoted into leadership jobs.

Throughout She Thinks Like a Boss , Roedel introduces you to ways to navigate the world of boss-dom in a way that feels intuitive and gets results. She effectively explains methods to develop the characteristics and abilities that will help you stand out and snag promotions. If you’re already managing one or more direct reports, you’ll gain instant knowledge that can be applied right away to rev up your team.

Roedel uses a time-honored technique in her book: She first explores skills that other women leaders have leveraged to skyrocket into executive ranks. Then, she clearly shows you how you can do likewise.

4. Morra Aarons-Mele — The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower

Anxiety can sideline your career quickly, taking away your confidence in a heartbeat and leaving you feeling unable to take control of workplace situations. Podcasting celebrity and leadership guru Morra Aarons-Mele wants to help you reframe your anxiousness into an attribute. That’s why The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower focuses heavily on teaching you how to harness your anxiety in a way that gets you what you want.

Aarons-Mele begins by inviting you to discard everything you’ve been told about anxiety, including that it’s somehow abnormal. Most people feel anxious, including leaders. However, if you’re able to name your anxiety profile, you can start to recognize your triggers and instill healthier coping behaviors. Over time, being proactive will allow you to chip away at anxiety’s hold over you.

This doesn’t mean you’ll never feel anxious again, but you’ll have the tools to push forward as a competent, strong leader. Best of all, you may be able to become a supportive role model for other up-and-coming women leaders on your team who are being held down by their intuitive stress responses.

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10 executive leadership programs that should be on every business leader’s radar

Many executive leaders spend much of their days in meetings with other people—and yet, their lives can also be very isolating.

“The whole saying, ‘It’s lonely at the top,’ is really true,” says Mike Malefakis, Wharton’s former executive education CEO and associate vice dean. Even though he recognizes this reality, Malefakis also champions the value of continuing education for execs. 

Yale - Accelerated Management

Explore fundamental management topics such as decision-making using quantitative models, developing a competitive strategy and leveraging social networks, with industry insights from Yale SOM faculty.

These programs provide an opportunity for connecting, learning, and growing with others holding C-suite positions . The programs freshen up your leadership approaches, and some even offer a sabbatical from typical work life.

If you are especially looking for training that is not as extensive as an executive MBA , many of the nation’s top business schools offer courses and programs tailored for executives that align with leaders’ demanding schedules. Below are 10 executive leadership management programs (some all-online, hybrid, or all in-person) tailored for the C-suite covering topics including risk management, competition, and brand reputation.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

C-suite life means long workdays, yet little time to reflect and learn from others. “That’s why the five weeks is critical to almost take a sabbatical from what you’re doing on a regular daily basis and invest in yourself,” Malefakis says. During the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ‘s five-week, on-campus Advanced Management Program , you’ll attend breakout sessions, simulations, and experiential learning (think: team rowing exercises to practice communication and coordination) with fellow execs. You’ll leave with a methodology to pause, reflect, learn, then act in future business situations. Wharton also offers a hybrid version of the program in which executives make two bookend trips to Philadelphia and complete online courses. Both the on-campus and hybrid options cost $72,500.

Stanford University Graduate School of Business

The Black Leaders Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business is tailored for Black business leaders or those executives looking to advance Black leadership. The weeklong program focuses on race and leadership, power, negotiations, relationships, communication, and networking. The in-person program also provides a space to discuss barriers to leadership and Black identity in the workplace. Following the sessions, you’ll work on a capstone project focused on career advancement, with peer coaching and feedback along the way. Program director Brian S. Lowery’s research focuses on perceptions of inequity and how to reduce it. The Black Leaders Program costs $15,000 to attend, and you’ll receive a certificate of completion at the conclusion. 

The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

Kellogg’s yearlong Women’s Senior Leadership Program for top women leaders includes four sessions (three in-person, one live virtual reunion) focused on decision making, negotiation skills, ethical challenges, and external management. The jewel in the crown of this program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University is a 360-degree assessment that provides feedback about your leadership style free of bias from your own organization. The assessment is made specifically to assess women’s leadership traits, taking into account your individual challenges. Leadership consultants provide check-ins throughout the year to help set your development goals and follow progress. Graduates of the program are CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, and presidents of organizations. Participants pay $25,150 to attend, which includes lodging and meals. 

Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College

Dartmouth’s two-week, on-campus Advanced Management Program moves beyond the basics, offering a deep dive into strategy, competition, globalization, and brand management for senior executives. The program at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business is designed for executives with at least 12 years of work experience , and includes a hearty mix of lectures, discussions, excursions, and workshops. You’ll also work on a management action plan project to take back to your organization. Projects could be focused on addressing business challenges or new growth opportunities. “At the end of the day, it’s really all about impact,” says Phil Barta, executive director of Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth. “That’s what these organizations are looking to see from their leaders when they send them.” Tuck’s Advanced Management Program costs $29,000.

University of Virginia Darden School of Business

The Executive Program: Strategic Leadership at the Top , hosted by the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business , includes in-person modules and online sessions on topics ranging from strategy to personal wellness, entrepreneurship, and risk management. While all participants of this six-month program are senior leaders, they come from backgrounds spanning financial services, government, education, health care—and even aerospace. “You open your mind to different ways of doing things and how people live and think,” says Elton “Neil” Wright Jr., a program quality executive with Boeing who participated in the program, adding that TEP gave him a better sense of the world economy. You’ll meet in person over two, two-week sessions in Charlottesville, VA or Washington DC. The Executive Program costs $53,350 to attend, and graduates can receive a discount on further executive education courses at Darden.

Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School offers a multi-week training that seeks to transform executives through a “life-altering program.” The Advanced Management Program: Prepare for the Highest Level of Leadership begins and ends with around three-week stints on-campus at HBS, with a virtual, live online and self-paced module in the middle. Overall, it is designed to empower executive to create change and renew competitive advantage within their own organizations. Past participants have include executives from companies like Marriott, Coca-Cola, and Maersk. The program fee of $92,000 covers tuition, books, case materials, accommodations, and most meals.

Yale School of Management

Yale School of Management ‘s 8-month Global Executive Leadership Program (YGELP) is taught in three, multi-day modules, allowing participants to apply course material at their respective organizations during intermissions. YGELP — which is designed for executives with at least 20 years of work experience—focuses on three pillars: leadership in business and society, global perspectives, and executive toolkit. Participants attend classes focused on personal insights, marketing, negotiations, and entrepreneurship. You’ll also be invited to Yale’s CEO Summit, which brings together global executive leaders. Upon completion of the program, you’ll be a Yale International Affiliate. “They are ready for big thoughts, big changes, and exciting new initiatives,” Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, faculty director of the program, says of attendees. The cost of the program is $60,000, which includes lodging and most meals.

Columbia Business School

You have a strategic mindset, natural leadership ability, and finance fundamentals under your belt, but numbers may not be your forte or your career focus. A solution? Columbia Business School ‘s five-day Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive course, which caters to creative or technical leaders and covers managerial and financial accounting, ratio calculation, forecasting and valuation, and shareholder value management. This course, which can be completed online or in-person, can also serve as a good refresher for those people who previously held finance or accounting jobs but have since changed roles. Typically, about one-third of the participant mix holds general management roles. The in-person option is $11,950.

Pepperdine Graziadio Business School

During Pepperdine University (Graziadio) ‘s three-day, six-session Executive Leadership Essentials certificate program, participants will learn both virtual and in-person methods to engage stakeholders, recruit, and solve problems strategically through the lens of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity). Participants are invited to complete a 360-degree leadership assessment, which allows them to reflect on personal leadership qualities. Attendees leave the program with a personalized leadership development plan crafted specifically to your organization during the final session. The in-person program is advertised to cost $3,599 but is on discount for $2,999.

MIT Sloan School of Management

MIT’s Sloan School of Management is inviting board members, the c-suite, and other senior executives to learn more about cybersecurity—one of the top worries of business leaders —in its course, Cybersecurity Governance for the Board of Directors . The two to three day online or in-person training seeks to teach individuals the best practices of cyber frameworks and regulation, including data protection and privacy concerns. The course also touches on cyber vulnerabilities like human engineering and supply chain. The price of the program is $4,700.

Frequently asked questions

What is an executive leadership program.

Executive leadership programs are advanced training programs for those working to run some of the world’s top businesses. The specialized trainings are designed to challenge executives to think outside of the box and freshen leadership approaches. 

Are executive leadership programs worth it?

Executive leadership programs can be a great way to not only refresh skills in the business world, but it is also an opportunity to hear fresh perspectives from leaders in academia as well as peer executives. While they can seem costly, the program prices often include lodging, meals, and other amenities.

