
Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams? - learnaholic
Although I know self help books are of little value, but wondering if any author has really nailed the topic? Would be even be better if the book is specific to tech leadership.
======
charliepark
The US Army has an _exceptionally_ well-crafted field manual on leadership. No
fluff, but also no chest-thumping. It's honestly the best resource I've ever
seen on what constitutes a good leader, how good leaders are developed, and
how good leaders develop their teams.

Being a DOD publication, it's in the public domain:
[https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/misc/doctrine/CD...](https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/misc/doctrine/CDG/cdg_resources/manuals/adrp/adrp6_22_new.pdf)

I can't stress enough how excellent it is.

~~~
KineticLensman
I don’t have a reference available but the concept of ‘Mission Command’ used
by the UK Army amongst others contains the best and most succinct description
I’ve seen of how to delegate a task to a subordinate. And is perfectly suited
to many civilian situations as well. From memory, and paraphrasing, it boils
down to

State what you, as the leader, are trying to achieve, and why ('the big
picture')

State what you want the subordinate to achieve

Define the resources available to the subordinate, and any constraints

Say how you want progress / issues to be reported

You don’t define how the subordinate should carry out the task – if they are
competent and you trust them, they should be able to figure this out
themselves.

[Edit] - the military distinction between command and control is also relevant
to the civilian distinction between leadership and management. Paraphrasing
slightly: Command is getting people to do something. Control is stopping them
from doing something else.

~~~
fredophile
> You don’t define how the subordinate should carry out the task – if they are
> competent and you trust them, they should be able to figure this out
> themselves.

I would argue that this isn't always the case. When tasking a subordinate you
should also consider where they fit in a matrix of competency and confidence.
If they are competent and confident in their ability to carry out the task
then what you described is fine. If they aren't competent I'd give them the
task but keep a very close eye on progress and be ready to step in with
feedback before things spiral out of control. If they're competent but lack
confidence I'd probably have them walk through their plan with me first. This
can help them feel more confident in the approach that they planned to take.
If they are neither competent or confident in their ability to perform the
task I'd question why they're being assigned it.

~~~
KineticLensman
Totally agree - I should have unpacked 'trust' in more detail :-). It includes
competence and confidence as you say, whether their experience is current or
out-of-date, whether they have been trained by an organisation that you trust,
and several other factors. If I was tasking someone who lacked any of these,
I'd definitely want to keep an eye / mentor / etc.

------
carapace
The best book on leadership IMO is the Tao Te Ching, Ch. 17.

It's very short, about ten lines, but it contains all that you need to know.
The final verse, especially, destroys or subsumes pretty much all concepts of
leadership.

YMMV:

[http://taoteching.org.uk/chapter17.html](http://taoteching.org.uk/chapter17.html)

[http://www.egreenway.com/taoism/ttclz17.htm](http://www.egreenway.com/taoism/ttclz17.htm)

[https://www.taoistic.com/taoteching-
laotzu/taoteching-17.htm](https://www.taoistic.com/taoteching-
laotzu/taoteching-17.htm)

[https://taoteching.daodejing.org/17.htm](https://taoteching.daodejing.org/17.htm)

[http://tao-in-you.com/lao-tzu-tao-te-ching-chapter-17/](http://tao-in-
you.com/lao-tzu-tao-te-ching-chapter-17/)

~~~
stronglikedan
But that's only the "what", and not the "how", no?

~~~
shantly
Bit like if someone asks you to teach them to paint and you show them a Monet
and go "like that!", yeah.

------
Bumerang
Everything by Simon Sinek, but most important for me is "Leaders Eat Last"
[0]. I haven't read the last one (The Infinite Game), but I've heard it's
pretty good as well.

Also Extreme Ownership [1] and Dichotomy of Leadership [2] by Jocko Willink
and Leif Babin.

All of these books had tremendous impact on me as a leader and I highly
recommend them.

[0]: [https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-
Others/dp/B...](https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-
Others/dp/B00HQ3K34M/)

[1]: [https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-
eboo...](https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-
ebook/dp/B00VE4Y0Z2)

[2]: [https://www.amazon.com/Dichotomy-Leadership-Balancing-
Challe...](https://www.amazon.com/Dichotomy-Leadership-Balancing-Challenges-
Ownership/dp/B07BN5NGQ5/)

~~~
gingerlime
I must have missed something, seeing extreme ownership praised so much but I
stopped reading it after a chapter or so. The whole macho thing didn’t jive
and I’m struggling to find parallels to ordinary life. Lives aren’t at stake
for 99.9999% of work out there. The whole military hierarchy and all the
idealization doesn’t exist in normal contexts. Leaders aren’t trusted
implicitly always or “lives are at stake”. So how does it translate??

