Leadership and motivation Books

Agile has the power to transform work - but only if it's implemented the right way.  For decades business leaders have been painfully aware of the huge chasm between their aspiration for a nimble, flexible enterprise and the reality of...

What's the secret to being indispensable, being a true go-to person in today's workplace? With new technology, flatter organisations, far-flung virtual teams, and constant change, getting things done at work is tougher and more complex than ever...

From the author of The Little Black Book of Innovation, a new guide for using the power of habit to build a culture of innovationLeaders have experimented with open innovation programs, corporate accelerators, venture capital arms, skunkworks,...

Long-term value creation - the board's new agenda.A big shift in public ownership has created a new set of challenges for boards. Much of the $14 trillion of assets that firms like Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street manage is now held in...

In his seminal book The Three-Box Solution, Vijay Govindarajan offered an amazingly simple and highly effective framework for leading innovation: Execute the present core business at peak efficiency (Box 1) Avoid the inhibiting traps of past...

The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism's future is far from assured. Income inequality, resource depletion, mass migrations from poor to rich countries, religious fundamentalism, the misuse of social...

When it comes to strategy, the mistake most managers make is thinking they have one when they don't.Joan Magretta, author of the bestselling book Understanding Michael Porter, has teamed up with illustrator Emile Holmewood to capture essential...

This big initiative could make or break this fiscal year--or your career.A compilation guide for managers that explains how to conceive of, launch, and manage a successful strategic initiative. Strategic initiatives are where the rubber meets the road...

Learn how to make better, faster decisions.As a manager you have to make decisions - from daily choices about team priorities to deciding which long-term innovation projects to pursue. But most decisions don't have a clear-cut answer, and assessing the...

We've combed through the ideas, insights, and best practices from the past year of Harvard Business Review to help you get up to speed fast on the relevant concepts driving business today. Discover new ideas and sample the latest thinking of our vast...

A Must Reads on building a better culture. Collects the best articles we've published on assessing and improving your company's culture, selected by HBR's editors. Provides readers with a mix of inspiration, research, frameworks, and case studies from...

Race, Work, and Leadership is a rare and important compilation of essays that examines how race matters in people's experience of work and leadership. What does it mean to be black in corporate America today? How are racial dynamics in organisations...

A carefully curated selection of articles about managing your personal power from Harvard Business Review. Highly curated collections of HBR articles. Provides a variety of perspectives from recognized experts on the topic. Teaches readers how to wield...

Can blockchain solve your biggest business problem?While the world is transfixed by bitcoin mania, your competitors are tuning out the noise and making strategic bets on blockchain. Your rivals are effortlessly tracking every last link in their supply...

If you read nothing else on reinventing human resources, read these 10 articles.We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones on how HR leaders can partner with the C-suite, drive change throughout...

Learn how to be strategic and formidable in all aspects of negotiation - from readingthe room, to staying cool, to achieving the best outcome. If you read nothing else on negotiation, read these 10 articles. We've combed throughhundreds of Harvard...

In today's competitive hiring market, you can't risk excluding or alienating talentedemployees - regardless of their gender, race, class, or physical ability. Bias can seepinto the deepest corners of your workplace and hinder both the success of the...

Leaders know that as markets and strategies change, organizations must evolve. The traditional hierarchical organization has long been under fire, resulting in numerous new organizational experiments. Leaders need a synthesis of what we know about these...

Your next professional move can make or break your career - are you ready? In business, especially today, you are only as successful as your next career transition. Do well, and you'll be on the fast track to even more challenging roles. Fail,...

From the author of the ground-breaking book Reinvent Your Business Model, a new approach for thinking about the future and turning your most promising and creative ideas into reality.We all know visionary leaders when we see them. In business, they are...

W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne changed the field of strategy and the language of business forever with their path-breaking "blue ocean strategy," a new model for creating uncontested markets that unlock all new demand and growth. This book brings...

What does it take for women to succeed in a male-dominated world? The Grit Factor.At age nineteen, Shannon Huffman Polson became the youngest woman ever to climb Denali, the highest mountain in North America. She went on to reach the summits of Mt...

Are you solving the right problems? If not, reframing can help.Have you or your colleagues ever worked hard on something, only to find out you were focusing on the wrong problem entirely? Most people have. In a survey, 85 percent of companies said they...

A new classic, cited by leaders and media around the globe as a highly recommended read for anyone interested in innovation. In this bestselling book, authors Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen build on what we know...

