05 Feb The 8 books every young leader should read in 2019

Written by: Bernabé Gutierrez,  Cofounder at Qvixote Leaders

At Qvixote Leaders, we read a lot because we always want to learn more about how the world works. Each of the books on the list below taught us something meaningful and powerful. How to find your leadership purpose. How will you measure your life. How business success really looks like. How nations rise and fall.

We encourage you to take a look at any of these that sound interesting. And feel free to share your favorites in the comments section below.

Here are our picks, in no particular order: 

The Discover Your True North Fieldbook: A Personal Guide to Finding Your Authentic Leadership, by Bill George, Andrew Mc Lean, Nick Craig, Scott Snook 

Whether you are just starting your leadership journey or leading a large organization, this book will help you find your leadership purpose, that internal Compass that provides direction and keeps you oriented–your True North. Through a series of reflective exercises, this Fieldbook helps you become a better leader by learning to be a more authentic one.

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction, by Philip E Tetlock, Dan Gardner

Superforecasting offers the first demonstrably effective way to improve our ability to predict the future–whether in business, finance, politics, international affairs, or daily life. They show that good forecasting doesn’t require powerful computers or arcane methods. It involves gathering evidence from a variety of sources, thinking probabilistically, working in teams, keeping score, and being willing to admit error and change course.

Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

Learn the real leadership lessons of Steve Jobs: simplify; take responsibility end to end; when behind, leapfrog; put products before profits; don’t be a slave to focus groups; bend reality; impute; push for perfection; tolerate only “A” players; engage face-to-face; know both the big picture and the details; combine the humanities with the sciences; stay hungry, stay foolish.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, by Phil Knight

Bill Gates named Shoe Dog one of his five favorite books of 2016 and called it “an amazing tale, a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like. It’s a messy, perilous, and chaotic journey, riddled with mistakes, endless struggles, and sacrifice. Phil Knight opens up in ways few CEOs are willing to do.”

How Will You Measure Your Life? By Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, Karen Dillon

A book of lucid observations and penetrating insights designed to help any reader–student or teacher, mid-career professional or retiree, parent or child–forge their own paths to fulfillment.

Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with Okrs, by John Doerr

Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) has helped tech giants from Intel to Google achieve explosive growth–and how it can help any organization thrive.

Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company, by Andrew Grove

The work of a lifetime, Only the Paranoid Survive is a classic of managerial and leadership skills. Grove reveals his strategy of focusing on a new way of measuring the nightmare moment every leader dreads–when massive change occurs and a company must, virtually overnight, adapt or fall by the wayside.

The Economist

 The Economist is not a book but it’s something worthy to read (critically) every week if you want to learn about what’s going on in the world, aka geopolitics. You don’t believe us? Well, when Fox Business asked Bill Gates and Charlie Munger what they love to read, both kept it simple. “The Economist,” they said. Period.

 QVIXOTE LEADERS invests in young leaders through geopolitics and leadership, so they can improve the world. Founded in 2018 by Bernabé Gutiérrez: http://linkedin.com/in/bernabegutierrez

qvixoteleaders@gmail.com