Perhaps my view is tainted having been through mandatory military service, and
hated every minute of it. But I guess I simply “don’t get it”

~~~
Gene_Parmesan
Corporate business leaders here in America tend to be obsessed with trying to
apply military-style terminology and doctrines to their business. In their
minds, business is war, and "lives are at stake" gets translated to either
"jobs are at stake" or "revenue is at stake," depending on the person. There
are so many war-isms in business it's impossible to list them all. "In the
trenches," "boots on the ground," framing sales territories as
battlegrounds...

In short, these things sell because American business leaders fetishize these
sort of ex-SEAL types.

It's all a little much for me. Not to mention unfortunate, because the sort of
leadership that works best in the military is decidedly not the sort of
leadership that works best in business. The military _demands_ that soldiers
immediately and unquestioningly follow commands given by their superiors
(particularly during combat). Lives are literally at stake, so any hesitation
for even a moment could spell doom.

Meanwhile, in business, I strongly believe leaders need to be in more of a
team-servant role -- yes, motivating, providing vision, etc., but also
cultivating a sense of "your voice matters," if that makes sense. Being a
'force multiplier' in business requires a different mentality than in war
zones.

~~~
darkerside
> The military demands that soldiers immediately and unquestioningly follow
> commands given by their superiors (particularly during combat).

This doesn't jive with my understanding of US military (or human nature). Out
of combat, a top-down command and control hierarchy leads to poor decision
making by troops on the ground. A general can't and shouldn't make decisions
on day-to-day operations at the platoon-level.

In combat, certainly the stakes are higher, and lives are on the line. If
anything, that means trust plays MORE of a role than hierarchy. If a leader I
don't trust tells me to do something that seems wrong and reckless enough to
get me killed, I'm not going to do it. I'd rather get court martialed back
home than die in the dirt. It's all about trust. If the leader has earned
trust, I'll know that they have the bigger picture, and what seems wrong to me
now makes sense in some way I can't see from where I am. And of course, it's
not all black and white, these are matters of degree, including measuring the
desperation and force in the tone of an order.

~~~
ghaff
See for example _Team of Teams_ by General Chrystal--which is also a good book
about organization/business generally.

~~~
viscanti
+1. Team of Teams is a great intro to leadership for tech. General Chrystal
identifies the distinction between complicated and complex areas and shows
best practices for dealing with complexity (it's not just a semantic argument
but actually something substantial, where tech leaders generally deal with
complex problems and not complicated problems).

~~~
darkerside
Is it an easily communicated difference?

~~~
ghaff
Yes. Complicated means lots of moving pieces but predictable. Complex means
lots of components that are far less predictable.

[https://thearmyleader.co.uk/team-of-teams/](https://thearmyleader.co.uk/team-
of-teams/)

------
spodek
Most books on leadership give principles and science, which don't hurt to
know, but leading is a practice -- an active, social, emotional, expressive,
performance-based field.

We learn to perform by practicing the basics in any field.

Leadership Step by Step [https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-
Others/...](https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-
Others/dp/0814437931) gives a set of 20 exercises that teach the basics of
leading yourself and others. If you practice, you'll develop the skills,
experiences, and beliefs of an effective leader. Other books are like music
appreciation. This book is like learning to play the piano.

Written by a PhD in physics (me) then started several companies, got an MBA,
and teaches leadership at NYU to stellar reviews.
[http://joshuaspodek.com/reviews-leadership-step-
step](http://joshuaspodek.com/reviews-leadership-step-step)

Leadership Step by Step: [https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-
Person-Others/...](https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-
Others/dp/0814437931)

~~~
kod
Self promotion usually rubs me the wrong way, but judging from this excerpt,
your book looks like it's well worth reading:

[http://spodekacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/spodekacademy-
co...](http://spodekacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/spodekacademy-
com/LeadershipStepByStep_JoshuaSpodek_MeaningfulConnectionExcerpt.pdf)

~~~
spodek
Thank you. I appreciate your suspending judgment enough to research it.

If you read it, I hope you'll share your thoughts on it, especially if you do
the exercises.

------
leothekim
Try "The Manager's Path" by Camille Fournier.

[http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920056843.do](http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920056843.do)

~~~
abridgett
Agreed, I particularly like the way each chapter dealt with a rank further up.
Even if you have _no intention_ of going higher, seeing what they want from
you and what they should be doing was immensely helpful and clarifying.

------
thewanisdown
Extreme Ownership [https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-
eboo...](https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-
ebook/dp/B00VE4Y0Z2)

How to Win Friends and Influence People [https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-
Friends-Influence-People-eboo...](https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-
Influence-People-ebook/dp/B0811Z2NNF/)

The Phoenix Project [https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-
Busine...](https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business-
ebook/dp/B078Y98RG8/)

Don't worry about "tech specific". Core leadership principles are universal.
The first two books on the list show the principles, and the mindset you
should approach them with to be successful.

The 3rd book will help set the tone for leading in a modern tech environment,
and what kind of business decisions you should prioritize.

