Often what makes leadership so difficult is not the responsibilities or pressure that comes with it, but the soft skills needed to effectively manage people. Unlike many goals, soft skills are difficult to measure, which can make them hard to improve upon. That’s why we brought in the experts. With advice from some of the best in the business to help you inspire your team and improve your workplace, here is our list of the 20 best leadership audiobooks.
Good leadership books don’t just belong in the workplace, they should inspire our personal lives as well. In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin—two former U.S. Navy SEAL officers highly decorated for their operations in the Iraq War—manage to take their military experience and do just that: share leadership skills that tie into day-to-day life. What makes this audiobook such an enjoyable listen is the way the work jumps back and forth between battle scenes and wisdom. The active nature keeps listeners’ attention with the action-packed moments seamlessly transitioning into practical advice.
Another work that focuses on lessons from a Navy SEAL, Jesse Itzler’s Living with a SEAL approaches leadership lessons from the opposite perspective. After falling into the same habits year after year, Itzler hired David Goggins, a Navy SEAL, to whip him into shape. In his own voice, Itzler tells the incredible story of how Goggins put him on a strict training and fitness regimen, turning a month’s worth of hard work into lessons we can all benefit from as leaders. The experiment is not without its funny moments—the extremes into which Goggins pushes Itzler are at times ridiculous, but always constructive. Itzler’s passion for sharing his story is clear in his retelling, which makes it easy for listeners to tune in and take note of his advice.
A decade after his work Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with another work focused on the topic of greatness—Great by Choice. In this piece, Collins and Hansen analyze nine years of research to determine why some companies thrive under pressure and others fail. Rich with research, this audiobook is brought to life with anecdotes and entertaining tales best experienced by the impassioned author himself reading them aloud. Best of all, this is an actionable audiobook packed with tips you can try out as soon as you hear them.
In Stephen Covey’s follow-up to his best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he returns with another habit. The 8th Habit builds on the same foundation as Covey’s earlier work, and focuses on identifying what makes a person unique, honing in on the traits that will help that person become an effective leader. Meant to be contemplated and analyzed, listeners will be introduced to powerful new topics and ideas that are spelled out and intricately explained: no short cuts or quick fixes here.
Jim Collins’s Good to Great is his original claim to fame as an expert leadership coach. His work is based on the belief that acceptance of good or mediocre work is why many companies never become great. He follows up this theory with five years of research and answers the question on whether every company has the ability to transform from good to great. Deliberately pacing out his performance like a teacher carefully explaining his ideas, you’ll have no trouble following Collins’s latest findings. He is honest and excited to share his work with an audience, and it shows.
Brené Brown’s unconventional approach to leadership outlined in Dare to Lead brought her to fame and reframed how we perceive which traits are considered important in leadership. Casting aside any mention of titles, power, or influence, Brown cuts straight to the core, highlighting how true leadership is all about empathy, curiosity, and—most surprising of all—a willingness to share the very power so many covet. With a strong enthusiasm for sharing her research with others, Brown doesn’t beat around the bush with her wisdom and insights. She delivers them with a fire that makes listeners want to follow suit, eager to put her words into practice.
One of Silicon Valley’s most notable entrepreneurs and the cofounder of a venture capital firm, Ben Horowitz cuts straight to the truth in his The Hard Thing About Hard Things. Horowtiz takes his experiences and turns them into comedic, realistic, and actionable advice. Narrator Kevin Kenerly has a unique wit that brings the words to life, more like a friend with a cracking sense of humor than a performer, easily representing Horowitz’s tone without distracting from the work.
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni explores five common dysfunctions that can happen as teams grow and evolve together. These include things like fear of conflict and absence of trust—which are linked to the roadblocks that keep teams from improving. Lencioni’s work is made distinct with the anecdotes and stories he uses to carry his message forward, making it easy for listeners to tune in and internalize all that Lencioni has to share. To top it off, Charles Stransky’s quick-paced narration is spot on for the material he delivers.
Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson’s work, The New One Minute Manager, has to be quick to live up to its title, and it is. Short and to-the-point, this audiobook works to deliver snippets of helpful leadership advice in short bursts, effectively practicing the message it preaches. These are great to listen to on your morning commute, especially when you need a motivational boost. The whole audiobook clocks in at just under an hour-and-a-half and is split into three core areas, each of which is condensed into its own series of minute-long conversations. Listening to these super-short bursts of wisdom, listeners learn how to be an impactful leader in a fraction of the time.
