27 Best Leadership Books for HR Leaders [2024 Edition]
What’s one thing successful people have in common? Reading. Statistics show that 88% of the most affluent people spend at least 30 minutes every day reading.
Carving out time for your own learning and development can be challenging for time-starved HR leaders. But the benefits of continuous learning are worth the time invested – both for yourself and your team. As American basketball coach and leader John Wooden once said, ‘it’s what you learn after you know it all that counts”.
This is especially true in an HR field that is rapidly changing and requires new skills and competencies from HR leaders and their teams. Leadership books can be a great go-to source for any HR leader looking to embrace a continuous learning mindset.
This article provides a list of must-read leadership books designed with you, the HR leader, in mind.
1. A Cure for the Common Company (2023) by Richard Safeer, MD
Health and wellbeing expert Safeer wrote A Cure for the Common Company, to help business and HR leaders foster a healthier work environment and more resilient workforce.
Why you should read this book
Total wellbeing and resilience-building among employees remain top priorities for organizations, and HR is often charged with these tasks. In this book, Richard Safeer provides a step-by-step roadmap to creating a health and wellbeing culture that keeps people happier and more engaged.
Topics covered
- The importance of shaping your wellbeing culture
- Strategies to help leaders build a solid cultural foundation to support their change efforts
- Challenging yourself, your team, and your workforce to live better lives.
Also available as an audiobook.
2. Beyond Discomfort (2024) by Nadia Nagamootoo
Beyond Discomfort revolves around three attitudes Nagamootoo regularly encounters among leaders, which act as barriers to progress on DEIB.
Why you should read this book
The framework the author created around these three different mindsets allows HR and business leaders to reflect on their thoughts and behaviors. They can then challenge themselves and channel their discomfort into positive action.
Topics covered
- Real-life examples and insights to deepen your understanding of DEIB and its complexities
- New perspectives to better connect with your existing leadership values and beliefs
- Practical tools and activities to develop and improve your DEIB practices.
3. Built for People (2023) by Jessica Zwaan
In Built for People, Zwaan explains how you can transform your people function by applying the best elements of a product management approach to HR.
Why you should read this book
The book shows HR practitioners and business leaders how to improve workforce and business performance by following three key steps:
- Developing people-centered ways of working
- Using evidence-based decision-making
- Encouraging a culture of continuous feedback and iteration.
Topics covered
- The product management approach’s impact on HR, and how to execute it effectively
- The importance of testing and iteration and how to define metrics for success
- Tools, case studies, exercises, and advice from those who’ve already seen the benefits of product -management for their people operations.
4. Bring Your Human to Work (2018) by Erica Keswin
Bring Your Human to Work identifies the key practices of well-known human companies such as Lyft and SoulCycle. Keswin translates these into applicable advice that any business leader can use to build a ‘“human workplace.”
Why you should read this book
The author has over 20 years of experience working with top business leaders and executives to build companies that are real, aligned, and true to themselves. Her leadership lessons foster fairness, devotion, and joy in the workplace — all core elements of a successful business.
Topics covered
- Understanding your company’s role in the world beyond financial profit
- Running your meetings with a clear purpose
- Simply saying “thank you”.
Also available as an audiobook.
5. Dare to Un-Lead (2022) by Céline Schillinger
In Dare to Un-Lead, Schillinger explores how modern organizations can transform leadership from a top-down hegemony to one that enables people to lead together based on the concepts of liberty, equality and community.
Why you should read this book
Dare to Un-Lead challenges how you may think and feel about the role of leadership in your life. It can be valuable — if not indispensable — for HR and business leaders to look at leadership through multiple lenses and constantly broaden their perspectives.
Topics covered
The author presents a series of evidence-based approaches to reinvent collective performance across organizations, stemming from her own experiences and analysis of leadership.
6. HR Disrupted (2017) by Lucy Adams
HR Disrupted is a leadership classic that explores HR’s role of HR in the future. This includes leading, managing, engaging and supporting people in a radically different way.
Why you should read this book
The author introduces the EACH model, which encompasses treating Employees as Adults, Consumers, and Human Beings
Adams draws on her experience as an HR Director at BBC to demonstrate how to better manage people in an increasingly digital and disruptive business environment.