Which executive education is best?

Most top business schools offer executive leadership training. While there is no one best program, prospective learners should pick the program that best aligns with professional growth opportunities.

Mike Malefakis has since left his role at Wharton .

See how the schools you’re considering landed in Fortune’s rankings of the best  master’s in public health programs ,  business analytics programs ,  data science programs , and  part-time ,  executive ,  full-time , and  online  MBA programs.

• Choose from our rankings of the best MBA programs to find the next phase of your educational journey.
• This list helps those looking for MBA program options that do not require submission of test scores to apply.
• Our directory of the most affordable online MBA programs can help you find the school that best fits your budget.
• You can work towards your career goals on your own time by selecting from our list of the best part time MBA programs .
• To help you pick the program that’s the best fit for you, we made this list of the best executive MBA programs .
• Interested in earning your MBA online? Here’s our ranking of the best online MBA programs .

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Harvard Business Analytics Program

The Harvard Business Analytics Program is an online certificate program designed for established leaders in any industry. The program leverages a rigorous cross-disciplinary curriculum to help students not just analyze data but understand it, translate it, and incorporate it into strategy at the top levels of their organizations.

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What Is Project 2025, and Why Is Trump Disavowing It?

The Biden campaign has attacked Donald J. Trump’s ties to the conservative policy plan that would amass power in the executive branch, though it is not his official platform.

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By Simon J. Levien

Donald J. Trump has gone to great lengths to distance himself from Project 2025, a set of conservative policy proposals for a future Republican administration that has outraged Democrats. He has claimed he knows nothing about it or the people involved in creating it.

Mr. Trump himself was not behind the project. But some of his allies were.

The document, its origins and the interplay between it and the Trump campaign have made for one of the most hotly debated questions of the 2024 race.

Here is what to know about Project 2025, and who is behind it.

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025 was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and like-minded conservative groups before Mr. Trump officially entered the 2024 race. The Heritage Foundation is a think tank that has shaped the personnel and policies of Republican administrations since the Reagan presidency.

The project was intended as a buffet of options for the Trump administration or any other Republican presidency. It’s the latest installment in the Heritage Foundation’s Mandate for Leadership series, which has compiled conservative policy proposals every few years since 1981. But no previous study has been as sweeping in its recommendations — or as widely discussed.

Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation, which began putting together the latest document in 2022, said he thought the American government would embrace a more conservative era, one that he hoped Republicans would usher in.

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution,” Mr. Roberts said on Real America’s Voice, a right-wing cable channel, in early July, adding pointedly that the revolt “will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

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• Politics & Government News

What Is Project 2025? Inside the Far-Right Plan Threatening Everything from the Word 'Gender' to Public Education

Trump's allies started Project 2025 as a blueprint for marrying church and state at the highest levels of government if he's elected

JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty

A sweeping proposal for how Donald Trump should handle a second term in office has sparked concern for its implications on the role of federal government and its calls to eliminate a number of basic human rights.

The 2025 Presidential Transition Project, more commonly known as Project 2025, released a 900-page manifesto last year titled "Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise." The policy guidebook — compiled by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation in partnership with more than 100 other conservative organizations — lays out a far-right, Christian nationalist vision for America that would corrode the separation of church and state, replace nonpartisan government employees with Trump loyalists and bolster the president's authority over independent agencies.

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, a rumored candidate for Trump's chief of staff in a second term, promoted his group's extreme positions during a July interview , saying, "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be."

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty

Shortly after Roberts' controversial interview, Trump attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, saying on Truth Social that he knows "nothing" about it and has "no idea who is behind it," before adding that he disagrees with some of its propositions.

While Project 2025 is not formally a part of Trump's campaign platform, it has been led and supported by several influential people in his orbit. The project's top leaders all worked in Trump's White House and a number of the manifesto's contributors also served in the Trump administration, including but not limited to former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and imprisoned former trade adviser Peter Navarro .

Equally damaging to Trump's claim that he is unfamiliar with Project 2025 is that he worked closely with the Heritage Foundation when he was first elected president. He was provided a similar "Mandate for Leadership" back in 2016, and enacted nearly two-thirds of the group's proposals within his first year in office.

