These are the books I’ve read recently that I highly recommend anyone in a tech leadership position reading.

Exterme Ownership

Extreme Ownership teaches the core values of leadership taken from the battlefield as they apply to the business world. Following a simple formula of retelling a war story followed by the core concept and then examples from businesses that Jocko and Leif (the authors) have helped.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

All leadership is hard and this book enjoyably distills a lot of those hard things as well as giving advice on overcoming them. I’ve found most success when taking the hard path. This book is especially helpful when the situations your presented don’t have an optimal outcome and you’re left choosing between a number of bad decisions.

Deep Work

Deep Work changed the way I build software and lead to a 3x increase in my productivity. This book is for the parts of your day spent outside of meetings and focused on a specific task like programming. It’s also the book you should be giving to all your thought workers and then giving them the space to implement in their work lives.

Hit Refresh

Microsoft has risen from the ashes in recent years under the leadership of Satya. This books explains the way he thinks about leadership and running Microsoft to take it from the back of the pack to taking its rightful place as one of the tech giants of the 21st century.

Peopleware

Peopleware teaches you how to lead a tech company by focusing on the people rather than the technology. It’s filled with great advice on how to get the most out of your teams and is a must read for anyone with tech workers below them in their hierarchy. It’s the oldest book on the list but also one of the most valuable and I return to it every few years and always find relevant solutions to my current failings.

High Output Management

This is one of the dryer reads to get through but worth the effort. Andy lead Intel to domination and his down to earth management style feels like a deep dive on The Hard Thing About Hard Things. With great tips on what works in both leadership and business strategy despite its focus on manufacturing and being a little dated.

Digital Minimalism

The second book on the list by Cal (author of Deep Work). This book shows you there is another way to live without your life being dominated by your phone and social networks. This is an especially hard tight rope for tech leaders to walk but one that is key to reaching your full potential and creating tech that changes the world rather than just consuming it.