Topics covered
In HR Disrupted, the author presents the following three pillars of disruptive HR:
- Treating employees as adults, not children
- Treating employees as consumers or customers rather than employing a one-size-fits-all approach
- Treating employees as human beings.
7. HR Like a Boss (2023) by John Bernatovicz
HR Like a Boss features real-life stories of HR practitioners who embody the characteristics of a so-called ‘boss,’ i.e., a skilled business leader.
Why you should read this book
In HR Like a Boss, Bernatovicz gives HR professionals the tools they need to help employees feel more connected to the company they work for and ensure the organization’s success.
Topics covered
- The evolving role of HR
- HR as a strategic partner
- Recruitment, performance management, engagement, and retention.
Also available as an audiobook.
8. HR Rising!! (2020) by Steve Browne
In HR Rising!!, bestselling author Steve Browne encourages HR practitioners to move beyond the mindset of simply being a support function. Browne encourages you to enter the role of intentional leadership.
Why you should read this book
The author believes impactful leadership comes from people who are not confined solely to their job titles. Rather, the HR professionals’ ability to connect and interact with all employees puts them in the perfect position to lead and build meaningful change for their organizations.
HR Rising!! highlights the aspects of your own professional experience that will help you start leading from where you are right now.
Topics covered
- The author’s formula of People + Processes = Results.
- Fostering collaboration, developing credibility, and building trust.
9. Humanocracy (2020) by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini
In Humanocracy, the authors present a detailed blueprint for creating organizations as inspired and ingenious as the people within them.
Why you should read this book
We all know that organizations must become more human. The big question that the book addresses is ‘How?’. In Humanocrocy, Hamel and Zanini explain the DNA of human-centric organizations, providing a use case to help you get started.
Topics covered
- How to equip everyone in your organization to be their best and do their best
- The building blocks for creating ‘Humanocracy’ within your company.
Also available as an audiobook.
10. I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique (2023) by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
I, Human tackles a question every HR and business leader should consider: Whether we will use AI to improve the way we work and live.
Why you should read this book
AI and automation will affect every organization to a certain extent. Technology can improve our lives, but it can also worsen our bad tendencies. It is up to us to adapt and determine how we want to live and work, and the time to do so is now.
Topics covered
I, Human is filled with insights about human behavior and our complicated relationship with technology. The book also touches on the (soft) skills we need to develop to thrive in the future.
Also available as an audiobook.
11. Leading Below the Surface (2021) by LaTonya Wilkins
In Leading Below the Surface, culture leader LaTonya Wilkins challenges our thinking about traditional leadership standards and the countless DEIB initiatives that have failed to make a lasting impact.
Why you should read this book
Leading Below the Surface explores how certain highly rewarded behaviors are actually destroying companies, blocking us from creating genuinely diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures of belonging.
As an HR or business leader, you will learn how to take your DEIB efforts to the next level and create an authentic culture of belonging.
Topics covered
This book combines real-life anecdotes from Wilkins herself with actionable insights backed by interdisciplinary research.
Also available as an audiobook.
12. Love + Work (2022) by Marcus Buckingham
In Love + Work, Marcus Buckingham aims to help you discover your best in work and life.
Why you should read this book
Love + Work encourages HR leaders and managers to be compassionate towards the people in their organization, cultivate their potential, and help them reach the point where they love what they do.
Topics covered
This book will enable readers to:
- Choose the right role on their team
- Position themselves as a leader that people trust easily
- Make lasting changes for their team, company, family, or students.
Also available as an audiobook.
13. People Operations (2021) by Jay Fulcher, Kevin Marasco and Tracy Cote
People Operations guides leaders in small and medium-sized companies on how to stop spending too much time on HR admin and start focusing more on the people in their organization.
Why you should read this book
If you’re an HR generalist or business owner in a small or medium-sized company, People Operations is a great book to read. It examines how to optimize HR, support employees, maximize workforce investment, and modernize your business.