~~~
bor100003
The third book is also good for bragging at work about devops.

------
bakenator
When managing people in tech, I think it is equally as important to know how
to organize as it is to know how to lead. I would recommend "The Phoenix
Project" and "The Unicorn Project" and "The Goal" to all tech managers.

No matter how good your communication/leadership skills are, your team will be
severely handicapped if they are working in an inefficient/limiting
environment.

Coming at the same lessons from a different perspective, I have also found
"Turn The Ship Around!" to be a very good resource.

~~~
madhadron
> I would recommend "The Phoenix Project" and "The Unicorn Project" and "The
> Goal" to all tech managers.

Goldratt's "The Goal" and its sequels are interesting reading, but please,
please internalize the principles he was arguing from for the theory of
constraints before trying to apply it to software. Otherwise you end up with
"The Pheonix Project" (whose author is apparently making a nice living as a
snake oil process consultant, according to friends who have dealt with his
appearance in companies) which is the "software factory" mess of the 1980's
rewarmed and shoved out the door again. Rather, go read Deming's "The New
Economy" (just ignore the section on intrinsic/extrinsic motivation).

~~~
ahpearce
I'm not really following your criticisms on The Phoenix Project... Can you
elaborate?

~~~
madhadron
I didn't attempt to make a detailed criticism. Basically, it's the naive
application of Goldratt's "The Goal" to IT. People have been trying to model
IT processes on manufacturing for decades. Still doesn't work. The opinion of
several engineers that I respect very highly who suffered from the author's
consulting services makes me discount his work entirely.

If you read farther in Goldratt, the sequels to "The Goal", he refines the
notion of constraints in very interesting ways that leave the factory floor. I
don't think the author of the Phoenix Project ever got that.

~~~
codesuki
Would you mind expanding on how your friends suffered? What went wrong etc.
Sounds interesting.

~~~
madhadron
I haven't done a detailed debrief with them, so I can pass on an opinion and
experience that I respect, but I can't expand without conjecturing.

------
neves
Any of the classic books of the late Jerry Weinberg is full of wisdom. Oldies
but goldies. Leanpub has all of them:
[https://leanpub.com/u/jerryweinberg](https://leanpub.com/u/jerryweinberg)

There's the People Skill bundle:
[https://leanpub.com/b/peopleskillssoftbutdifficult](https://leanpub.com/b/peopleskillssoftbutdifficult)
with the books: Are Your Lights On?, What Did You Say? The Art of Giving and
Receiving Feedback, Exploring Requirements One, Exploring Requirements Two,
Becoming a Change Artist, More Secrets of Consulting, and Becoming a Technical
Leader

But maybe the better for you are his classic The Psychology of Computer
Program (to understand the mind of programmers)
[https://leanpub.com/thepsychologyofcomputerprogramming](https://leanpub.com/thepsychologyofcomputerprogramming)

Becoming a Technical Leader (to grow to a leadership position)
[https://leanpub.com/becomingatechnicalleader](https://leanpub.com/becomingatechnicalleader)

Managing Teams Congruently (to manage groups)
[https://leanpub.com/managingteamscongruently](https://leanpub.com/managingteamscongruently)

~~~
hkon
Thanks for those links, I will check out a number of those. Weird I've never
heard about him before, impressive number of books.

~~~
neves
Maybe because he is from the pre-internet era. The tech parts are dated, but
since he sees people as the center of the problems, it doesn't matter much.
Any of his books will give you a year of blog posts.

------
snorberhuis
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

This book is about the lessons learned on leadership by two Navy Seal Officers
and how they are applied in business. It learned me to take ownership on what
is happening, always work together, keep it simple, focus on a single
priority, and give ownership.

Turn the ship around! by L. David Marquet

This book tells the story of a submarine captain that turns his subordinates
into leaders and his submarine goes on becoming the best submarine in the US
Navy. It learned me to move authority to information, train competence, and
the power of clear communication.

You can find more good books at
[https://www.norberhuis.nl/books/](https://www.norberhuis.nl/books/)

~~~
DailyHN
+1 Turn the ship around! by L. David Marquet

------
zt
I think this is a more complicated question that it first appears. What do you
mean by leadership? Getting things done for some strict definition? Managing a
team? Managing a huge enterprise? I think reading books across the spectrum of
leadership and management is critical, as each gives you some feeling of the
underlying “truth” that you’re trying to find.

I think the best book on the topic as I think you mean it is High Output
Management by Andy Grove. It’s a classic. Incredibly well written. Direct.

From there, I’d actually take a pivot and read MCDP 1 Warfighting, which is
concise, brilliant, generally applicable, and completely aligned with the
thinking of Grove. Along the same lines, I’d consider reading about OODA (I
like “Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War” but not strictly
necessary to read an entire biography). I think then you start to see that
“Management” began to mean something particular in the post-war era for those
who could see it, that it’s been lost in most organizations. Agile, lean, blah
blah blah is all sort of derived from here.

