NEW YORK–Malcolm Gladwell has sold more than 4.5-million books examining hidden factors that affect our lives, and spoken to people around the world, including credit unions.
Now Gladwell is out with a recommended list of nine books every leader should read. This account was first published by Time.com.
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis
Gladwell says that Moneyball and Flash Boys author Michael Lewis is “the finest storyteller of our generation.”
Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession by Janet Malcolm
Gladwell considers Janet Malcolm to be his other role model as nonfiction writer. “I reread Malcolm’s ‘Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession’ just to remind myself how nonfiction is supposed to be done,” Gladwell said.
The Person and the Situation by Richard Nisbett and Lee Ross
Gladwell says that University of Michigan psychologist Richard Nisbett “basically gave me my view of the world.” The Person and the Situation is the book that has most affected him, he said, as it offers a way of re-ordering ordinary experience.
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
“I don’t need to say much here,” Gladwell said. “This book invented an entire genre. Economics was never supposed to be this entertaining.”
The Opposable Mind by Roger Martin
Amazon has about 13,000 books about CEOs.
Gladwell says you really only need to read one, The Opposable Mind by University of Toronto management professor Roger Martin.
Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do by Tom Vanderbilt
Written by Slate columnist Tom Vanderbilt, Traffic investigates human nature from beyond the driver’s seat. Gladwell said that Traffic is “one of the heirs to the Freakonomics legacy.”
Personal: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child
Gladwell said that when he reads for pleasure, it’s almost always a spy novel. He’s read hundreds of them, and when asked if he could suggest any book to Barack Obama, he said that it would obviously be the new Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series.
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb
Gladwell likes to write about compellingly cantankerous people, and has argued that the job of managers is to “harbor and protect obnoxious and brilliant people.” Early in his writing career, he found such a subject in controversial investor-philosopher Nassim Taleb.
Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man by Garry Wills
Gladwell has said that he’d never try to write about politics because there are already so many fantastic political writers. He cites the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills and his presidential biography, Nixon Agonistes, as a primary case study.