Books like The Inner Game of Tennis

01

Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within

Kenny Werner · Self-help

Effortless Mastery is jazz pianist Kenny Werner's account of what he calls "the space" — a state of relaxed, fearless attention that produces music of genuine quality, and that most musicians, including Werner himself for much of his early career, never reliably access.

A kindred sports psychology read.

02

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool · Science

Peak is Anders Ericsson's definitive account of deliberate practice — the specific type of focused, feedback-driven training that, more than any other factor, determines how expert people become in demanding fields.

Both dig into learning.

03

Mastery

Robert Greene · Self-help

Mastery is Robert Greene's long account of how extraordinary human mastery develops — from childhood inclinations through apprenticeship through creative independence to the integration that characterizes true mastery.

Both dig into learning.

04

The First 20 Hours

Josh Kaufman · Self-help

The First 20 Hours makes a sharp distinction that most books on learning quietly ignore: the difference between becoming competent at a skill and becoming world-class at one.

Both dig into learning.

05

Thanks for the Feedback

Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen · Business

Thanks for the Feedback is Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen's follow-up to Difficult Conversations, this time focused on the receiving end of feedback rather than the giving end.

Shares learning and self-awareness with The Inner Game of Tennis.

06

A Mind for Numbers

Barbara Oakley · Self-help

A Mind for Numbers is Barbara Oakley's guide to learning hard subjects effectively, written primarily for students struggling with mathematics and science but drawing on cognitive science principles that apply to any demanding field.

Both dig into learning.

07

Atlas of the Heart

Brené Brown · Psychology

Atlas of the Heart is Brené Brown's attempt to map eighty-seven distinct human emotions and experiences — not as a clinical taxonomy but as a practical vocabulary for people who want to communicate more precisely about what they feel.

Both dig into self-awareness.

08

Authentic Leadership

Bill George · Business

Authentic Leadership arrived in 2003 in the aftermath of Enron, WorldCom, and the first wave of corporate governance scandals.

Both dig into self-awareness.

09

Co-Active Coaching

Henry Kimsey-House, Karen Kimsey-House, Phillip Sandahl, and Laura Whitworth · Business

Co-Active Coaching presents the model developed at the Coaches Training Institute (CTI), which has trained more professional coaches than any other organization in the world.

Both dig into self-awareness.

10

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.

Both dig into self-awareness.

11

Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman · Psychology

Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, published in 1995, made a widely influential argument: that the cluster of abilities involved in managing emotions — self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skill — predicts life outcomes at least as well as IQ, and possibly better in many domains.

Both dig into self-awareness.

12

Energy Leadership

Bruce D. Schneider · Business

Energy Leadership is Bruce Schneider's framework for understanding how leaders show up — the quality of awareness and presence they bring to interactions, decisions, and crises.

Both dig into self-awareness.