Humanergy Leadership Podcast
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Humanergy Leadership Podcast
Ep 251: Leadership Books Worth Reading This Summer (2026)
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Seven books. One summer. A few of them might change how you think about leadership.
David Wheatley, co-founder of Humanergy and host of the Humanergy Leadership Podcast, wraps up the season with his annual summer reading list for leaders. This year's picks span decentralized leadership, AI, gender dynamics in the workplace, coaching philosophy, team performance, and how people build a life worth living.
The books on the list:
Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet — a classic on leader-leader culture that keeps coming back into the conversation for good reason.
The AI-Driven Leader by Jeff Woods — the book Humanergy has been recommending all year for leaders trying to get a practical handle on AI.
The Only Woman in the Room by Lisa Davis — not just for women. David interviewed Lisa earlier this season; this is a good companion listen.
The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh — a look at what actually goes into building a winning culture, from the coach who rebuilt the 49ers.
And It Was Beautiful by Phil Hay — the story of Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds, and a counterpoint to Walsh worth reading alongside it.
What Great Teams Do Great by Humanergy — if you haven't read it yet, it's 98 pages and worth every one of them.
What to Make of a Life by Jim Collins — his newest book. If you know Collins from Good to Great or Great by Choice, you know what to expect: rigorous, research-driven, and worth your time.
Drop your own summer reading recommendations in the comments.
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David Wheatley (00:11)
Well, welcome to this final episode of the season of the Humanergy Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, David Wheatley, and we'll be taking a break over the summer. We'll be returning in September. What we want to do is leave you with some summer options and do our regular semi-annual summer reading recommendations.
I'm going to start with an oldie but a goodie that I've been referring people to for a long time, but it seems to have come back on the schedule recently. The book is Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet. I just thought it was a good one to remind people about if you haven't read it yet.
The second one is something we've been plugging for most of this year. If you've not read this one yet, you're probably a little bit behind the ball. It's called The AI-Driven Leader by Jeff Woods, and it's well worth taking a look at if you've got any interest in what's happening and how to use AI as a tool.
The third one — I did an interview with the author earlier this season — is The Only Woman in the Room by Lisa Davis. If you haven't read that one yet, it's a great book. Not just for the only women in the room, but for the men who want to know how to be good allies to the only women in the room. I love the byline: How to Win in a Workplace That's Still Built for Men.
If you're thinking about the World Cup and you're a sports fan, my soccer team, as many of you know, is owned by the 49ers organization. Somebody recommended that if my team is owned by the 49ers, I should read about a guy called Bill Walsh. There's a book called The Score Takes Care of Itself. I'm not an American football fan, but it was certainly an interesting read about the structure and what goes behind a successful coaching culture.
For those who enjoy proper football, I've contrasted it with And It Was Beautiful by Phil Hay, which is the story of Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds. If you contrast Bill Walsh and Marcelo Bielsa as coaches, I think there are some fascinating patterns to learn from. [books fall off the table]
The second to last one — just in case you haven't come across our book yet — is What Great Teams Do Great. Highly recommend it. It's well worth all 98 pages, and it covers a lot of the tools you might see at our free work sessions or in your engagement with Humanergy.
And the last one, which I just started but is clearly going to be a great read, is What to Make of a Life by Jim Collins. It's his latest book. If you know Jim Collins from Good to Great, Great by Choice, and those books, you'll know his style of writing is very much research-based. I'm already learning a lot about the people he profiles — how they led their lives and how they took opportunities. It's been a fascinating read so far, and I'm looking forward to getting through it at campsites this summer.
If you've got something you're excited about and reading that would be worth sharing, feel free to drop it in the comments or send it my way, and we'll take a look. Maybe we'll plug it next time.
Thank you very much. Enjoy the summer. We'll talk to you soon.