In Multipliers, Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown break leaders down into two categories: 'Multipliers'—those who encourage growth from their workers—and 'Diminishers'—those who hinder employee growth. In this work, the authors focus on Multipliers, emphasizing how a focus on people versus minute details strengthens teams overall. John Meagher’s quick and well-paced performance makes it easy to internalize data and follow suit—you’ll never feel like a single minute is wasted as you learn more about how to be a productive and effective leader.
Jim Mattis and Bing West share Mattis’s experience in Call Sign Chaos, a listen that looks at his leadership roles in three different wars to his eventual work commanding a quarter of a million troops in the Middle East as Secretary of Defense. Connecting his work to things like the importance of allies and short-sighted thinking, you’ll find it easy to connect Mattis’s experiences with your own day-to-day work. Call Sign Chaos is broken into three core tenets of leadership, making it easy to understand the unique leadership philosophy these men developed through a lifetime of service.
College populations are now 50 percent women, and Sheryl Sandberg is determined to find out why those numbers don’t translate to the workforce. In Lean In, Sandberg aims to empower women to take on leadership roles while also offering concrete reasons as to why women’s representation in the workforce is disproportionate to their education. For women, this audiobook offers a new perspective on how women can achieve success, and for men, Sandberg’s perspective can offer a better understanding of what female friends and coworkers experience in the workplace every day. Performed by Elisa Donovan of Clueless fame, this audiobook feels like getting advice from a close friend who’s been there, and only has your best interest at heart.
Dave Ramsey is widely known as a trusted expert on money and business, which is why no leadership audiobook list would be complete without this work. Sharing tips on how to get your team excited and passionate to show up to work every day (without putting your business in debt), Ramsey gives leaders insight into how his company won Best Place to Work year over year, all the while turning a huge profit. Hearing from Ramsey himself makes the work all the more empowering. Setting aside all formalities, he delivers his advice in a straightforward, easy-to-follow tone, sharing tips and tricks you can put into action almost immediately.
If you need a burst of inspiration to apply to your leadership skills, Extraordinary Leadership offers a snackable approach to learning more about how to inspire your team. At only an hour long, Sharma’s short lecture covers the lessons he taught key clients like Nike and NASA, anecdotes which will inspire you into action. His energetic and conversational tone paired with his down-to-earth delivery makes the information easy to internalize and put into practice.
D. Michael Abrashoff’s experience as a leader is derived from his military experience. But what makes It's Your Ship so uniquely interesting is how Abrashoff connects each lesson to life on a naval boat, making it easy to understand each tip he shares. He is clearly passionate about the subject of leadership and his enthusiasm is infectious, inspiring you to listen closely as he delivers what listeners call "a must-listen leadership book."
In The Outsiders, we’re invited to study the data-driven reality of what makes a CEO successful—the shareholder returns over time. Closely analyzing eight CEOs from different backgrounds and experiences, Thorndike determines which attributes led them to their positions today. For each of the eight unconventional CEOs, Thorndike presents an accompanying case study. As each scenario unfolds, listeners are given the time to ponder what they would do in each situation before hearing how the CEOs handled them, maximizing the potential for truly interactive leadership learning.
In Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek dares to imagine a world in which people feel excited to go to work and fulfilled when they leave. But a work environment like this doesn’t come easily as a leader. It comes from sacrifice and a willingness to protect your team and put them first, which is what Sinek focuses on. Though only a few minutes short of an eight-hour workday, you’ll have trouble hitting pause on Sinek’s performance. As you take the time to listen to Sinek’s work, you’ll find yourself rethinking what it means to be a leader.
As a leader, knowing where to turn your attention next can prove challenging. The 5 Levels of Leadership addresses decision paralysis by breaking leadership down into five coachable sections. As Maxwell narrates his own work, dispensing wisdom and key advice, the listener is left feeling like they’ve bought tickets to their own personal seminar. His tone remains intimate as he shares his best and worst moments, inviting listeners to follow along on his journey.
John Maxwell’s expertise in leadership is so well-established that we’ve included two of his works on this list. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership brings with it the same memorable, easy-to-apply rules and ideas of his other works. Maxwell weaves these laws of leadership into each story he tells based on his own experiences as a successful leader, making it easier to conceptualize each idea. This audiobook is packed with uplifting messages, encouragement, and specific actions anyone can take to Maxwell’s guide into practice.