Topics covered
- Digitalizing legacy HR functions
- Using robots for tedious busywork
- Employing software to design and improve the employee experience.
Also available as an audiobook.
14. Redefining HR (2021) by Lars Schmidt
In his second book, Lars Schmidt examines the evolution of Human Resources and breaks down many of the fundamental components of modern HR and people operations.
Why you should read this book
Redefining HR is a business book written to help companies build modern people teams. It provides a tangible framework of progressive ideas and practices for HR practitioners, people leaders, and business executives.
Topics covered
- Diversity and inclusion
- People analytics
- L&D and employee experience.
The book also features global case studies.
15. Remote, Not Distant (2022) by Gustavo Razzetti
This book examines what makes some companies thrive, and others fail under a remote or hybrid work model.
Why you should read this book
Remote and hybrid work are here to stay, as many candidates and employees prefer. In Remote, Not Distant, Gustavo Razzetti reveals the secret of successful remote workplace cultures and provides actionable tools for senior (HR) leaders.
Topics covered
Razzetti addresses the different areas crucial to effective remote and hybrid work, including:
- Culture
- Keeping teams connected
- Asynchronous communication.
Also available as an audiobook.
16. Scaling People (2023) by Claire Hughes Johnson
Scaling People is a practical and empathetic guide to being an effective leader and manager in a high-growth environment.
Effective leadership and management is crucial as remote and hybrid working becomes more prevalent. Johnson, former COO of Stripe, has firsthand experience in this area and shares her valuable insights and strategies for effectively scaling your team while maintaining a positive company culture.
Why you should read this book
Scaling People provides a detailed roadmap for every HR or business leader in a fast-growing company who may be wondering how to put in place the right operating structures and people systems to scale.
Topics covered
Johnson’s book includes numerous worksheets, templates, exercises, and example documents to help leaders, founders, and company builders scale.
Also available as an audiobook.
17. Strategic Human Resources Planning, 7th Edition (2019) by Mark Podolsky and Monica Belcourt
This is another classic on the list and one of the best leadership books for new leaders in the field of HR.
Why you should read this book
Successful HR planning is strategic and focuses on the organization’s unique needs. The Seventh Edition of Strategic Human Resources Planning highlights the importance of HR practitioners as business partners who are key in the organization’s strategic planning.
Topics covered
- The forecasting process
- IT for HR planning
- HR planning today.
18. Teams Unleashed (2019) by Phillip Sandahl and Alexis Phillips
Teams Unleashed offers a map for engaged, sustainable, and better team performance.
Why you should read this book
Teams Unleashed offers a map for engaged, sustainable, and improved team performance, particularly for team and executive coaches, internal HR, OD and L&D professionals, and team leaders.
Topics covered
- The five core competencies for working effectively with teams
- Essential team coaching skills
- Exercises and activities to spark conversations that increase understanding and lead to new team norms.
Also available as an audiobook.
19. The Coaching Habit (2016) by Michael Bungay Stanier
In The Coaching Habit, the author aims to make coaching a habitual, informal part of your daily life.
Why you should read this book
Stanier has trained over 10,000 managers worldwide in practical, everyday coaching skills. In this book, he shares how you can develop coaching methods that unlock your people’s potential by saying less and asking more.
Topics covered
- Combines insider information with research based on neuroscience and behavioral economics
- Provides interactive training tools that turn practical advice into practiced habits.
Also available as an audiobook.
20. The Color of Emotional Intelligence (2023) by Farah Harris
Author Farah Harris outlines how to elevate your emotional intelligence (EQ) to help with addressing inequities.
Why you should read this book
Emotional intelligence is a crucial interpersonal skill needed for strong leadership in HR. In The Color of Emotional Intelligence, Harris teaches us, among other things, the fundamentals of EQ and how to use EQ to break barriers to equity.
Topics covered
- Barriers to practicing EQ effectively
- Different types of stressors, including microaggressions
- Tools everyone can use to elevate their emotional intelligence.
21. The Culture Code (2018) by Daniel Coyle
The Culture Code explores where great culture comes from and how you can build and sustain it in your group (or company).