Then get some conditioning on how it all goes wrong, for which I would suggest
the classic “The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering”, which is
generally applicable.

Then personally, I era toward thinking about organizations that have
accomplished great things, so suggest “Creativity, Inc”, “Doing the
Impossible: George E. Mueller & the Management of NASA's Human Spaceflight
Program”, and books of those type.

------
goodgoblin
"Peopleware" is a great one -- [https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-
Projects-Teams-...](https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-
Teams-3rd/dp/0321934113)

~~~
foobar_
Excellent book! Adding Managing Humans to that.

[https://randsinrepose.com/books/](https://randsinrepose.com/books/)

~~~
samk3nny
I concur! Just finished MH and really enjoyed it.

------
gbersac
The best definition of what's a good leader is found in the book "the captain
class" : [https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Class-Hidden-Behind-
Greatest/...](https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Class-Hidden-Behind-
Greatest/dp/1785030272)

What's interesting is that the author have a data oriented strategy to find a
good definition of a leader: he processed a lot of data to find which teams
had really exceptionnal success IN THE HISTORY OF ALL SPORTS.

When he found the 8 teams with the most exceptionnal success, he looked for
what they share. He found that all of those exceptionnal team success coincide
with the arrival and departure of a captain.

Then he looked for shared trait between all those captain. What he found is
the best definition of a leader.

~~~
snorberhuis
I am definitely going to read this!

~~~
gbersac
You won't regret it ;)

------
Pandabob
The best management book I read this year was "The Making of a Manager" by
Julie Zhou [1]. The book is concise, clearly written and actionable. It's
specifically written for first time managers and the author is a design lead
at Facebook.

[1]: [https://www.amazon.com/Making-Manager-What-Everyone-
Looks/dp...](https://www.amazon.com/Making-Manager-What-Everyone-
Looks/dp/0735219567)

~~~
dlo
+100 for this book. Absolutely amazing.

------
lynfogeek
A few recommendations from me and peers in my company who highly value some of
the following:

\- "Managing Humans" by Michael Lopp very insightful and easy to read.

\- "Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling
High Performing Technology Organizations" by Dr Nicole Forsgren brings a long
research on how to organize teams for success.

\- "The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change"
by Camille Fournier which I especially recommend for new managers.

Lastly, and this time not tech-specific, but by far my best read of 2019:
"Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill
Campbell" written by Eric Schmidt & others.

------
karl11
High Output Management by Andy Grove, Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & The
Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz would be my top 3.

~~~
darkerside
I'm sad to have to scroll down so far to see High Output Management. Timeless
principles that boil down the ABCs of being an effective manager. No bells and
whistles. This is a must-read for any new manager.

------
beh9540
It depends on what your definition of "leadership" is - personally I found
"Managing Humans" by Michael Lopp to be really insightful. It's really more a
collection of anecdotes than a seminal work on the topic, but I think there's
a bunch of good components in understanding team dynamics around technical /
software engineering teams.

------
asplake
It's years since I read it but Gerald Weinberg's Becoming a Technical Leader.
The best general book on leadership I've read for a while is Marquet's Turn
the Ship Around – great also as an audiobook. I referenced the latter in my
own Right to Left: The digital leader's guide to Lean and Agile (arguably a
leadership book too)

~~~
pjmorris
'If you are a good leader,

Who talks little,

They will say,

When your work is done,

And your aim fulfilled,

“We did it ourselves.”'

\- Lao Tse, quoted in 'Becoming a Technical Leader'

I heartily second 'Becoming a Technical Leader.' The exercises there are
designed to get you to think about and grow in the situation that you are
currently in, so the book will be a perennial.

I'd add that Weinberg also produced a four-volume series, 'Quality Software
Management', where he sums up all he learned about project management in his
programming, management and consulting careers. He later republished the
material in a series of smaller eBooks [0] at LeanPub.

I know of no better written resources for people who want to learn to manage
software development in a way that accomplishes the technical tasks while
respecting the people who do the work.

[0]
[https://leanpub.com/b/qualitysoftware](https://leanpub.com/b/qualitysoftware)

~~~
cafard
Upvoted. Also by Weinberg, _The Secrets of Consulting_.

------
siddhant
I run Developer to Manager
([https://devtomanager.com](https://devtomanager.com)), where we interview
tech leaders and ask them for advice they have for someone new to this field.

I'm of course biased, but I do feel it's turning out to be a good resource.
Feedback is always welcome!