The Heritage Foundation also reportedly played a behind-the-scenes role on Trump's presidential transition team and had a significant hand in staffing the administration.

Olivia Troye, a former adviser to Mike Pence , called Trump's denial of Project 2025 "ludicrous" in a CNN interview . “I think what this is telling us is that Donald Trump knows that what is written in this plan is so extreme that it is damaging to his possibility of getting elected,” she said.

Below, a breakdown of the most noteworthy policy proposals in Project 2025's "Mandate for Leadership."

Christian nationalism

Project 2025 establishes a framework for guiding the federal government through a biblical lens. Across nearly 1,000 pages, the mandate pushes an unpopular interpretation of the Christian agenda that would target reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ people and people of color by effectively erasing mention of all related terms, protections and troublesome historical accounts.

Though the mandate accuses the "woke" left of infringing on people's religious freedoms, its policies are rooted in a singular, extremist view of how society should function based on its authors' own Christian nationalist values. It repeatedly calls for the punishment, even imprisonment, of people who do not conform to the think tank's platform.

The proposed policies in Project 2025's mandate stem from four stated goals. In its words: restoring the family as the centerpiece of American life, dismantling the administrative state, defending the nation's sovereignty and securing God-given individual rights.

Through a holistic approach to restructuring the government, it would seek to give Trump heightened authority to enact his backers' platform in every city and state — often encouraging the president to creatively subvert congressional approval.

Firing disloyal government personnel

One of the most concerning expansions of presidential authority would come if Trump found himself in a position to reinstate an executive order titled Schedule F , which is strongly endorsed by Project 2025. Trump introduced Schedule F at the end of his first term and it was quickly reversed by President Biden.

If Trump wins this time around, he could use Schedule F to transform the U.S. government into a MAGA machine by reclassifying thousands of nonpartisan federal employees into "at-will" workers who can be replaced via political appointment.

Project 2025 suggests that Schedule F be applied to discharge career civil service workers whom Trump deems "nonperforming," or those who get in the way of the administration's attempts at reform.

In practice, Schedule F could easily purge qualified subject experts from advisory positions at the first sign of disobedience and turn federal agencies into ultra-partisan arms of the Heritage Foundation's mission.

Rolling back reproductive rights

Project 2025 encourages Trump to "push as hard as possible to protect the unborn in every jurisdiction in America," by targeting abortion, contraceptives and transforming the Department of Health & Human Services into the "Department of Life."

"Conservatives should gratefully celebrate the greatest pro-family win in a generation: overturning Roe v. Wade , a decision that for five decades made a mockery of our Constitution and facilitated the deaths of tens of millions of unborn children," the document reads. "But the Dobbs decision is just the beginning."

The mandate suggests that Trump should lobby Congress to pass nationwide abortion restrictions and gives him guidance on how he can use his federal agencies to limit abortions in the meantime. It also calls for the FDA to reverse its approval of abortion pills and criminalize their distribution, and directs the CDC to back anti-abortion studies.

In an effort to stop "woke culture warriors," Project 2025 demands that the terms abortion, reproductive health and reproductive rights be deleted from "every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists."

Eliminating LGBTQ+ protections

The Project 2025 mandate — which diminishes LGBTQ+ labels as a "bullying" product of "woke" politics — calls to allow discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, sex characteristics, etc.," by "refocusing" enforcement of sex discrimination laws so that they only apply to the "biological binary" of sex.

The document takes specific aim at the transgender community. Aside from using a variety of dehumanizing terms, the mandate signals an intent to attack trans women in sports , end gender-affirming care for minors, decrease accessibility for gender-confirmation surgeries and reinstate Trump's trans military ban . Trump has already incorporated those views into his 2024 platform.

The following related terms would be blacklisted in legislation and on every federal document: sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, and gender-sensitive.

Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty

Banning broadly defined pornography

Project 2025 says that pornography should be outlawed, and that anyone who produces or consumes it should be imprisoned. That restriction, though seemingly unrelated to LGBTQ+ rights, carries larger implications based on how Project 2025 defines pornography.

The authors write that the "omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology" is a modern-day example of pornography, claiming without merit that it has caused children to suffer by invading school libraries. It also says that the "sexualization of children" — a favored Christian nationalist phrase for anything related to gay or trans people — counts as pornography.

