8 authors recommend books that will help you lead in 2026

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.

The authors of the most powerful memoirs, self-help books, and leadership bibles combine deep research and self-reflection—in the same way today’s executives need to blend data insights with emotional intelligence. As we look ahead to 2026, I asked eight authors of recent business and business-adjacent books to share their recommendations for books (not their own) that will help you lead in the year to come.

Here are their picks, in their own words:

Maha Aboulenein, CEO, Digital and Savy, and author, 7 Rules of Self-Reliance

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Hands down the book I am gifting to everyone this year is The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. The protagonist, Sybil Van Antwerp, is witty, sharp, and just like us—she has lived a life of triumphs, love, tragedies, and regrets. The book is a series of letters that she writes to family, friends, politicians, and strangers. She reminds us that, in the art of letter writing, there is no gray, just black and white, and that is where the most beautiful and honest stories unfold. I devoured the book and hope everyone reads it. They will be utterly delighted they did.

This book will help business leaders think clearly about the power of storytelling. When we look at consumer behavior and how [people] are choosing more long-form content, this book gave me perspective. [How will] letter writing in the age of AI matter? How can we go back to thinking about what connects us as audiences? It’s about the power of building a relationship directly: the one-to-one (versus the spray-and-pray approach). Building trust with your audience is not about influence. It’s about connecting over a story that moves us.

Paul Achleitner, former chair, Deutsche Bank, and author, Accelerate Your Experience

Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis by Graham Allison

In this 1971 classic, the author uses the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis to demonstrate a key theme: The traditional approach of interpreting political outcomes as the consequence of rational action by individuals falls short of reality. Instead, internal organizational processes working hand in hand with bureaucratic power politics may have just as much to do with the results. I have always felt that applying different perspectives generates better explanations—as well as outcomes—in business as well. As Austrian philosopher Friedrich Hayek stated, many events are the “consequence of human action but not human design.”

Kevin Boehm, cofounder and co-CEO, Boka Restaurant Group, and author, The Bottomless Cup

The Dream of Solomeo: My Life and the Idea of Humanistic Capitalism by Brunello Cucinelli

There are so many lessons in that book that echo my own life and my evolving ethos: that success in business is noble only if it lifts the human spirit. The way Cucinelli resurrected Solomeo while building his empire gave his purpose a kind of dignity that is aspirational. Blind ambition was lauded as admirable for generations but is often detrimental to an entrepreneur’s development as a human. In today’s more enlightened world, making sure there is nobility behind the purpose allows us to sidestep the potholes that leaders like Steve Jobs were never able to evade. You can be a capitalist and a kind human.

Jon Gluck, senior editor, Fast Company, and author, An Exercise in Uncertainty

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

Endurance tells the story of the ill-fated 1914–1917 expedition led by the British Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. The expedition’s ship, the Endurance, was trapped in the Antarctic ice and crushed. After surviving for months on ice floes, the crew undertook a grueling 1,000-mile journey in an open boat, then traversed glaciers and scaled mountains before finding help.

Never mind that Endurance is a gripping and inspiring read. The story offers a master class in navigating every manner of crisis and every type of uncertainty, which leaders will encounter in abundance in 2026. If nothing else, it makes business challenges seem manageable by comparison.

Mita Mallick, workplace strategist, and author, The Devil Emails at Midnight

Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara

As our lives get even more digital, more seamless, with just a few clicks or a touch of a button, we will crave human interaction. This is why Unreasonable Hospitality, about extraordinary service delivered by and for human beings, should be on every leader’s reading list.

In a rapid race to embrace AI, we get personalization at scale: We can anticipate what customers need and want based on the data we collect on their behaviors. But how about a human being noticing your needs at a particular moment, offering a spontaneous, heartfelt gesture? Noticing and connecting with one another is becoming an underrated superpower.

The companies that thrive will not only treat their customers with unreasonable hospitality, but hospitality [will] become the new leadership imperative. Forget the oversize hoodies, fancy snacks, and another free meditation app. Treating your employees with care will become the biggest retention tool we have at our disposal.

Leila McKenzie-Delis, CEO, Dial Global, and author, The CEO Activist

From Intent to Impact: The New Blueprint for Inclusion by Asif Sadiq

Asif Sadiq’s From Intent to Impact is a must-read for 2026 because it gives leaders a practical, no-nonsense blueprint for turning inclusion from well-meaning intentions into real, measurable change. Rather than offering theory, it delivers actionable frameworks that help organizations build inclusive cultures, design inclusive products, and create sustainable impact.

With Sadiq’s deep global experience and timely relevance in a rapidly shifting social and business landscape, the book stands out as an essential guide for anyone serious about meaningful progress.

Kurt Strovink, senior partner and global head of CEO practice, McKinsey, and coauthor, A CEO for All Seasons

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

A book I return to often is Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. Written nearly 2,000 years ago, it remains one of the clearest guides for navigating the tensions and responsibilities of leadership. What makes the book enduring is its integration of the inner and outer dimensions of leadership.

Aurelius believed in the power of stoicism to accept what was uncontrollable and work productively on what was controllable.  Leaders today face pressures Aurelius himself could never have imagined, yet the fundamentals he wrestled with—clarity of thought in the face of change, humility of perspective, and the discipline to separate what can be controlled from what cannot—are strikingly timeless.

In a world defined by rapidly evolving markets, geopolitical uncertainty, AI innovation, and a growing disparity between signal and noise, having the temperament to absorb change is essential to today’s leadership.

Meditations doesn’t offer outright solutions; it offers ways of thinking that help leaders stay grounded while making consequential decisions, leading through others, preparing institutions for change, and renewing one’s energy as a protagonist in life’s journey. Aurelius’s reflections compose what we might call an “ethic of leadership”—the standards leaders must hold themselves to in both the inner game and the outer game of their roles.

Angela Williams, president and CEO, United Way Worldwide, and coauthor, Navigating the Age of Chaos

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing is one of those books that stays with you long after you close it. The story follows two branches of a family across generations, and it shows how connection and resilience thread through even the hardest histories.

Working with communities every day, I’m reminded of how much we all inherit: grief, strength, possibility, and most importantly, the power to heal together. Leaders today can take that same lesson to heart. Seeing people fully and honoring the shared histories is how we build trust, collaboration, and stronger communities. Heading into 2026, with all the uncertainty around us, it feels urgent to remember that real community begins when we refuse to give up on one another. Homegoing is a beautiful reminder that hope is a practice that grows every time we reach across difference and walk alongside our neighbors anyway.

What Are Your Top Book Picks?

What books do you think leaders should read to get ready for 2026? Please send your picks—new books and classics alike are welcome—to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com, and we’ll publish your recommendations in an upcoming newsletter.

Read more: reading is fundamental