------
runjake
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink -> [https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-
Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-eboo...](https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-
S-Navy-SEALs-ebook/dp/B0739PYQSS)

Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek -> [https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-
Together-Others/dp/B...](https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-
Others/dp/B00HQ3K34M)

------
hongzi
Creativity, Inc. [1] It's not a textbook but a really fun read for the inside
stories that pushed Pixar to its success. Maybe it's just me personally but I
found it hard to follow some syllabus to learn management --- instead, I enjoy
being inspired by other great managers through their concrete stories.

[1]
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUZQYBO/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUZQYBO/)

~~~
jppope
This was an amazing read. Ed Catmull explains many nuanced aspects of
leadership, management, creative organizations, and related. All of these
lessons are wrapped into the personal history and narrative surrounding Pixar,
which is fascinating in its own right.

------
cushychicken
I'm reading _High Output Management_ by Andy Grove at the moment. Definitely
one of the best practical guides on being a leader and a people manager I've
ever read.

------
brandonb
Leading Snowflakes is written specifically for new engineering managers. In my
opinion, it nails it:
[https://leadingsnowflakes.com/](https://leadingsnowflakes.com/)

Unlike many books on leadership, this one is specific about the challenges of
leading a technical team:

    
    
      * Carving out maker vs manager time
    
      * "Code reviewing" your management decisions with your teammates
    
      * How to delegate without losing visibility or quality

------
splittingTimes
"Manager tools" and "career tools" podcasts have been eye-openers for me about
corporate relationships and management politics.

------
rusk
I think "Team Geek" [0] is probably worth a mention in this light.

It's written in that infuriating cutesy techy-language that seems to infuse a
lot of the "hipper" books of this genre but there really is some good advice
in there.

FYI these are the guys that did Subversion, which was a pretty successful
project for a while, back in the day. This same writing style pervades the SVN
docs as well. Yeuch.

In the same vein, I also enjoyed "rework" by Jason Fried [1] though that's
more about modern work, than purely management. Also kind of "hip" in style,
but not so insufferable ;-)

[0] [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14514115-team-
geek](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14514115-team-geek)

[1]
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6732019-rework](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6732019-rework)

~~~
growlist
> infuriating cutesy techy-language

Happy to see I'm not the only curmudgeon around here. I'd say this trend is at
its most loathsome when employed by big corporates - it's as if everyone is so
terrified of being mischaracterised as old or uncool (daddio) that noone is
willing to point out how facile, affected and obnoxious this type of language
is.

------
jordanf
The Great CEO Within (great for non-CEO leaders too). Free here:
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnw...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnwl-
dwqx5xl0s65DE3wO8/edit#)!

------
austincheney
My favorites are Good to Great and Principles

* [https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0...](https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=good+to+great&qid=1575558089&sr=8-3)

* [https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/150...](https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3TSPWCDP7GWFR&keywords=principles+ray+dalio&qid=1575558133&sprefix=principles%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-3)

------
simonswords82
Turn The Ship Around!: A True Story of Building Leaders by Breaking the Rules

[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Ship-Around-Building-
Breaking/...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Ship-Around-Building-
Breaking/dp/0241250943/ref=sr_1_1?crid=M1VNDUFRQ7LB&keywords=turn+ship+around&qid=1575555726&sprefix=turn+ship%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1)

HN post about this book recently:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662941](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662941)

