12 Principals on the Best Leadership Book They’ve Ever Read

Self-help and leadership books are a dime a dozen, which is a blessing and a curse. Your local bookstore is very likely to have an entire section dedicated to those overlapping genres, meaning there’s plenty to sift through and learn from, but also… an overwhelming amount to sift through and learn from. Which books offer more than boilerplate advice? Which really make you think? And which are applicable to leading a school?

In an effort to cut through the noise, I reached out to award-winning principals to find out what their all-time favorite book about leadership is, and why. My only parameter was that their recommendation needed to have been published during the last five or so decades. Otherwise, the floor was theirs. Selections didn’t need to be specific to education—in fact, I was curious about leadership books that have nothing to do with running a school but are nevertheless useful.

I heard from principals all over the country. Their diverse experiences, backgrounds, and interests make for a rich list of recommendations, as evidenced by the fact that they each have a different favorite. The books are listed alphabetically by author’s last name.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Your Next Read

The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life, by Shawn Achor
Belinda Averill, principal at South Lake Middle School in Southern California, says The Happiness Advantage is “not a typical leadership book,” but it’s been really useful to her. It “challenges the traditional belief that success leads to happiness and instead shows that happiness fuels success,” she says. Averill models joy and optimism in her job, and she likes the fact that The Happiness Advantage doesn’t suggest high-pressure, outcome-driven leadership solutions. Instead, it demonstrates “how cultivating a positive mindset increases productivity, creativity, and resilience—all essential qualities for effective leadership.”

Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box, by the Arbinger Institute
According to Shauna Haney, principal at Ogden High School in Utah, Leadership and Self-Deception goes beyond the baseline prescriptions offered in many self-help and leadership books. It “argues that even the best techniques fail if you approach people with the wrong state of mind,” Haney says, and also argues that, for a principal, “the true cause of nearly every problem involving students, parents, and staff is self-deception.” By that, Haney means that leaders are sometimes unaware of how they’re negatively contributing to a situation, while “magnifying the faults of others to justify or excuse our own feelings and actions,” she says.

Haney likes this book because it’s about self-awareness rather than blame: “By owning my mistakes, apologizing when necessary, and consistently honoring my sense of what’s right, I model the change I want to see,” she says. “When I exhibit this behavior, it automatically invites others to step out of their own defensive boxes.”

Culturize: Every Student. Every Day. Whatever It Takes, by Jimmy Casas
In Kansas, Stockton Grade School Principal Stacey Green says she’s come to lead by the mantra of “Every student. Every day. Whatever it takes.” Culturize provided her with the language and principles to better deliver on her beliefs and practices.

“Casas’s message about modeling the behaviors you want to see—and leading with purpose, passion, and positivity—has transformed how we approach relationships, expectations, and the daily work of serving students,” Green says of herself and her staff. She’s especially a fan of the phrase “Carry the banner,” which is helpful in difficult moments. “Everyone is a leader. As the building administrator, there are definitely things that fall on my shoulders, but I alone cannot be responsible for each adult’s successes, failures, or morale. Collective efficacy moves the needle in a school culture,” she says.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t, by Jim Collins
Chad Soupir, principal at Elkhorn Valley View Middle School in Nebraska, once presented his staff with this quote from Good to Great: “Your goal shouldn’t be to be the best, but rather to understand what you can be the best at.”

Soupir told me he used the quote to emphasize “the power of teamwork and the importance of every person’s expertise in making our school better.” More generally, he “loved this book,” he says, because it served as a reminder to him and his staff that “great organizations never settle—they constantly look for ways to grow and get better. Anyone can achieve success once, but sustaining that level of excellence over time is what defines you and what is remembered.”

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, by Amy Edmondson
The Fearless Organization centers on the concept of psychological safety, which is a “shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking,” says Michael Martin, principal at Buckeye Central High School in Ohio. When “crucial conversations happen openly, not in whispers,” Martin says, a leader knows that psychological safety has been achieved.

Martin continues: “When introducing a new initiative like a curriculum pivot, I model the ‘act of invitation’ by explicitly stating my own fallibility and asking team members, ‘What are the flaws in this plan? What am I missing that you see on the ground?’” This, Martin says, “converts potentially destructive private resistance into constructive public debate, resulting in shared ownership and genuine commitment to the final decision.”

The Fearless Organization has also emboldened Martin and his staff to take risks—and possibly fail along the way—in service of coming up with new schoolwide innovations. Martin establishes “low-stakes experimental zones for instructional practice,” where he and his staff distinguish between “blameworthy failure,” which he defines as a clear procedural error, and “praiseworthy failure,” where “a teacher tries a new, data-driven differentiation strategy that doesn’t yield desired results.” This approach is basically a “loonshot nursery for pedagogy,” Martin says, referencing one of his other favorite books, Safi Bahcall’s Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries.

