The Best 25 Books I Read in 2025
Leaders are learners.
One of the most straightforward ways leaders can cultivate a posture of lifelong learning is to read books. Here are the best 25 books I read this year (as well as my pick for book of the year). They are listed below in no particular order.
1. The Accidental President (A.J. Baime). In August my dad and I visited Truman’s Presidential Library in Independence, MO on our annual City-A-Year trip to Kansas City. On the tour I realized I didn’t really know much about Truman, but I should learn more. After the trip I read this. Wow, what a life! Truman might be one of the most underrated presidents in the minds of most Americans. Loved this book.
2. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work (Mason Currey). I love learning from others – and I love learning about others’ habits and rituals. This book lists short entries on dozens and dozens of artists throughout history – writers, painters, thinkers, novelists, musicians, actors, playwrights – and their daily habits and routines. Not only was it fascinating and entertaining, but it’s also changed some of my daily routines. I’m so glad this book exists.
3. Good to Great and the Social Sectors (Jim Collins): I’d read this a handful of years ago but decided to re-read it this year. It’s really short, but it’s 35 pages of solid gold. I had forgotten how many great nuggets there are in this book for leaders (even for leaders who aren’t in the nonprofit world).
4. How Leaders Lose Their Way: And How to Make Sure It Doesn’t Happen to You (Peter Greer and Jill Heisey). I’ve enjoyed Greer’s other books. Always thoughtfully written on important topics. This is no different. A cautionary book written with gentle challenge. Leaders should read this – and more than once.
5. The Gap and the Gain: The High Achievers’ Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success (Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy). A simple but important concept that every achiever needs to learn: your future growth and progress must be based on the difference between the two ways to measure yourself: against a future ideal (the gap) or against your starting point (the gain), which appreciates how far you’ve come, not how far you still have to go.
6. The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups (Daniel Coyle). I spend a lot of time with leaders helping them understand that healthy organizations must have healthy structures, culture, and people. This book captures the culture piece wonderfully. The stories are fantastic and each chapter highlights a different team and their dynamics (I especially enjoyed the chapter on San Antonio Spurs’ former coach Greg Popovich). I’ll be reading this one again in the not-too-distant future.
7. Nailing It: Why Successful Leadership Demands Suffering and Surrender (Nichole Massie Martin). I loved the important concept of this book (which is ultimately very un-American in its approach to leadership). Even better: Nicole lives out the message of this book with reality and hope. A very helpful guide for leaders in an attempt to recalibrate our expectations and understanding of suffering and hardship.
8. How to Lead When You Don’t Know Where You’re Going: Leading in a Liminal Season (Susan Beaumont). If you are a fan of Edwin Friedman’s work, then you’ll love this book. Beaumont draws from a lot of experience in working with teams – especially in the context of faith-oriented teams – and offers some sage wisdom and perspective. It’s not a quick read – and that’s because there is so much good to be absorbed.
9. Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to your Biggest Challenges (Amy Cuddy) I was initially turned off by the title, thinking the book would be a woo-woo. But I was wrong. Highly researched by a Harvard professor, and written in a very engaging style, I learned a lot (and my copy is marked up, and dog-eared, with lots of my observations, thoughts, and questions in the margin, which always tells me something about the quality of a book).
10. Wall and Piece (Banksy). I am a huge Banksy fan – not because I always agree with him, but because he always forces me – through his art and his words – to ask deeper questions. Is he a wise and provocative international prophet who makes street art or is he a rebellious criminal vandalizing streets around the world – or both? (Or neither one.) I’m not sure. And that’s why I love him (whoever he may be, as his identity has never been officially confirmed).
11. Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall (Will Ellsworth-Jones). Did I mention I’m a Banksy fan? This book (written about Banksy, not by him) is filled with great stories, background information, and beautiful photos of his “Brandalism” around the world.
12. The Quotable Kierkegaard (edited by Gordon Marino). I love the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard because he also provokes me to think about things in a different light. Not about art, but about faith. God and what true commitment to God actually means (and what it requires of us). If you’re curious to know more about him, this is a great on-ramp, as his punchy quotes are short and sorted by topic. “What one sees depends upon how one sees.”
13. Platforms to Pillars: Trading the Burden of Performance for the Freedom of God’s Presence (Mark Sayers). The title says it all. I’m a big fan of the way Sayers thinks about the world and the implications for faith leaders. This book (and Sayers) is a refreshing voice of re-correction and reorientation in a world that worships at the altar of platform. So many good thoughts that have stayed with me long after I finished reading it.
