Great managers never stop learning. A great way you can continue improving yourself as a boss and a leader is by reading psychology books that will help you be even better at what you do. If you need some pop psychology book recommendations specifically for managers, look no further.
1. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
As a manager, you often need people to listen to you and then follow your advice or agree with you.
Now, you might be pretty convincing and charming, but it is a completely different story when you know the psychology of why people agree to certain things and what drives their actions. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is one of the books that can best teach you how to make anyone agree with you.
Once you understand how and why someone changes their behaviors, you will know how to motivate that change in other people.
2. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
If you want to be a good manager, people have to like you. You don’t have to be best friends with everyone, but you should be likable so that people are drawn to you enough to listen to what you have to say. How to Win Friends and Influence People is a book that can teach you how to win people over.
3. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath
A whole book dedicated to different ideas and why some of them stick while others do not even get said out loud. Since managing people is all about bringing the best ideas out of them, as well as providing the best ideas for them, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die is definitely one of the essential reads for any managers out there.
4. Mind Hacking: How to Rewire Your Brain to Stop Overthinking, Create Better Habits and Realize Your Life Goals by Jennifer Ferguson
Believe it or not, you can remap your brain so that it works for you, rather than against you. If you tend to overthink, or you cannot seem to keep good habits, this book teaches you how to do all of that. Basically, if you become a better person, you will be more confident and more effective in your job as well, which will reflect on the success of your whole company and motivate other workers to do the same.
5. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
As a manager, you will often find yourself giving motivational speeches and trying to improve your workers’ mindsets for the better. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us gives you a unique insight into how our brains work and what motivates us to certain actions. This, although you can implement all of these lessons on your own life, is crucial when you are trying to help and motivate other people.
