If you or anyone else are looking for other titles to read on leadership or management, here are 7 books that others have recommended to me. They’re ranked in descending order of how much I would recommend them, even if I haven’t read some:
Managing to Change the World by Alison Green and Jerry Hauser
I’m only 10% through this one, but I’ve seen 2 others in the EA community recommend this as a very practical guide for new managers/leaders in non-profits. Even if I haven’t fully read it, it looks very practical and useful.
Essentialism by Greg McKeown (has audiobook)
I’ve listened to this one and would recommend it (even if you aren’t a manager)
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Chapman, Dethmer, and Klemp (has audiobook)
I’m 60% through this audiobook. Dustin Moskovitz and Tim Ferriss recommend it, and so did a former boss of mine. I think it’s good but it’s not for everyone.
The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo (has audiobook)
I liked this one, especially since I had a UI/UX design background, and Julie Zhuo’s background is in design. I think it’s a relatable book great for first-time managers to read.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (has audiobook)
Read this 6 years ago and it was helpful then, but I haven’t re-read it since.
Quiet Leadership by David Rock (has audiobook)
Eirin Evjen from EA Norway recommends this, though I only read a bit of it
High Output Management by Andrew Grove (has audiobook)
I haven’t read this one—it might be more for leaders of for-profit companies.
Great, thanks! I’ve added these titles or your comments to a doc I made listing books on these types of topics and who (in the EA community) recommended them. Here are the books from that list, in descending order of number of recommendations:
In an 80k article, Ben Todd writes this in “Further reading”: “15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership aims to spell out a vision of work that’s productive but also fun, fulfilling, and balanced – while placing a big emphasis on using your strengths. It’s based on a leadership coaching programme that’s popular in Silicon Valley. Although it veers a little too much in the new-agey self-help direction at times (and I don’t agree with all the claims), it’s a useful book for challenging your approach to work. It also brings together lots of current ideas about leadership, management, and performance in one place.
Something I’ve noticed is that a fair few of these books come from tech/startup people, and a fair few of the EAs I’m directly or indirectly getting these recommendations from are either from those worlds or are “the sort of people” who would fit in those worlds. High Output Management and The Great CEO Within are both examples. I’m not sure if this has any implications, but perhaps it makes me inclined to slightly down-weight recommendations of books that come from those worlds, as I expect them to be a bit overrepresented, or something.
That said, next up on my own reading list, from this category of books, is High Output Management. After that will be The Coaching Habit, which may or may not be from a tech/startup world (haven’t checked. This is based on some semi-random mixture of what was most often recommended, what has been least often read at Rethink Priorities (so the org can collectively gather a wider range of ideas and perspectives), and what’s available on audible. I’ll post notes on those once I’m done with them.
If you or anyone else are looking for other titles to read on leadership or management, here are 7 books that others have recommended to me. They’re ranked in descending order of how much I would recommend them, even if I haven’t read some:
Managing to Change the World by Alison Green and Jerry Hauser
I’m only 10% through this one, but I’ve seen 2 others in the EA community recommend this as a very practical guide for new managers/leaders in non-profits. Even if I haven’t fully read it, it looks very practical and useful.
Essentialism by Greg McKeown (has audiobook)
I’ve listened to this one and would recommend it (even if you aren’t a manager)
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Chapman, Dethmer, and Klemp (has audiobook)
I’m 60% through this audiobook. Dustin Moskovitz and Tim Ferriss recommend it, and so did a former boss of mine. I think it’s good but it’s not for everyone.
The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo (has audiobook)
I liked this one, especially since I had a UI/UX design background, and Julie Zhuo’s background is in design. I think it’s a relatable book great for first-time managers to read.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (has audiobook)
Read this 6 years ago and it was helpful then, but I haven’t re-read it since.
Quiet Leadership by David Rock (has audiobook)
Eirin Evjen from EA Norway recommends this, though I only read a bit of it
High Output Management by Andrew Grove (has audiobook)
I haven’t read this one—it might be more for leaders of for-profit companies.
Great, thanks! I’ve added these titles or your comments to a doc I made listing books on these types of topics and who (in the EA community) recommended them. Here are the books from that list, in descending order of number of recommendations:
High Output Management
Managing to Change the World
15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership
In an 80k article, Ben Todd writes this in “Further reading”: “15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership aims to spell out a vision of work that’s productive but also fun, fulfilling, and balanced – while placing a big emphasis on using your strengths. It’s based on a leadership coaching programme that’s popular in Silicon Valley. Although it veers a little too much in the new-agey self-help direction at times (and I don’t agree with all the claims), it’s a useful book for challenging your approach to work. It also brings together lots of current ideas about leadership, management, and performance in one place.
The Great CEO Within
The Personal MBA
The Making of a Manager
Quiet Leadership
The Manager’s Handbook
Not on Audible :(
The Lean Startup
7 Day Startup
The Coaching Habit
short summary video
Essentialism
How to Win Friends and Influence People
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And Daniel Kestenholz, an EA coach, lists the following books in the spreadsheet linked in this post: Professional development in operations:
People management
The Effective Manager and/or Manager Tools Podcast – Mark Horstman
Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior – Edwin Locke
The Essential Drucker – Peter Drucker
Project management
HBR Guide to Project Management
Zapier Guide to Project Management
Making Things Happen – Scott Berkun
Making Ideas Happen – Scott Belsky
Results Without Authority – Tom Kendrick
Thanks for this! I didn’t expect High Output Management to come out on top—will consider reading it in the future.
Something I’ve noticed is that a fair few of these books come from tech/startup people, and a fair few of the EAs I’m directly or indirectly getting these recommendations from are either from those worlds or are “the sort of people” who would fit in those worlds. High Output Management and The Great CEO Within are both examples. I’m not sure if this has any implications, but perhaps it makes me inclined to slightly down-weight recommendations of books that come from those worlds, as I expect them to be a bit overrepresented, or something.
That said, next up on my own reading list, from this category of books, is High Output Management. After that will be The Coaching Habit, which may or may not be from a tech/startup world (haven’t checked. This is based on some semi-random mixture of what was most often recommended, what has been least often read at Rethink Priorities (so the org can collectively gather a wider range of ideas and perspectives), and what’s available on audible. I’ll post notes on those once I’m done with them.
Oh I just found out now that there’s already an Audible audiobook for High Output Management, cool!