Why you should read this book
A healthy organizational culture drives engagement, productivity, and revenue growth. This book offers a roadmap for creating an environment where innovation flourishes, problems get solved, and expectations are exceeded.
Topics covered
- What makes organizations like the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team Six and the San Antonio Spurs tick
- Three skills he identified that generate cohesion and cooperation
- How diverse groups learn to function with a single mind.
Also available as an audiobook.
22. The Culture Map (2014) by Erin Meyer
In The Culture Map, Erin Meyer provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business.
Why you should read this book
The Culture Map is a must-read for HR leaders in organizations where people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds work. It will help you understand how local culture impacts global interaction and provide valuable insights for working effectively and sensitively with people all over the world.
Topics covered
In The Culture Map, Erin combines a smart analytical framework with practical, actionable advice for working globally.
Also available as an audiobook.
23. The Fearless Organization (2018) by Amy C. Edmondson
In The Fearless Organization, Edmondson explores the culture of psychological safety and provides a blueprint for bringing this to life.
Why you should read this book
As an HR leader, you want to encourage a work atmosphere where people feel free to share their ideas and express themselves — even when their opinions differ. This book helps you create this psychologically safe environment.
Topics covered
- The connection between psychological safety and strong performance (using real-life examples from the public and private sectors)
- Practical steps leaders must take to ensure psychological safety that can help build and maintain a fearless organization.
Also available as an audiobook.
24. The New HR Leader’s First 100 Days (2017) by Alan Collins
In The New HR Leader’s First 100 Days, Collins, former VP of HR at PepsiCo, shares his proven step-by-step approach for starting strong and accelerating your success in your new HR leader role.
Why you should read this book
Like with many things, the foundation you create when you start as an HR leader determines your success — or the lack thereof — further down the road. Therefore, the first 100 days in your new role as an HR leader are critical.
Topics covered
- Strategies to take charge and get up to speed even before your first day
- How to make a positive and powerful first impression as a new HR leader
- Ten tips to select the early HR wins you need to make your mark and establish yourself.
25. The Squiggly Career (2020) by Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis
Helen Tupper explains the ‘squiggly career’ — a career where people constantly jump between roles, industries, and locations.
Why you should read this book
Squiggly careers (or non-traditional career paths) are becoming more prevalent, and as a result, models like the career lattice are gaining traction in modern workspaces. This book provides insights into the changing shape of work as companies increasingly work with employees with squiggly careers.
Topics covered
- How to play to your “super” strengths
- How to build better support frameworks
- How to gain more confidence and explore future possibilities.
Also available as an audiobook.
26. Unapologetically Ambitious (2020) by Shellye Archambeau
Unapologetically Ambitious is a leadership book that offers a blueprint for achieving personal and professional goals.
Why you should read this book
While Archambeau’s book is primarily intended for women, her practical advice and guidance are valuable for any HR and business leader, regardless of their background or demographic.
Topics covered
- Tackle imposter syndrome
- Take risks
- Develop financial literacy
- Integrate work, marriage, parenthood, and self-care.
Also available as an audiobook.
27. Bonus: HBR’s 10 Must Reads for HR Leaders Collection (5 books – 2019) from the HBR editors
Looking to get up to speed on core topics like leadership, strategy, change, managing people, and managing yourself? HBR’s 10 Must Reads for HR Leaders provides you with a collection of books delving into various essential leadership topics.
Why you should read these books
HBR’s 10 Must Reads for HR Leaders Collection presents groundbreaking ideas on cultivating a high-performance company culture, leading positive change, and leveraging the advantages of a diverse workforce.
Topics covered
The collection includes:
- HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Reinventing HR
- HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Change Management
- HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Building a Great Culture
- HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Diversity
- HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Managing People.
Over to you
As the role of HR continues to evolve, HR leaders need to play a more strategic role within the business. This requires you to equip yourself and your team with the skills and competencies needed to succeed. Constant learning can help you to stay abreast of best practices and innovative approaches.
Weekly update
Stay up-to-date with the latest news, trends, and resources in HR
Learn more
Related articles
Are you ready for the future of HR?
Learn modern and relevant HR skills, online
