The 3 Best Leadership Books That Changed My Work & Life

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the sea of choice when it comes to books? Well, I know the feeling. So to make your life a little easier, I'm here to share the three best leadership books that, no exaggeration, literally changed my work and life. These books made me better at leading myself, leading teams, and leading a company. Oh, by the way, if you're new to the channel, I'm Eric Partaker. I'm a CEO coach to some of the world's leading CEOs and I've also been recognized as the CEO of the Year. These three books will help you become your most productive self, transform a group of people into a high performing team, and build a company that's not only successful, but also fueled by purpose. So let's jump in with book number one. First up, the Now Habit by Neil Fiore. Now, I know what you're thinking. This doesn't sound like a leadership book, but trust me, it is. Because if you can't lead yourself, you're going to struggle to lead anyone else. This book is a must if you feel like there aren't enough hours in the day, or if procrastination is your personal nemesis. Which, by the way, was 100% the case for me. I actually bought this book in 2000, but didn't get around to reading it until 2010. I so I procrastinated on reading the procrastination book for 10 years. Seriously though, this book changed my life. Before reading the book, each day would start with the best intentions and then end up with me having done virtually nothing I had intended. And one of my favorite tools from the book is the unschedule. Now, this is going to sound strange, but stick with me. The unschedule flips traditional scheduling on its head. Instead of scheduling your work first, you schedule your leisure time first. Yep. Your Netflix binges, your coffee breaks, your gym time. Or more simply, your me time. And I know what you're thinking, but Eric, I've got too much to do. And yeah, I totally get it, but that's the genius of it. It creates boundaries and forces you to work efficiently in the time that's left. Plus, it gives you something to look forward to. So it's not all work, no play. And another major breakthrough from the book, changing the way you talk to yourself. Let's be real. How often do you say, ugh, I have to finish this project and then immediately feel like crawling under a blanket? That's what Fiore calls the language of oppression. It's like we're forcing ourselves to do something we don't want to do. And this in turn creates internal resistance or like a rebellion. Because we're framing work as a burden. Fiore suggests a simple but powerful shift to replace the phrase I have to finish this with I choose to start. When we say I choose to start, it empowers us. It's less about completing the whole project and more about just taking the first step. And that shift in language rewires your brain to approach work with more positivity and less stress. You see, you're not trying to sprint to the finish line. You're starting and that's all you need to do. Once you start, momentum usually takes over. And as Neil writes in his book, if we focus on continually starting, finishing will take care of itself. If you're enjoying this video, you'll love my best selling book, the Three Alarms, and I'm currently offering it for free to my YouTube audience. Among other things, you'll learn how to build your antifragility and turn stress into strength, how to avoid the five most common traps to reaching your full potential, and how to overcome procrastination and become super productive. So get your free copy in the description below. Okay, next up, we got the Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. And I actually have them here. That's the now habit, the one that I just talked about, and that's the five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. And if your team, if your team feels more like a, like a dysfunctional family reunion rather than a well oiled machine, then this book is for you. The five Dysfunctions of a Team is going to help you out tremendously. So before reading this book, teamwork felt disjointed at best. Like we were rowing in different directions and everything took way more effort than it should have. But after putting Lencioni's principles into practice, it was like flipping a switch. We started rowing together in sync, crushing goals and actually enjoying the process. And I've probably read this book about five different times and it's helped me time and again to transform a group of people into a high performing team. Now, as the title suggests, there are five main roadblocks that prevent a team from operating at its full potential. So let's briefly dive into each. So the first of the five dysfunctions is the absence of trust. This is the foundation, because if there's no trust, your team's dead in the water. In high performing teams, trust means people are comfortable being vulnerable with one another. They're not afraid to admit mistakes or ask for help. Because without trust, people withhold information, avoid collaboration, and as a result, the whole team suffers. Now, building trust takes time, and it starts with being vulnerable as a leader. So when I started to share my own mistakes and uncertainties, it gave my team permission to do the same. And then everything started to change. Now, dysfunction number two is fear of conflict. And here's the deal. If your team avoids conflict, they're probably not being honest with each other. And tough conversations can often lead to breakthroughs. One of the