------
lawn
Extreme Ownership is an excellent book on the topic (or so peoole tell me, I
started reading it today actually).

~~~
fsloth
It is. It is also filled with gratuitous disregard for human life and cruelty
towards animals. But that's what war is about, and having a book about
military leadership without actual examples of conflict would be kind of
vacuous.

------
dcolkitt
This is a little bit out-of-left field. But I'd recommend the classic Foreign
Policy essay "Why Arabs Lose Wars". On the surface it's obviously about
military doctrine, and how it's affected the various conflicts in recent
Middle Eastern history.

But fundamentally its about management culture, and what factors distinguished
well-run organizations from dysfunctional ones.

[0] [https://www.meforum.org/441/why-arabs-lose-
wars](https://www.meforum.org/441/why-arabs-lose-wars)

------
mjlee
This isn't specifically about tech, but The Culture Map by Erin Meyer is
really worth reading.

I'm not 100% sold on it being correct, but it does give you a framework to
think within when you're working with other people, no matter which culture
you're from.

Forbes have a decent write-up:

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/rawnshah/2014/10/06/the-
culture...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/rawnshah/2014/10/06/the-culture-map-
shows-us-how-we-work-worldwide/)

------
motohagiography
Question is, do you want a book about the input factors to how people end up
leading, or one on evaluating the output effects of other leaders against?

Leadership is not an activity or an action you can mimic, it it is an
_effect_. Most books are the stories people tell afterwards about how virtuous
they were and they call that leadership. Jeffery Pfeffer says this
specifically as well.

Pfeffers books on management provide the insight into the dynamics leadership
emerges from. His triad of, "performance, credentials, and relationships,"
that describe power in a situation also describe the necessary factors we look
back on as leadership.

[https://www.amazon.ca/Power-Some-People-Have-
Others/dp/00617...](https://www.amazon.ca/Power-Some-People-Have-
Others/dp/0061789089)

I like Jocko Willnick's whole attitude about ownership, respect, delegation,
and working with people to leverage their skills to achieve outcomes. He says
the hierarchy in the military isn't as much of a factor as how you relate to
your team and the world, but I suspect Pfeffer would disagree in that its
hierarchy and training culture provides the credential piece in his triad,
where in business, that's more dynamic.

There are lots of good books about leadership, but reading them without having
read Pfeffer's "Power.." is exploring the territory without the map, imo.

------
mavelikara
I found "An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management" by Will Larson
quite good for advice on practical management challenges one comes across in
technology companies.

------
antoncohen
"Extreme Ownership" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. I highly recommend the
audiobook, it is narrated by the authors and is very engaging.

Some of the comments in this thread say that military orders and life and
death situations don't apply in the business world. But that isn't what this
book is about, the advice is really the opposite of giving orders the must be
followed without question. And the lessons are explained in ways that clearly
relate to business management.

------
aprdm
I've been a team lead for close to four years now in two different companies,
both times my teams spanned multiple time zones!

I really enjoy this subject and read a lot about it. My favorite books so far
are:

\- Radical Candor \-- Gives a great framework for candid conversations and
empathy which IMO are the most important thing! Clear #1 in my list.

\- Leading by Alex Ferguson \-- A great successful leader in another area -
Soccer - that had many years building effective teams. It's incredible how
many concepts can be mapped over, he talks for example on how having
"rockstars" in a team that aren't team players isn't worth it.

\- Ride of a lifetime by Bob Iger \-- It's mostly a biography of Disney's most
successful CEO, I thought it was very authentic and gave good advices on how
to deal with creative people, empathy, setting goals and navigating hard
situations (compartmentalizing)

\- Creativity Inc Amy / Ed \-- Pixar's president biography on how to manage
creative teams, it is a bit repetitive but it is golden! Lots of good ideas
and insightful chapters that make you think about how to build a successful
culture.

\- The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders \-- IMO a bit shallow compared
to the other books I mentioned but it was a pleasant read.

~~~
egads
Radical Candor is easily the most impactful leadership book I've read. I've
always struggled with finding the balance between being direct without being a
jerk and being compassionate without being ineffective. I still feel like I
nail it about 10% of the time, but at least I have a clearer picture of what
the communication style I'm aiming for looks like.

------
mrwzy
On the topic of

General Management - High Output Management by Andrew Grove

Visibility and Alignment - Measure What Matters by John Doerr

Understanding People and Teams - Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson

------
filipn
Radical Candor by Kim Scott. By far the best management book that I have read,
it changed my way of thinking when it comes to leading a team.

------
HealthyTree
"An elegant puzzle", "High output management" and "Behind Closed Doors" have
all been useful to me.

------
anhldbk
I think leadership stems from engineering cultures. So I guess you may find
Netflix Culture Code interesting [1]. It's introduced by Reed Hastings, the
CEO

[1]
[https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/reed2001/culture-1798664](https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/reed2001/culture-1798664)

------
wjossey
This comment is for anyone like the OP who is looking for resources beyond
books.

I run a free mentoring service for managers, and most (but not all) tend to
come from the tech side of the world. My sessions are 45 minutes long, and I
did over 120 in 2019.

I’m currently on hiatus till January as I just had a baby boy I’m spending
time with (actually sleeping on me as I type this out!), but feel free to grab
some time in January if you’d like to talk to someone live.

[https://freemanagermentor.com](https://freemanagermentor.com)

A lot of people in comments below have talked about struggling with the “How”
when it comes to taking the concepts they’ve learned and putting them into
practice. This is the value of a live conversation with another human being,
where we can talk through specific examples, play around with the scenarios,
and either prepare for a future challenge, or come up with a plan to address
the current one head on.

~~~
bryanmgreen
I think I will!

------
tikiman163
I strongly recommend the following:

Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap and Others Don't The Goal: A
process of Continuous Improvement Team of Teams Strategy that Works: Bridging
the Stategy to Execution Gap

There isn't a single book that will teach you everything you need to know, but
these 5 books taken together will cover nearly everything. The points I
suggest paying the most attention to are level 5 leadership, the hedgehog
concept, the flywheel concept, Kaizen style continuous improvement, how to
organize groups of teams to avoid micromanaging, and how to work with a
company culture to make decisions supported by real data that tells you what
the most effective decisions would be and how to achieve this by choosing
concepts to promote to employees in order to guide their decision making.

------
DarwinMailApp
What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People [1]

This book has allowed me to understand what the people around me are saying,
without even saying a word!

"Read this book and send your nonverbal intelligence soaring. Joe Navarro, a
former FBI counterintelligence officer and a recognized expert on nonverbal
behavior, explains how to "speed-read" people: decode sentiments and
behaviors, avoid hidden pitfalls, and look for deceptive behaviors. You'll
also learn how your body language can influence what your boss, family,
friends, and strangers think of you."

[1]
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1173576.What_Every_Body_...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1173576.What_Every_Body_is_Saying)

------
rramadass
Here is my favourite; David Packard's (of HP fame) address to HP managers -
[https://gizmodo.com/the-hp-way-how-bill-hewlett-and-i-
built-...](https://gizmodo.com/the-hp-way-how-bill-hewlett-and-i-built-our-
company-5634378)

Read and memorize the above.

There is a whole lot of BS in the Leadership Industry and we should first
educate ourselves on the realities. Start with Jeffrey Pfeffer's "Leadership
BS".

The above same charge of BS can also be laid at the door of of various
Management "theories". A good antidote is Ted Stephenson's "Management: A
political activity".

Leadership/Management is more about understanding People/Organizational
psychology and behaviours and not "feel good" theories.

------
musha68k
Gerald Weinberg's "Becoming a Technical Leader" is an often overlooked
classic.

