120 Leadership & Strategy Books Written by Women

(Not exclusively about women)

Back in 2017 I was frustrated by how few leadership and strategy books I could find written by women that were not about being a woman in leadership. It suggested that women were not seen as credible experts on leadership and business more generally. So I curated a list of 60 Strategy and Leadership Books Written by Women, which was also picked up and published in Inc.

Top-selling business books are still overwhelmingly authored by men but there are a lot more options written by women so I updated my original list. It is by no means comprehensive but I wanted to highlight some of the new books that have come out since that original list was made, including some of the additions made in the comments to that post.

1. Abrams, Stacey - Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change

2. Adams, Marilee G. - Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 12 Powerful Tools for Leadership, Coaching, and Results

3. Aarons-Mele, Morra - Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert's Roadmap to Getting Out There

4. Andersen, Erika - Leading so People Will Follow

5. Asch, Sandy - ROAR: How to Build a Resilient Organization

6. Bates, Suzanne - All the Leader You Can Be

7. Beach, Patty - The Art of Alignment: A Practical Guide to Inclusive Leadership

8. Beers, Charlotte - I'd Rather Be In Charge

9. Bloodworth, Dr. Venice - Key to Yourself

10. Boelkes, Deb - The WOW Factor Workplace: How to Create a Best Place to Work Culture

11. Botsman, Rachel - Who Can You Trust?: How Technology Brought Us Together and Why It Might Drive Us Apart

12. Bozarth, Jane - Show Your Work

13. Bradberry, Travis; Greaves, Jean; Parks, Tom - Emotional Intelligence 2.0

14. Bramlett, Cara H - Servant Leadership Roadmap: Master the 12 Core Competencies of Management Success with Leadership Qualities and Interpersonal Skills

15. Brown, Brene - Rising Strong

16. Brown, Adrienne Maree - Emergent Strategy

17. Cain, Susan - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

18. Carasc, Marie - Organizational Culture: A Guide to Inclusive Transformation

19. Carmon, Irin and Knizhnik, Shana - Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

20. Chu, Chin-Ning - Thick Face Black Heart

21. Citroen, Lida - The New Rules of Influence: How to Authentically Build Trust, Drive Change, and Make an Impact

22. Cole Jones, Francis - How to Wow

23. Conner, Marcia - The New Social Learning

24. Cook, Pia Heidenmark and Wirén, Lisen - Embedding Sustainability: How to Drive Organizational Transformation

25. Cuddy, Amy - Presence

26. Davidds, Yasmin - Graciously Assertive: How Becoming a Better Human Makes You a Better Leader

27. Dine, Marta - The Art of Developing New Leadership Skills: Unlock Potential, Inspire Others to Rise, Navigate Change, Motivate Teams and Resolve Conflicts with Compassion

28. Donley, Julie - Leading at the Speed of People: Strategies for Success in a Fast-Paced World

29. Duarte, Nancy - Slide-ology and Resonate

30. Ducksworth, Angela - Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

31. Duke, Annie - Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

32. Dutton, Jane and Worline, Monica - Awakening Compassion at Work

33. Dweck, Carol - Mindset

34. Dyche, Jill - The New IT: How Technology Leaders are Enabling Business Strategy in the Digital Age

35. Fernandez, Eldonna Lewis - Think Like A Negotiator

36. Fiorina, Carly - Rising to the Challenge, My Leadership Journey

37. Fowler, Susan - Why Motivating People Doesn't Work…and What Does: More Breakthroughs for Leading, Energizing, and Engaging

38. Grant, Maddie and Notter, Jamie - Humanize: How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World

39. Gratton, Lynda - The Shift, Hot Spots, The 100 Year Life

40. Greaves, Dr. Jean and Watkins, Evan - Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0: The Four Essential Skills of High Performing Teams

41. Greiner, Lori - Invent It, Sell It, Bank It!: Make Your Million-Dollar Idea into a Reality

42. Graziano, Margaret - Ignite Culture: Empowering and Leading a Healthy, High-Performance Organization from the Inside Out

43. Gunther McGrath, Rita - The End of Competitive Advantage and many more

44. Hall, Kindra - The Story Edge: How Leaders Harness the Power of Stories to Win in Business

45. Harbour, Laurie and Walton, Scott - Tradition Meets Transformation: Leadership Strategies to Revitalize Manufacturing

46. Hasl-Kelchner, Hanna - Seeking Fairness at Work: Cracking the New Code of Greater Employee Engagement, Retention & Satisfaction

47. Heen, Sheila and Stone, Douglas - Thanks for the Feedback

48. Hewitt, Sylvia Ann - Executive Presence

49. Hodges, Julie - People-centric Organizational Change: Engaging Employees with Business Transformation

50. Hollingsworth, Andrea - The Compassion Advantage: How Top Leaders Build More Humanizing Workplaces

51. Holman, Peggy - Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity

52. Hurt, Karin & Dye, David - Winning Well and Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates

53. Hyacinth, Brigette - Purpose Driven Leadership: Building and Fostering Effective Teams

54. Ibarra, Herminia - Think Like a Leader

55. Jacobs, Jane - The Death and Life of Great American Cities

56. Jones, Mamie F. - Lead Extraordinary Change: The Proven Playbook for Driving Successful Organizational Transformation

