Tony Hsieh

From LinkExchange to Zappos, and the case for building a company on its culture.

Kegan and Lahey argue that most organizations are 'second nature' — places where people spend enormous energy managing impressions and hiding weaknesses. Deliberately Developmental Organizations build learning into daily work. A challenging read that sits at the furthest edge of what most organizations are ready for.

What companies that beat their industries tenfold in turbulent times did differently.

Valuable work now needs people who do what can't be written into a job description.

Research on shame and vulnerability, and why vulnerability comes before connection.

How people champion new ideas, and how leaders can encourage originality.

How timing, culture and accumulated advantage explain exceptional success.

Change made easier: direct the rational rider, motivate the emotional elephant.

Ancient wisdom on happiness tested against modern psychology and brain research.

Seven patterns, such as the adjacent possible, in the settings that produce ideas.

Advertising has stopped working; build products remarkable enough to talk about.

A brewer's business lessons, anecdotes and advice for building a career or a company.

Get commitments out of your head into a trusted system, and decide next actions.

Sinek's Golden Circle (Why/How/What) is less empirically grounded than the rest of this list, but its core observation is accurate: people don't follow what you do, they follow why you do it. Useful for understanding how leaders communicate identity externally and why some inspire loyalty while others just manage compliance.

How to rate an organisation's tribal culture on five stages and raise it.

From LinkExchange to Zappos, and the case for building a company on its culture.

Airbnb from three air mattresses in 2007 to a global lodging business.

Four traps that ruin decisions, such as narrow framing, and a process to beat each.

How dense cities make people more productive, inventive and green.

Business strategy theories applied to career, family and integrity.

How ideas and behaviour spread like epidemics, and the three factors that tip them.

Six traits of memorable ideas, from simple and unexpected to emotional stories.