The books we read change our lives. That’s why finding great leadership books is so crucial to our personal and professional development.
If we consume great books, those books will change us in positive ways. If we choose poorly, those books can have a negative impact on us.
It’s the reason I share 5 great leadership books every month with you. Here are the books you should consider reading in August.
5 Leadership Books To Read In August 2025
Do you know the behaviors that help leaders to connect with their people? John Baird and Edward Sullivan studied this topic and concluded that five behaviors are essential to leaders. Especially if they want to lead with heart.
They studied everyone from small startups to large corporations, including Nike, Apple, and Google. They believe they have found the key to achieving the behaviors leaders need to enact in order to lead with heart.
2. The Leadership Star: A Practical Guide to Building Engagement by Brian Hartzer:
Have you ever struggled to build engagement within your team? Whether you’re working for a nonprofit or a for-profit organization, team engagement is critical to your success.
Brian Hartzer has extensively studied this topic. In The Leadership Star, Hartzer provides practical tips to help you draw out the best from your team.
The complexities of our world can overwhelm us. There’s so much change happening that your head spins. Sometimes, you may feel like it will spin completely off!
That’s where Deliberate Calm comes into play.
The authors, Jacqueline Brassey, Aaron De Smet, and Michiel Kruyt, help you understand how to adapt and deal with the changes you’re facing. It won’t be easy but it can be done.
With the tips and guidance these three provide, you will find yourself a calm within the raging storm.
4. The Culture Playbook: 60 Highly Effective Actions to Help Your Group Succeed by Daniel Coyle
What does it take to make a strong team in the workplace? Daniel Coyle has identified 60 actions that will help your team become more cohesive and effective.
Some of the things you’ll learn in The Culture Playbook are:
- How to schedule regular team “tune-ups” that place an explicit spotlight on the team’s inner workings and create conversations that surface and improve team dynamics
- How to create spaces for remote coworkers to connect with their colleagues to foster a team spirit even across distances
- How to hold an anxiety party to serve as a pressure-relief valve, as well as a platform for people to connect and solve problems together
If this sounds like something you and your organization need, you’d be right.
5. The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward by Daniel Pink
Everyone has regret. Not everyone knows how to use it to propel themselves forward. Daniel Pink has studied regret and come to a fascinating conclusion. Regret doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You don’t have to lead a “No Regrets!” life.
In fact, regret can be a tool to move you into the next phase of your life.
Don’t let regret hold you back. Let it be a springboard into something better.
