I get this question all the time: “Bob, what are your favorite leadership books?” I’ve never really sat down to write out my top 5 all-time picks, but I figured if you’re a senior leader in a church, these are the books I would highly encourage you to read.

So here’s my top 5 books on leadership…

#1 – Leadership Gold by John Maxwell – I wrestled between this book and The 21 Irrefutable Laws on Leadership. You should read both, but if you’re been in leadership for a while, Leadership Gold will really help.

#2 – Good to Great by Jim Collins – There are so many principles in this book that helped me navigate rough patches in our church. Plus, this book  helped me describe what was happening in our church when I didn’t have a name for it. This is a book I go back to all the time.

#3 – The Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley – I read this book when it came out. Then I reread this book. Then I read it again. Then I made everyone on my staff read it. It’s a must read. It helped me so much. I’m only going to post one book by Andy, but if I were being honest, Visioneering should be on here as well as 7 Practices of Effective Ministry.

#4 – The E-Myth by Michael Gerber – This book literally blew my mind when I read it. I never really understood systems until I read this book. Then I went back and read every book Michael had written. This is a book everyone on your team needs to read.

#5 – Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels – This book tackles leadership from the Senior Pastor perspective. There’s so much great leadership content here. I’ve read this book several times. I’ve recommended it hundreds of times. So much of our nomenclature in church leadership comes from this book.

Speaking of leadership books… (how’s that for a transition)

My book Zero to Sixty got rereleased today. The new title is Leadership Blurbs: Bite Sized Strategies for a Growing Church and it has 5 brand new chapters.

Here’s the best part: you can grab a copy for free (you just pay for the shipping). Click here to pick up a copy.