We believe that leaders are readers. Our team has a huge appetite for what experts in their field have to teach us about marketing, business, leadership, and life.

Our internal Leadership Development Program revolves around reading, discussion, and application. We keep a library with our favorites, with contributions from the team.

In this article, we’re sharing our favorites with you.

We’ve compiled a list of our favorite books, both from our CEO, Brandon West (the most prolific reader at PHOS), and collections from the entire team. And, of course, Amazon links so you can read them yourself.

Brandon

Top Books of All Time

Business

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
By Patrick Lencioni

This book is foundational to building culture. I have recommended this book to more business colleagues than any other book I’ve read.

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable
By Patrick Lencioni

Okay, yes, I’m a Lencioni fanboy. His parabolic writing style is incredibly engaging. This book will help you address how you create and reinforce organizational clarity and build a united executive team.

Making Vision Stick
By Andy Stanley

I’ve grown as a visionary leader, and Stanley’s materials have been a huge help to me in this pursuit.

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
By Simon Sinek

If you haven’t read this, it should be first on your list. Leading out of purpose is critical to building personal engagement and team buy-in.

Building and Sustaining a Winning Culture
By John Spence

Maybe you can build culture, but can you keep it going? John’s brilliant, short eBook is a great reminder that sustaining culture is a must for long-term success.

Personal

Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist
By John Piper

Without hesitation, the most influential book of my life. Piper’s opus magnum, this is a fantastic tool to help answer the great existential questions of life.

What I’m Reading in 2018

How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority
By Clay Scroggins and Andy Stanley

Very few people are truly “in-charge” and, yet, most leadership books are written to that micro-segment of society. I want to learn how to engage each person around me as a leader and give them an opportunity to lead.

The Core Values Handbook
By Lynn Ellsworth Taylor

The most helpful tool I used with my team in 2017 was Taylor Protocol’s Core Values Assessment. I’m excited to continue to unpack this tool to see how I can engage my team in the most effective ways. I highly recommend you take the assessment.

12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You
By Tony Reinke

I love digital technology, but I have resolved never to let it own me. This is going to be a great reminder about the role it should play in my life and leadership.

The New One Minute Manager
By Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson M.D.

Probably the most recommended book to me in 2017. To each of you, I’m on it.

The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life
By Robin Sharma

A high-profile leader recommended this book to me last year after he asked me to never refer to him by his title again in public. The title of this book has already begun to change me.

The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable
By Patrick Lencioni

^See above. Gotta get me some Lencioni.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t
By Jim Collins

Finishing a book I started last year. What do I want for PHOS more than to move from good to great? Looking forward to working through this.

The Team

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
By Tony Hsieh

The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design
By Marty Neumeier

Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands
By Marty Neumeier

How to Win Friends & Influence People
By Dale Carnegie

Shoe Dog
By Phil Knight

Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points that Challenge Every Company
By Andrew Groves

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
By Steven D. Levitt

Crucial Conversations
By Kerry Patterson,‎ Joseph Grenny,‎ Ron McMillan,‎ Al Switzler

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
By Robert B. Cialdini

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