Being a great people manager is more than just overseeing tasks and ensuring deadlines are met. True leadership is about mentoring, motivating, and empowering individuals to grow and perform at their best. In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, managers need a combination of emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and resilience to succeed.
One of the best ways to develop these skills is through reading. Some of the world’s greatest leaders and entrepreneurs have shared their insights in books that provide frameworks for making better decisions, leading with confidence, and understanding human behavior.
Here are six must-read books that will help you become an exceptional people manager.
1. Choose Your Enemies Wisely – Patrick Bet-David
Key Lesson: Leadership is about strategy, and sometimes, the best way to succeed is by understanding who opposes your vision.
Patrick Bet-David, a successful entrepreneur and business strategist, explores the power dynamics in leadership and why competition—both internal and external—is necessary for growth. As a manager, understanding office politics, power plays, and strategic decision-making will help you navigate challenges and build a high-performing team.
💡 Takeaway: Not everyone in your workplace is rooting for your success. Identify challenges, embrace healthy competition, and use it as fuel for growth.
2. Your Next Five Moves – Patrick Bet-David
Key Lesson: Great leaders think several steps ahead, like chess players planning their next five moves.
This book is a masterclass in business strategy and decision-making. As a manager, you’re not just managing people—you’re shaping the long-term success of your team and organization. Bet-David teaches you how to analyze situations, anticipate problems, and build a vision that inspires others to follow you.
💡 Takeaway: Managers who think ahead create stability. Don't just react—plan your next five moves to drive long-term success.
3. Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
Key Lesson: Understanding how people think helps you become a better decision-maker and leader.
Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist, explains the two systems of thinking—fast (instinctive and emotional) and slow (deliberate and logical). As a manager, recognizing cognitive biases, emotional triggers, and decision-making patterns can help you better understand your team, communicate effectively, and avoid costly leadership mistakes.
💡 Takeaway: People don’t always act rationally. Learn to navigate emotions, biases, and subconscious decision-making in the workplace.
4. Principles – Ray Dalio
Key Lesson: A strong leadership foundation is built on principles—clear, tested guidelines that create consistency and drive results.
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, shares the principles that helped him build one of the world’s most successful investment firms. As a manager, having a set of guiding principles for decision-making, conflict resolution, and team dynamics can bring clarity to leadership and improve team trust.
💡 Takeaway: Create and communicate your own set of principles to help your team operate with consistency and confidence.
5. Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
Key Lesson: Leadership is about taking full responsibility—no excuses, no blaming others.
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, former Navy SEALs, bring battlefield-tested leadership lessons into business and management. The core message is that great leaders take full ownership of their teams' successes and failures. As a manager, embracing accountability inspires your team to do the same, fostering a culture of discipline, execution, and high performance.
💡 Takeaway: If your team fails, it’s on you. Take ownership, fix problems, and lead by example.
6. Tribe of Mentors – Tim Ferriss
Key Lesson: Success leaves clues—learn from the best.
Tim Ferriss interviewed some of the most successful leaders, entrepreneurs, and creatives to uncover the habits, routines, and strategies they use to thrive. As a manager, you’ll gain insights into high-performance habits, decision-making frameworks, and leadership mindsets that you can apply to your own career and team management.
💡 Takeaway: Learning from successful people accelerates your own growth. Seek mentors, study their methods, and apply what works for you.
7. Psycho-Cybernetics – Maxwell Maltz
Key Lesson: Your self-image controls your success. Change your mindset, and you change your leadership ability.
Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon turned self-improvement expert, discovered that how people see themselves impacts their success more than anything else. As a manager, your beliefs, confidence, and communication style shape your team's motivation and performance. By mastering self-image psychology, you can become a more effective leader and help your team develop a winning mindset.
💡 Takeaway: Confidence and self-belief are contagious. Lead with a strong, positive mindset, and your team will follow.
Master People Management Through Learning
People management isn’t just about delegation—it’s about understanding human behavior, inspiring action, and leading with strategy.
The best leaders never stop learning. By reading these books and applying their lessons, you’ll improve your ability to mentor, coach, and develop your team into high performers.
👉 Which of these books have you read? Which one will you start with? Let’s discuss!
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