57. Kalinda, Mimi - Echoes of Influence: Harnessing The Power of Storytelling As A Leadership Strategy

58. Kang, Karen - Branding Pays

59. Kanter, Rosabeth Moss - The Change Masters and Confidence and many others

60. Keckler, Maria - Bridge Builders

61. Kellerman, Gabriella Rosen and Seligman, Martin E. P. - Tomorrowmind: Thriving at Work with Resilience, Creativity, and Connection―Now and in an Uncertain Future

62. Kestin, Janet and Vonk, Nancy - Darling, You Can't Do Both

63. Konnikova, Maria - The Confidence Game

64. Konrath, Jill - Agile Selling

65. le Gentil, Hortense and Lambert, Caroline - The Unlocked Leader: Dare to Free Your Own Voice, Lead with Empathy, and Shine Your Light in the World

66. Li, Charlene - Groundswell, Open Leadership & The Engaged Leader

67. Lipman-Blumen, Dr. Jean - Connective Leadership

68. Lyons, Nancy - Work Like a Boss: A Kick-in-the-Pants Guide to Finding (and Using) Your Power at Work

69. Malhotra, Ruchika T. - Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work

70. Martin, Karen and Osterling, Mike - Value Stream Mapping: How to Visualize Work and Align Leadership for Organizational Transformation

71. Mazan, Lori - Leadership Revolution: The Future of Developing Dynamic Leaders

72. Mauborgne, Renée - Blue Ocean Strategy

73. Maymin, Senia & Greenberg, Margaret H. - Profit from the Positive

74. McGowan, Heather E. and Shipley, Chris - The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast, and Thrive in the Future of Work

75. McGonigal, Jane - Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

76. McHale, Siobhan - The Hive Mind at Work: Harnessing the Power of Group Intelligence to Create Meaningful and Lasting Change

77. McKinney, Priscilla - Collaboration Is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards a Cross-Pollinating Hive Mind & How Not to Get Left Behind

78. Meadows, Donella H. and Wright, Diana - Thinking In Systems: A Primer

79. Meyer, Erin - The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business

80. Miller, Shanda K. - From Supervisor to Super Leader: How to Break Free from Stress and Build a Thriving Team That Gets Results

81. Millman, Talila - The TRIUMPH Framework: 7 Steps to Leading Organizational Transformation

82. Milne, Natasha - 101 Reasons to Get Out of Bed

83. Montgomery, Cynthia - The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs

84. Neff, Kelsey - 52 Weeks of Impact: A Guidebook for Your First Year of Leadership

85. Nelson, Tara-Nicholle - The Transformational Consumer

86. Nicole, Malorie - The Abundance Decision: The Intersection of a Thriving Business and Fulfilling Life

87. Noble, Sue and Tarrant, Amy - Coaching People through Organizational Change: Practical Tools to Support Employees through Business Transformation

88. Nooyi, Indra - My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future

89. Norman, Minette - The Boldly Inclusive Leader: Transform Your Workplace (and the World) by Valuing the Differences Within

90. O'Neil, Cathy - Weapons of Math Destruction

91. Perman, Stacy - In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules

92. Perkins, Lauren - Think Like a Brand. Act Like a Startup: Drive Growth and Innovation by Balancing Stability and Agility

93. Pompliano, Polina Marinova - Hidden Genius: The secret ways of thinking that power the world's most successful people

94. Posman, Rachel and Calhoun, John - The Design Conductors: Your Essential Guide to Design Operations

95. Purmal, Kate and Goldman, Lisa - The Moonshot Effect

96. Rebecca Homkes - Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times

97. Ríos, Inma - KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP: Developing the Mindset and Skills of a Great Leader

98. Roberts, Sara - Nimble, Focused, Feisty: Organizational Cultures That Win in the New Era and How to Create Them

99. Roddick, Anita - Business as Unusual and others

100. Samet, Elizabeth D - Leadership

101. Sandberg, Sheryl - Lean In & Option B

102. Sanford, Carol - The Regenerative Business: Redesign Work. Cultivate Human Potential

103. Schillinger, Celine - Dare to Un-Lead: The Art of Relational Leadership in a Fragmented World

104. Schmidt, Lynn, PhD & Nourse, Kevin, PhD - Shift Into Thrive

105. Scott, Kim - Radical Candor

106. Siggins, Kerry - The Ownership Mindset: A Handbook for Transforming Your Life and Leadership

107. Slaughter, Anne-Marie - Unfinished Business

108. Spio, Mary - It's Not Rocket Science: 7 Game Changing Traits For Uncommon Success

109. Tatum, Beverly Daniel - Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

110. Thomas, Marisa - The Power to Lead: How to Optimize Your Energy to Thrive in Leadership

111. Thompson, Joanna - A to Z: Your Navigator to Success

112. Ubl, Hannah L. and Walden, Lisa X. - The Future of Work is Human: Transforming Company Culture for a Post-Pandemic World

113. Uribe, Dr. Betty - #Value

114. Walker, Karen M. and Ducharme, Julie - Leading by My Ponytail

115. Webb, Amy - The Signals are Talking

116. Wheatley, Margaret - Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World and others

117. Wiseman, Liz - Multipliers and Rookie Smarts

118. Wu-David, Diana - Future Proof: Reinventing Work in the Age of Acceleration

119. Younger, Heather - The Art of Active Listening: How People at Work Feel Heard, Valued, and Understood

120. Zheng, Lily - DEI Deconstructed: Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right
     

     
     Please share any others you would recommend, including your own!