key takeaways from Lencioni is that productive conflict, AKA healthy debate, doesn't mean chaos. It actually means growth. Great teams hash out their differences, debate ideas, and then move forward stronger, leaving their personal differences and opinions aside in the humble pursuit of the truth. Dysfunction number three, a lack of commitment. Now, if team members don't fully buy into decisions, you'll struggle to get anywhere. But for people to buy in, they often need the chance to weigh in. People need to feel heard, even if you don't agree with their point of view. And this follows directly from the previous point, because when teams engage in healthy, open debate, they're more likely to commit to the final decision because they feel like they've had their say. So getting commitment is all about making sure everyone feels invested even if they didn't get their way. It's about being clear on what's been decided and ensuring everyone's on board. Now, the fourth dysfunction is the avoidance of accountability. You know, that awkward feeling when someone's slacking but no one says anything? Well, that's a lack of accountability. You see, strong teams hold each other accountable, and that means it's not just a leader holding the team accountable, it becomes a peer to peer thing. And when everyone holds each other accountable, the team as a whole becomes stronger and is far more likely to stay on track. And that brings us to dysfunction number five and inattention to results. At the end of the day, teams are there to achieve results. But when team members are more concerned about their personal success than the team's success, well, then we have a problem. And the key to overcoming this dysfunction is to ensure that the team stays laser focused on achieving results together, rather than letting individual egos take center stage. So constantly reminding the team of its goals, encouraging collaborative problem solving outside of core responsibility areas, it's the whole, you know, there's no I in team thing. Like Lencioni says, the only true measure of a great team is that it accomplishes the results it sets out to achieve. And that's the key. Great teams put results above everything else. Once you address these five dysfunctions, your team starts working together like a well oiled machine. And the power of this book is that it doesn't just point out the problems, it also gives you clear, actionable strategies to fix them. I know I have a lot of early stage entrepreneurs, founders and CEOs in my audience and if you're one of them, you need to start consciously crafting your leadership style. And I've built a free crash course to help you do exactly that. In my ultimate leadership Guide, you'll learn the five big mistakes every new leader makes and how to avoid them, and how to make high stakes decisions with confidence and win back 10 hours a week. You can gain access for free in the description below. And finally, let's talk big picture company leadership with the classic book Built to Last by Jim Collins. This one right here. This this book is all about what makes some companies thrive while others fizzle out. And one of the most powerful concepts shared by the world's greatest companies is a core purpose. It's what gives your company meaning beyond just making money. For example, when I was part of the early team at Skype, our core purpose wasn't to be the number one free telephony provider in the world. Our tagline was the whole world can talk for free. And that purpose made us feel like we were doing something important. Like we are changing the world. And what Collins found is that enduring companies like Disney, 3M and Sony, for example, don't just chase trends or short term profits, they're driven by a larger mission. Take Disney, for example. Their core purpose isn't just to create movies or theme parks. It's to make people happy. That purpose has guided them for decades and helped them build a brand that's not just about entertainment, but about delivering joy to generations of families. 3M, the company that brought you everything from post it notes to to medical products, has a core purpose of solving unsolved problems innovatively. They aren't just creating products, they're finding creative solutions to the world's problems. And that's why they've been able to innovate across so many industries, from office supplies to healthcare. And then there's Sony. Their core purpose is to experience the joy of advancing technology for the benefit of the public. It's not about creating the next big gadget. It's about the excitement of pushing technological boundaries for the greater good. And by having a clear and timeless purpose, these companies have been able to create a culture that lasts because when everyone in the company is united by a common purpose, it creates unshakable unity and focus. You see, it's not just about profits, it's about leaving a legacy. So there you go. The three best leadership books that changed my work and life. The Now Habit helped me lead myself better, skyrocketing my productivity along the way. The five Dysfunctions of a Team helped me turn my team into a well oiled machine and Built to Last showed me how to build a purpose driven company. But that's enough from me. I'd love to hear from you what books have changed your work or life. Let me know in the comments below. And be sure to subscribe so you don't miss future videos. Oh, and check out my free leadership training and newsletter. You'll find links in the description. Thanks so much for watching and see you soon.