6 Best Books to Help You Improve Your Management Skills

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The best books on management often recommend perennials. Lee Ioaccoca and Dale Carnegie still have a lot to offer business leaders today. But that doesn’t mean they’re the right place to dive in here at the end of 2020.

Here are six of the best books for new managers, old hands, and anyone looking to improve their management skills as we transition into the era of the socially distant workplace.

1. The Best Book on Managing People

The HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself by Peter F. Drucker,  Clayton M. Christensen,  Daniel Goleman

It may sound contradictory, but one of the best books on managing people is all about managing yourself.

Every business traveller has seen this slim red volume on the shelf of popular reads at the airport bookstore for good reason.

If you haven’t yet devoured these informative, actionable insights from leading academics and business leaders, it’s time to check out this essay collection.

To be a better leader for your business and your colleagues, you first have to master managing yourself.

2. The Best Book on Managing Your Time and Willpower

Deep Work by Cal Newport

There’s a reason we give this book out to new Firmspace members, and it’s not just to demonstrate appreciation. We’re firm believers in Newport’s message about cultivating deep work – it’s why many people come to Firmspace to rent out office space, and it’s why our management team works in Firmspace offices ourselves.

The ability to focus has never been more precious than it is today. The attention economy is brutalizing our ability to deeply focus on the kind of work we all need to do – to run our business, to manage our wellbeing, and to meaningfully connect with each other.

 4. The Best Book on Management that’s Actually a Biography

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

One of the best ways to improve your management skills is to learn from the stories of others. 

This seminal biography on Steve Jobs is a great place to start: the interviews with his colleagues, friends, and family aren’t often flattering, but it provides a world of insight into how Jobs built Apple, failed Apple, and rebuilt stronger.

If you do pick up this one, don’t skip the next recommendation on our list, as we recommend reading these two as a pairing.

4. A Coda on Management from the Family Side of the Equation

Small Fry by Lisa Brennan Jobs

Lisa Brennan Jobs is a fantastic and talented writer. In her memoir on being her father’s daughter, she shares a more intimate perspective on the life and work of Steve Jobs, which is as important to consider as the Isaacson biography on this tech giant. While neither portrait is flattering, there are valuable lessons in the nuanced difference between the two.

If you’ve ever felt challenged by the need for a better work-life balance and by the technology you all rely on to connect, don’t write this off as a tell-all. You can learn a lot about how to treat people – direct reports, peers, and competitors – by reading this daughter’s side of the story.

5. A Reminder that The Best Books on Management and Leadership Aren’t All About Business

7 Principles of Making Marriage Work by John M. Gottman and Nan Silver

Whether you’re married to your job, twice divorced, or thinking about making a commitment for the first time, this book can help you see your professional relationships with fresh eyes. It also offers insights drawn from a decade-long study to help you navigate rough patches in the office and out.

While no professional relationship is the equivalent of a marriage (unless you happen to work with your spouse), some of your professional relationships are years old, and others may already have decades of history. If you’re interested in behavioral science, psychology, and how we relate to each other in long-term relationships, don’t let the cover art keep you away from this book.

6. The Best Book on Leadership for CEOs

Reboot by Jerry Colonna

Whether or not you’re a CEO, a startup leader, or you never aspire to hold either of these titles, “Reboot” is an excellent book resource to help you think about how you can hone your leadership skills.

Growing a skill set, a team, or a business takes a lot of failure, self-reflection, and willingness to restart when it’s time to call the whole thing off.

To Be a Better Leader, Broaden Your Definition of the Best Books on Management

There are plenty of books out there that explicitly aim to help you improve your management skills, but those may not be the books you need to become the leader your team needs.

Self-help books, memoirs, and essay collections don’t usually crack the top ten list of best books for managers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t belong there.

Read broadly to expand your knowledge base, your worldview, and your ability to empathize – with your team, your clients, and your neighbors.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Firmspace Staff