The group's broad definition of pornography suggests that the Trump administration could seek to imprison LGBTQ+ people, drag queens, authors, librarians, teachers and allies with little cause. Their proposed Justice Department reforms, described next, would make prosecution of that nature easier.

"[Pornography] has no claim to First Amendment protection," the manifesto reads. "Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime."

It continues: "Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered."

Politicizing the Justice Department and FBI

Project 2025 suggests that Trump take partisan control of the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation to oversee a "top-to-bottom overhaul."

The DOJ is traditionally insulated from the White House, and while attorney general appointees are likely to share a number of the president's views, they are expected to act in the best interest of the U.S. government as a whole. A section of the Project 2025 mandate authored by a former Trump official calls for increased communication between the White House and DOJ, because "litigation decisions must be made consistent with the President's agenda."

Project 2025 says that the FBI is currently ineffective and should be refocused to increase federal law enforcement presence in select areas of the U.S. where the administration believes laws aren't being enforced strictly enough. It advises that the administration sue local government officials who don't prosecute crimes to the administration's liking.

The mandate adds that the Trump administration should immediately review all ongoing federal investigations and terminate the ones that the president doesn't approve of, including those related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. And it encourages Trump to work with Congress on ending the FBI director's 10-year term limit, so that the president can replace them at will if they refuse to serve the president's agenda.

Trump has already used veiled "retribution" language on the campaign trail that implied he would consider using the Justice Department to retaliate against his political rivals.

New immigration and border control practices

Project 2025 calls for a consolidation of the various border enforcement and immigration agencies, and for Trump to greatly increase their power if elected so that he can accomplish more than he did in his first term.

Under the mandate, the Mexico-U.S. border wall would receive extra funding to get completed, and Trump's administration would be urged to militarize the border.

Temporary protected status would also be stripped from nearly 700,000 individuals , many of whom settled in the U.S. decades ago, putting them at risk of deportation. And Trump would be advised to dismantle the DREAM Act, limit the DACA program , reduce visas of various kinds and try again to get a citizenship question on the national census.

American citizens would not be allowed to get federal housing subsidies if they live with any non-citizen.

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Education reform and student loans

Project 2025, which partnered with the far-right "parental rights" group Moms for Liberty , calls for the Department of Education to be eliminated, if Congress allows it, and it also calls for the elimination of every teachers union, which was likely influenced by the group's anti-union partner, the Institute for Education Reform.

It guides the president on actions they can take to dismantle the public education system and privatize education with or without congressional approval.

Currently, federal education funding is provided to states with regulations on how it can be used, to ensure that the funds benefit a variety of vulnerable groups, including students in low-income school districts and children with special needs. It also prevents discriminatory institutions from receiving federal funding.

Project 2025 calls for removing federal oversight from that funding, allowing states to dole the money out as they see fit, including by prioritizing private and religious schools over public schools.

The mandate also suggests shuttering the Office of Federal Student Aid and ending student loan forgiveness , including income-driven repayment plans. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program — which was signed into law by George W. Bush in 2007 to make college more accessible — would also be targeted, affecting teachers, health care workers, law enforcement officers and other government and nonprofit professionals who have counted on having their remaining loans forgiven after 10 years.

Updating school curriculum and axing DEI

Along with encouraging private education, Project 2025 calls for school curriculum to be purged of anything related to "critical race theory" and "gender ideology" in public schools.

From the mandate: "These theories poison our children, who are being taught on the one hand to affirm that the color of their skin fundamentally determines their identity and even their moral status while on the other they are taught to deny the very creatureliness that inheres in being human and consists in accepting the givenness of our nature as men or women."

"States, cities and counties, school boards, union bosses, principals, and teachers who disagree should be immediately cut off from federal funds," the Project 2025 manifesto reads.

It's a similar strategy to what Gov. Ron DeSantis has done in Florida, where references to racial disparities and LGBTQ+ identities have been prohibited, educators must now teach that enslaved people benefitted from slavery , and many Black history lessons have been banned.

Project 2025 also brands diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts — which seek to mitigate discrimination and promote fair treatment of all Americans — as discriminatory and "racist."

The mandate says that in addition to squashing DEI programs around the nation, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division should spent its first year of the Trump administration "using the full force of federal prosecutorial resources to investigate and prosecute all state and local governments, institutions of higher education, corporations, and any other private employers" who engage in DEI efforts.

Federal rules and legislation would also be scrubbed of the term diversity, equity and inclusion.