Don't fly blind. See how the power of experiments works for you.When it comes to improving customer experiences, trying out new business models, or developing new products, even the most experienced managers often get it wrong. They discover that...

The Internet of Things, robo investment advisers, wearable fitness devices, remotehealth care operations...business executives in many industries are currently beinginundated with a confusingly and exhaustingly broad range of technologicaldevelopments...

You never dreamed being the boss would be so hard. You're caught in a web of conflicting expectations from subordinates, your supervisor, peers, and customers.You're not alone. As Harvard Business School's Linda Hill and manager and executive Kent...

In your career, or anyone's, there is one transition that stands out as the most crucial - going from individual performer to competent manager.New managers have to learn how to lead others rather than do the work themselves, to win trust and respect, to...

Nonprofits and the social sectors are taking on an increasing share of the world'smost vital work. Make sure your organisation is ready for the challenge. If you read nothing else on nonprofits and the social sectors, read these 10 articles.We've combed...

Your company needs a winning business model to thrive - and it may soon need to reinvent that business model to survive. If you read nothing else on business model innovation, read these 10 articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard...

AI and data analytics are powering a wave of technological innovations - understand them, cut through the hype, and seize the opportunities.If you read nothing else on how intelligent machines are revolutionizing business, read these 10 articles. We've...

The best articles HBR has published on gender and women in leadership and in the workplace.The best articles on gender in the workplace, all in one place. A resource for leaders who want to see change, no matter their own gender identity. Includes both...

Listening is a critical skill for leaders and managers alike, but it's not as easy as it sounds. We often get distracted by what we want to say, rather than focusing on what someone else wants us to hear. But by listening well, you can engage employees,...

The importance of achieving deep focus goes beyond your own productivity. Deep focus allows you to lead others successfully, harness your emotions, and find greater workplace fulfillment.Yet the forces that challenge sustained focus range from dinging...

Leaders know that their job is to lead transformation to keep pace with technology and an ever-changing business environment. They also know that they are bound to fail doing so. But not because they can't solve a technology or strategy problem. They...

Being a parent can be a disorienting experience filled with disruptive transitions, constant pushes and pulls at work, at home, and in the community, endless to-do lists, and identity crises. It's easy to lose track of who you are and what really matters...

You know that winning in today's marketplace requires top-quality talent. You also know what it takes to build that talent--and you spend significant financial and human resources to make it happen. Yet somehow, your company's beautifully designed and...

Look around your office. Turn on the TV. Incompetent leadership is everywhere, and there's no denying it.There's also no denying that women make up only a tiny handful of senior leaders worldwide. In this provocative book, author Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic...

How do you get to what's real?Your organisation's culture is the key to its success. Strategic planning is essential. People's competencies should be measured and their weaknesses shored up. People crave feedback. These may sound like basic truths of our...

Why the gender gap persists and how we can close itWomen have made up roughly half of the college-educated workforce for years, and before the onset of the economic crisis of 2020, the gap between the percentage of women and the percentage of men in the...

With bonus interview "Post-Traumatic Growth and Building Resilience" with Martin Seligman.Our professional lives are full of challenges and setbacks, but those who achieve elite performance are able to consistently rally their emotional strength in the...

If you are a health care professional and you read nothing else on leadership, read these 10 articles. Leading experts such as Thomas H. Lee, Daniel Goleman, Peter F. Drucker, John P. Kotter, and Warren G. Bennis provide the insights and advice you need...

Poll after poll has confirmed that an astonishing number of workers are disengaged from their work. Why is this happening? And how can we fix the problem?In this bold, enlightening book, social psychologist and professor Daniel M. Cable takes leaders...

Master the most critical professional skills with this five-volume set that covers topics from personal effectiveness to leading others. This specially priced collection includes books from the HBR Guide series on the topics of Getting the Right Work...

Whether you're starting out in your career or just want a refresher on the fundamentals, the HBR Essential 20-Minute Manager Collection gives you a hand-picked selection of concise, practical primers on the professional skills you need to master most...

Emotional intelligence has been shown to be more important than other competencies in determining outstanding leadership. Emotions drive some of our most critical professional interactions--whether you're inspiring your team to higher performance,...

According to research by Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence has proved to be twice as important as other competencies in determining outstanding leadership. It's now one of the crucial criteria in hiring and promotion processes, performance...

Once the decision has been made to adopt automation and artificial intelligence technologies, leaders face difficult and stubborn questions about how to implement that decision: How, when, and where should we apply automation in our organizations? Is it...