Books like Start with Why

01

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Daniel H. Pink · Psychology

Drive is Daniel Pink's argument that the motivational model most organizations still run on — reward the behavior you want, punish the behavior you don't — is badly mismatched to the kind of work that matters most in a modern economy.

Shares purpose and motivation with Start with Why.

02

Good to Great

Jim Collins · Business

Good to Great is Jim Collins's attempt to answer a deceptively simple question: why do some good companies make the leap to sustained greatness while most don't?

Both dig into leadership.

03

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Peter Thiel · Business

Zero to One began as notes from a Stanford course Thiel taught on startups in 2012, assembled into a book with co-author Blake Masters.

A kindred business read.

04

Measure What Matters

John Doerr · Business

Measure What Matters is John Doerr's account of Objectives and Key Results — the goal-setting framework he learned from Andy Grove at Intel, carried to Google in 1999, and has since deployed across hundreds of companies and nonprofits.

Both dig into leadership.

05

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Dale Carnegie · Self-help

How to Win Friends and Influence People is Dale Carnegie's 1936 guide to dealing with people effectively.

Shares leadership and communication with Start with Why.

06

Crucial Accountability

Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler · Business

Crucial Accountability is the sequel to Crucial Conversations, narrowing its focus from high-stakes dialogue to one specific problem: what to do when someone fails to meet an expectation.

Shares leadership and communication with Start with Why.

07

Dare to Lead

Brené Brown · Business

Dare to Lead is Brené Brown's application of her research on vulnerability and courage to the specific context of leadership.

Shares leadership and trust with Start with Why.

08

Death by Meeting

Patrick Lencioni · Business

Death by Meeting is Patrick Lencioni's diagnosis of one of the most universal corporate dysfunctions: meetings that are simultaneously painful and pointless.

Shares leadership and communication with Start with Why.

09

Difficult Conversations

Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen · Business

Difficult Conversations is the product of the Harvard Negotiation Project, the same research group that produced Getting to Yes.

Shares leadership and communication with Start with Why.

10

Fierce Conversations

Susan Scott · Business

Fierce Conversations is Susan Scott's argument that the quality of your relationships is determined by the quality of your conversations — and that the conversations most people avoid are precisely the ones that would most improve their relationships and results.

Shares leadership and communication with Start with Why.

11

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Giving Feedback

Harvard Business Review · Business

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Giving Feedback is an anthology collecting some of the most cited Harvard Business Review articles on feedback, including pieces by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, and others.

Shares leadership and communication with Start with Why.

12

Humble Inquiry

Edgar H. Schein · Business

Humble Inquiry is Edgar Schein's argument that the most important communication skill in leadership is the ability to ask questions in a genuinely curious, non-manipulative way — and that most organizational cultures systematically undervalue this skill in favor of telling, which creates problems both for individual relationships and for organizational safety and learning.

Shares leadership and communication with Start with Why.