14. The Secret Society of Success: Stop Chasing the Spotlight and Learn to Enjoy Your Work (and Life) Again (Tim Schurrer). Tim has become a recent friend, and I love the way he thinks and writes. This approach, like Sayers’ book, is quite refreshing. Very simply: leadership is helping others succeed. Simple, but rarely lived out. But when it is, it is powerful.
15. It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy (Michael Abrashoff). An amazing leadership story of righting the ship (in the most literal sense of the word) and creating an amazing culture of ownership and accountability. Abrashoff turned the USS Benfold from the worst vessel in the Navy to the very best. Great story.
16. How Leaders Learn: Master Habits of the World’s Most Successful People (David Novak). I’m a big David Novak fan (his personal story and his podcast How Leaders Lead are both fantastic). His stories are fantastic (I’ve quoted many of them in 5T5M and on my podcast) and he lives out what he writes. He possesses a lot of wisdom, humility, and an insatiable desire to learn, despite having led some of the largest food and beverage brands in the world.
17. Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life (Jim Murphy). I admit: I was quite skeptical of this book, due to all the national attention around it. Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was spotted reading the book on the sidelines during a playoff game last season – and the book went viral. But it surprised me. I like Murphy’s approach to how we use our mind (he’s a mental performance coach for some of the top athletes in the world) and how he seamlessly weaves his faith throughout the chapters. Don’t think it’s all about sports; he quotes C.S. Lewis, Dallas Willard, John Ortberg, Anne Lamott, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, and others throughout.
18. A Teachable Spirit: The Virtue of Learning from Strangers, Enemies, and Absolutely Anyone (A.J. Swoboda). A.J.’s writing style is accessible, honest, and instructive. This book found me at the time I needed it – and for that, I am grateful. Intellectual humility is needed by all of us, all the time. It’s always good to find a book with an important topic whose author is deeply thoughtful, writes in an engaging manner, and tells great stories. This one has all three.
19. Life of the Beloved (Henri Nouwen). This was a re-read for me. I’ve tried to read everything Nouwen has written. Plain, accessible, wise, personal, spiritual – typical Nouwen. But on a personal level, 2025 turned out to be one of the hardest years of my adult life – and this book spoke to me in ways that I absolutely needed to hear and be reminded of. Above all else, I am a beloved child of God. For that is my identity. I’m sure I’ll be re-reading this again in the future.
20. How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie). A classic book (that has remained relevant for ninety years—and for good reason) I was quite familiar with, but one that somehow I had never read until this year. I listened to it first — and found it so helpful I bought the physical book and read it. No wonder it’s still relevant after so many decades.
21. Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive (Russ Ramsey). Van Gogh is my favorite artist. I am captivated by his paintings and haunted by his personal story. Ramsey captures his story well but also unpacks many other stories of famous artists – and ties their stories to our own. A great follow-up book to Ramsey’s Rembrandt Is in the Wind (another amazing book).
22. Speak, Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audience (Bill McGowan). This is the best book on public speaking and communication I’ve ever read. Very practical and helpful for those looking to get better at communicating. If you want to grow in this area, this is your go-to resource.
23. Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes (William Bridges). Bridges makes the compelling argument that there is a difference between changes and transitions – and offers the tools and the mindset to be prepared for a reorientation when things become uncertain. This has helped me immensely with the leaders I coach – and has helped me in my own life as well.
24. Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes (Morgan Housel). I’ll read anything Morgan Housel writes (and his podcast is fantastic also). Housel is good at noticing patterns, deducing human behavior, and telling good stories. And this one did not disappoint. Lots of good wisdom-building through these chapters by providing a lot of helpful perspective.
25. The Art of Asking Better Questions: Pursuing Stronger Relationships, Healthier Leadership, and Deeper Faith (me). Please forgive me if this seems too self-centered or assumptive on my part, but I believe this is a really good book (even if I did write it). I say this not with arrogance, but with conviction. Why? Because I invested ten years of thought, research, practice, and training into this book. And I had to embody this message before I could write it. This topic of asking better questions – and equipping others to do the same—is my passion. You may disagree with me that this is a good one (and that’s fine if you do) but when you believe in something, by golly, you have to stand by it. And so, I do. I wrote this book because I wanted it to change people. And surprisingly, it changed me, too.
Book of the Year: A tie. Life of the Beloved & The Accidental President.
Past Favorite Books of the Year:
2024: How to Know a Person (David Brooks)
2023: Stolen Focus (Johann Hari)
2022: From Strength to Strength (Arthur Brooks)
2021: The Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel)