This is the official 3×5 Leadership recommended reading list – a compilation of my favorite books across my favorite subjects to read about. This is a “living” list; it will continue to evolve and grow as I keep reading. So, come back and routinely check out the list for updates.
Within each category, books are listed in order of recommended preference, with the top book in the category being my top recommendation. If there is a book not on here that you believe should be, be patient; I likely have not gotten to reading it yet!
The 3×5 Leadership Reading List
Leader Development
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, by Stephen R. Covey
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You, by John Maxwell
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick Lencioni
The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization, by John Maxwll
Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.), by Peter Northouse
Strengths Finder 2.0, by Tom Rath
Military Leadership
Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders, by L. David Marquet
Taking the Guidon: Exceptional Leadership at the Company Level, by Nate Allen & Tony Burgess
Small Unit Leadership: A Commonsense Approach, by COL (Ret.) Dandridge M. Malone
Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, by Stanley McChrystal
The Challenge of Command, by Roger H. Nye
The Patton Mind, by Roger H. Nye
Military History
This Kind of War: A Study in Unpreparedness, by T. R. Fehrenbach
Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor, by Clinton Romesha
Black Hearts: One Platoon’s Descent into Madness in Iraq’s Triangle of Death, by Jim Frederick
East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea, 1950, by Roy Appleman
Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, by Michael Gordon & GEN Bernard Trainor
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10, by Marcus Luttrell
Fiction
Once an Eagle, by Anton Myrer
Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, by Steven Pressfield
Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War, by P.W. Singer & August Cole
Understanding the Human Condition & Human Growth
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, by Brene Brown
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg
Stop Talking, Start Communicating: Counterintuitive Secrets to Success in Business and in Life, by Geoffrey Tumlin
The Chaos Imperative: How Change and Disruption Increase Innovation, Effectiveness, and Success, by Ori Brafman
Other Nonfiction
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen, by Donald Miller
Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the World, by Ian Bremmer
The Accidental Superpower: The Next Generation of American Preeminence and the Coming Global Disorder, by Peter Zeihan
Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, by P.W. Singer
Carved From Granite: West Point Since 1902, by Lance Betros [for USMA graduates]
Spiritual & Family Growth
Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy?, by Gary Thomas
“Be” Series commentary books by Warren Wiersbe, such as Be Mature: James or Be Determined: Nehemiah
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, by Wayne Grudem
The Shack, by William Young
Running
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner, by Dean Karnazes
My Life on the Run: The Wit, Wisdom, and Insights of a Road Racing Icon, by Bart Yasso