What Is My Value Instructionally to the Teachers I Supervise?, by Baruti Kafele
The questions posed in Baruti Kafele’s book about educational leadership have pushed Amanda Austin, principal at Iberville Math, Science, and Arts Academy in Louisiana, to consider the visionary aspects of leadership as much as the managerial side of the job.

“This book reinforces a truth I hold close: Effective leadership begins with self-realization,” Austin says. “As a school leader, I set the tone for excellence on my campus not just through my decisions, but through my presence, purpose, and the example I model to my faculty, students, parents, and community each day. Kafele’s work reminds me that leadership is both personal and transformative—an ongoing journey of reflection, growth, and service to others.” Austin describes Kafele as “one of the most impactful educational authors of our time.”

Becoming, by Michelle Obama
After reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming, Terita Walker, principal at East High School in Colorado, says, she’s embraced “owning your unique path, no matter how different it may be from others’.” Obama’s retelling of her leadership journey—using vulnerability as a strength and a means of earning trust with others—is something Walker has emulated.

“Recognizing the power of authentic leadership has allowed me to build genuine connections and, thus, lead more effectively,” Walker says. She notes that one of the book’s other primary messages is that even veteran leaders are still learning and growing—that “successful” leadership doesn’t involve reaching some sort of final destination. “Each day, I embrace the process,” Walker says.

The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness, by Todd Rose
The End of Average reinforced Randy Dalton’s “instinctual knowledge that all of us are different and can excel once we understand who we are as individuals,” says Dalton, the principal at Molalla River Middle School in Oregon.

Dalton subscribes to the philosophy that it’s more useful for everyone in the education realm—school leaders and students alike—to develop their strengths rather than hammering away at perceived weaknesses. Dalton believes the latter approach is intense, unhelpful “deficit thinking.” One of Dalton’s key takeaways from The End of Average is that measuring achievement through standardized testing “does more harm than good,” he says, because that “perpetuates the notion of not being good enough, when in fact, every person is good enough, given the right circumstances.”

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t, by Simon Sinek
Sinek’s “concept of creating a ‘circle of safety’ resonated deeply with me,” says Inge Esping, principal at McPherson Middle School in Kansas. From this book, Esping also internalized that leadership “is about service, not status,” she says, which aligns with her “daily practice of being visible, hands-on, and in the mix with kids and teachers.” She adds, “It’s not about a title—it’s about how you show up.”

What Great Principals Do Differently: 18 Things That Matter Most, by Todd Whitaker
Self-awareness is sometimes described as a gift or a natural ability. What Great Principals Do Differently convinced Mathew Epps, principal at Alabama’s Career Technical Education Center, that self-awareness is really a skill. “I can continuously develop and get better at being self-aware to serve my students, faculty, and community,” he says. Epps also took to heart Whitaker’s sentiment that “when the principal sneezes, the whole school catches a cold” In other words, “by focusing on the right things, our schools will thrive,” he says.

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, by Liz Wiseman
Kristy Zaleta, principal at Rogers Park Middle School in Connecticut, raves that Multipliers was “transformative” and reshaped her entire approach to her job. “It shifted me from the problem-solver to the architect of an environment where others could lead and excel,” she says. Since reading it, she has thoughtfully considered how to be what she calls a “challenger” and a “talent magnet,” modes of leadership that involve “asking catalytic questions to spark creativity, empower teachers to co-design solutions, and intentionally develop untapped leadership potential.”

As a result of these efforts, Zaleta says, she has observed deeper collaboration and professional confidence—a “multiplier mindset,” as she terms it, “where every educator sees themselves as contributors to our students’ success.”

The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools, by Liz Wiseman, Elise Foster, and Lois Allen
Another Liz Wiseman book, The Multiplier Effect serves as a reminder that “leaders can either multiply or diminish the impact of talent, capacity, joy, and effectiveness of their teams,” says Julie Hatchel, principal at El Morro Elementary School in Southern California. “By focusing on the disciplines of a multiplier, I’m able to leverage the strengths of our team to inspire engagement, leadership, growth, and outcomes that positively impact our academic success and school culture,” Hatchel adds.

Bonus Social Media Recommendations

We polled Edutopia readers on their favorite books about leadership. By far the most consistent suggestion was Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts, by Brené Brown. Culturally Responsive School Leadership, by Muhammad Khalifa, was also recommended by many respondents. Three other noteworthy recommendations (among many!) were:

• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success, by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp
• The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams, by Ken Blanchard, Donald Carew, and Eunice Parisi-Carew
• Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, by Margaret Wheatley

And for even more recommendations, check out the section “Thoughtful Reads for School Leaders” in Edutopia contributing editor Kelly Clancy’s roundup of recent titles that are worth your time.