Rejecting climate change

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts writes in the manifesto's foreword that environmental protections are "anti-human" and part of a "pseudo-religion" that puts the "god of nature" above human activity.

Project 2025 translated that argument into policy by suggesting that the Environmental Protection Agency be shrunk and that three offices in the Department of Energy be closed to stop investing in clean and renewable energy. Instead, the mandate suggests, the U.S. should "stop the war on oil and natural gas" by resuming oil drilling in the Arctic, expanding existing drilling projects and expanding coal mining to the western U.S.

The Trump administration would be encouraged to cut off funding of any "woke" climate change prevention efforts, pulling back from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

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Last Chance to Score the Best Macbook Deals for Prime Day 2024

Including 2024 m3 pro and m3 max models.

If you've been hunting for a good deal on a Apple MacBook for work or back to school, then Prime Day is the perfect opportunity. Amazon is offering some major discounts on MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops. These are the best prices we've seen all year on both past and current models. In fact, they're even less expensive than going through the Apple Education Store.

We've listed out the models that are on sale below, but keep in mind that these are all the stock models with the base amount of RAM and SSD. You can configure them with more RAM or storage where applicable and the discount should still be valid.

TL;DR The Best Prime Day MacBook Deals

• 2023 MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max 14-Core CPU (36GB/1TB) - $2,799.00
• 2023 MacBook Pro 16 M3 Pro 12-Core CPU (18GB/512GB) - $1,999.00
• 2023 MacBook Pro 14 M3 Pro 11-Core CPU (18GB/512GB) - $1,699.00
• 2023 MacBook Pro 14 M3 8-Core CPU (8GB/512GB) - $1,399.00
• 2024 MacBook Air 15 M3 8-Core CPU (8GB/256GB) - $1,049.00
• 2024 MacBook Air 13 M3 8-Core CPU (8GB/256GB) - $849.00
• 2022 MacBook Air 13 M2 8-Core CPU (8GB/256GB) - $799.00

The Most Powerful MacBook: Perfect for Pros

2023 MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max 14-Core CPU (36GB/1TB)

At a price of $2799, this MacBook isn't exactly cheap, but it's actually $700 less than what you would currently pay at the Apple Store for the exact same model. This current-gen laptop is equipped with Apple's most powerful APU: the M3 Max chip with a 14-core CPU and 30-core GPU. If you plan on running CPU or GPU heavy tasks on your laptop, like machine learning, AI rendering, music production, rendering, or graphics work, or anything of the sort, you'll want this kind of power.

The Best MacBook for Work

2023 MacBook Pro 14 M3 Pro 11-Core CPU (18GB/512GB)

2023 MacBook Pro 16 M3 Pro 12-Core CPU (18GB/512GB)

If you plan to use your MacBook for work, but you primarily intend to use it for general multi-tasking like word processing, spreadsheets, browsing, and the like, then an M3 Max would be wasted on you. Depending on the config you choose, these MacBook Pros are equipped with either an M3 or M3 Pro chip, which offers more than enough power to comfortably run your day to day activities. The main reason to choose the Pro over the Air is the superior display. If you're going to stare at the screen for multiple hours each day, then your eyes will thank you for the upgrade.

The Best MacBook for Students

2024 MacBook Air 13 M3 8-Core CPU (8GB/256GB)

2024 MacBook Air 15 M3 8-Core CPU (8GB/256GB)

The new MacBook Air starts at $849, which is the lowest price ever and $250 less than the price you pay at the Apple Store. It's currently a mere $50 more expensive than the older 2022 MacBook Air M2 listed below, and it's definitely worth the upgrade. The MacBook Air is equipped with an M3 chip with an 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, which is the same specs as the base MacBook Pro 14. It also features a 13.6" Liquid Retina display, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. You can jump up to a larger MacBook Air with a 15.3" display for an extra $200. Aside from the larger display, both MacBook Air laptops are identical.

Best Budget MacBook Deal

2022 MacBook Air 13 M2 8-Core CPU (8GB/256GB)

If you're looking for a MacBook at the lowest price avaialble, this is the deal for you. This model was released in 2022 and features an M2 chip. This is still an excellent workstation laptop through and through, with a 13.6" Retina display, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.

Looking for more Prime Day deals? Check out our megapost with hundreds of our favorite picks.