~~~
philk10
Seconded - and most stuff written by Weinberg is worth reading

~~~
musha68k
Agreed, one of my secret goals is reading each and every one of his books ;)

------
anacleto
[0] The Score Takes Care of Itself.

[0] [https://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-
Philosophy/dp...](https://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-
Philosophy/dp/1591843472)

------
npr11
For being immensely practical, I'm a big fan of 1\. "An Elegant Puzzle:
Systems of Engineering Management" 2\. "High Output Management" 3\.
"Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams"

------
Bar_Code
There is a nice compilation of articles in a github repo, divided by topic.
[https://github.com/charlax/engineering-
management](https://github.com/charlax/engineering-management) Leadership is
an expansive topic and I don't think it's possible to nail it. "Turn the Ship
Around" I think really nails the strategy of Functional Leadership, plus it's
a true story. Keep in mind that Leadership and Management are two very
different topics that people often conflate.

------
tlapinsk
Not specific to just tech teams, but I loved The Outsiders: Eight
Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by
William Thorndike. So many great notes about leadership and successfully
running a business in general.

[https://www.amazon.com/Outsiders-Unconventional-Radically-
Ra...](https://www.amazon.com/Outsiders-Unconventional-Radically-Rational-
Blueprint/dp/1422162672/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=outsiders+book&qid=1575567270&s=books&sr=1-3)

------
Stronico
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Not really about
leadership per se, but it helps you get out of your own way which allows a lot
of other good things room to happen.

------
cnicolaou
While i really value the books from the US and British armies that were
shared, I think "Principle Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey" is a really
good book on the topic of Leadership. [https://www.amazon.com/Principle-
Centered-Leadership-Stephen...](https://www.amazon.com/Principle-Centered-
Leadership-Stephen-Covey-dp-0671749102/dp/0671749102/)

------
Juha
Recently I have been relying on two good sources for leadership:

\- Book: The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker: I think this is an
excellent book to teach the part of the brain that wants to execute to think
more strategically and concentrate on the leadership side.

\- Podcast: Modern CTO: This podcast has lots of interviews CTO's from all
kinds of companies. It's pretty casual and entertaining but also seems to
always motivate me to be a better leader.

------
Diesel555
You learn from history and what other people did well and didn't do well.
Leadership is a combination of your own innate abilities combined with self-
awareness and feedback. From this, you can apply historical knowledge
(understand you may not have Washington's height and strength, but may be a
better tactical decision maker).

Read biographies on others:

Washington: A Life

Hamilton

Grant

Fighter Pilot (Robin Olds)

Boyd

Anyone you admire - read about them - find out what was good and what was bad.

Mattis's new book is good: Call Sign Chaos.

------
vertigolimbo
"On Becoming a Leader" by Warren Bennis

This book is not very big but is exceptionally dense and easy to read. I found
a lot of useful information that I apply to my daily life - reflection, being
authentic, allowing oneself to make mistakes and much more.

I reread it three times already and I always found new ideas.

(As a technical guy) I developed a great passion for philosophy and arts in
general thanks to his book.

------
byteface
Tribes by Seth Godin is good as it talks about how communities grow around
ideas not individuals.

Also read things written by great leaders. i.e. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
[http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html](http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html)

------
bryanmgreen
Most of my responses are covered already, and I know this is cliche, but Art
of War by Sun Tzu.

One thing that has always stayed with me about leadership is his five traits
that define a great leader.

1) Wisdom 2) Courage 3) Sincerity 4) Benevolence 5) Discipline

\--------------

And on a side note, I love seeing the increased submissions around leadership!

------
softwaredoug
Not strictly management, but related:”The Trusted Advisor” is a book about
consulting. Which is really the same soft skills you would need in leadership
positions where you have a lot of domain experience and leadership is more
about helping the team make their own tech decisions

------
ahnooie
Managing the Unmanageable, a second vote for Peopleware, The Mythical Man-
Month, and The Conviction to Lead

[https://b3n.org/programming-management-leadership-
books/](https://b3n.org/programming-management-leadership-books/)

------
rarspace01
One of my personal favorites is Tribal Leadership:
[https://www.amazon.com/Tribal-Leadership-Leveraging-
Thriving...](https://www.amazon.com/Tribal-Leadership-Leveraging-Thriving-
Organization/dp/0061251321)

~~~
jppope
Also a really good book. +1

------
throwaway_19086
I found this podcast very interesting
[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-is-a-
person...](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-is-a-personal-
choice/id1473306732)

------
plinkplonk
A variant on the OP's question.

What are good books on leadership that are written by people who have actual
experience of being great leaders?

Most books on leadership seem to be written by people who have no experience
of leadership, they just know how to market their books.

------
lonriesberg
Not a book but Software Lead Weekly is a great newsletter that curates content
from around the web about leadership in tech:
[https://softwareleadweekly.com](https://softwareleadweekly.com)

------
cocktailpeanuts
Just so you know, leadership is completely different for middle managers and
founders. A lot of the "leadership books" are targeted at middle managers, and
if you follow their advice word for word, it won't work.

------
tbarringer816
High Output Management by Andy Grove. Great resource that I re-read every year
or so

------
tapatio
The only one you need:

[https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-
Fab...](https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-
Fable/dp/0787960756)

------
achenatx
Leadership for me is "influencing people to create change".

We use many books, but my favorite is 5 dysfunctions of a team.

After that is first break all the rules

Both of these are extremely practical and give a model for how to operate on a
daily basis.

------
chasedehan
“Score takes care of itself” By Bill Walsh

While not necessarily a “tech” book, the parallels to leading high performing
teams are incredible. For me, this was the book that changed the way I think
about leading my team.

------
troymc
Most bookstores would put leadership books and self help books in different
sections of the bookstore. And these are the folks who put science fiction
books and fantasy books in the same section!

------
altendo
My boss gave me a copy of _Talking with Teach Leads_ by Patrick Kua. I enjoy
it. It's an anthology of testimonials by tech leads. It helped give me some
perspective on what I need to focus.

edit: grammar

------
sbmthakur
Relevant discussion:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21663254](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21663254)

------
geekraver
Lots of good recommendations here; two I would add are "Debugging Teams" and
"The Geek Leader's Handbook"

------
thewileyone
The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard. It's simple but effective and
malleable once you've had some experience.

------
sonabinu
Satya Nadella’s ‘Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and
Imagine a Better Future for Everyone’

------
StudioElite
Hey, I really like your contribution with such a great collective approach, I
loved reading them, l would really appreciate it if you add me in your
collection to lend me a thumbs up also and keep up the good work though.
besides, I'll be reading them whether it would be yes or no :)
[https://studioelitechicago.com/](https://studioelitechicago.com/)

Thank you

------
dan_wood
Just FYI your search input goes over your header on mobile, looks a bit odd.
Give that header a z-index :)

------
sidcool
I recently bought 'Talking with tech leads' by Patrick Kua. Very applicable to
tech companies

------
Jagat
My favorite is 'Multipliers'

------
jppope
Here's my shortlist:

\- The Art of the Advantage (33 stratagems)

\- Winning By Jack Welch

\- Tribal Leadership

\- Creativity Inc

\- The Lean Startup (~leadership in the face of uncertainty)

------
bandrade
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz and The First 90 Days by
Michael Watkins.

------
Dowwie
see a famous Harvard Case study, with an emphasis on leadership in crisis,
about Ernest Shackleton's race to the South Pole: "Leadership in Crisis:
Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance"

------
ChuckMcM
I liked Bossidy's "Execution" and "Facing Reality", like all such books they
wander a bit but they have some good insights. "Managing Humans" was okay but
I guess I may have come to it a bit later in my managing experience so it
seemed pretty obvious. "The 5 dysfunctions of the team" is useful for
understanding how to look at root causes of teams that become dysfunctional,
can be depressing when you recognize your own team in its pages :-). And not a
management book per se but "The Sociopath Next Door" was a useful read because
it better helped me understand and identify people who were very different
than I am in terms of their emotional investment in things.

------
koolhead17
The Phoenix Project

------
scorpion_farmer
Brene Brown 'Dare to Lead' is excellent

------
mmhsieh
Dynamics of Software Development, by McCarthy.

------
kinnth
This is a great thread!

------
hrachyah
Read Watership down.

------
dominotw
Be Slightly Evil: A Playbook for Sociopaths

is pretty good on this topic.

------
d2161
Saved

