First Look: Leadership Books for January 2026

HERE’S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in Janaury 2026 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month.

Intentional: How to Finish What You Start by Chris Bailey

Setting goals is easy. Following through on them? A whole lot harder. It turns out, the secret to finishing what you start isn’t sheer willpower or the latest productivity hack. It’s becoming more intentional. With Intentional, bestselling author Chris Bailey distills a decade of deep research on productivity to deliver a profound, practical, and counterintuitive road map to getting things done. Forget extensive to-do lists and a never-ending workload. To reach your goals, you must structure your daily actions around what’s most important to you—and let go of the rest. This way, getting things done becomes second nature.

The Next Renaissance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential by Zack Kass

An eye-opening discussion on the transformative impact of AI and how to prepare for a new future. In The Next Renaissance, acclaimed AI advisor Zack Kass presents an optimistic and compelling vision of how artificial intelligence will shape our lives. Drawing on historical context, cutting-edge advancements, and firsthand experience, Kass lays out how AI will become a collaborative partner in building a better, more creative, and more compassionate world. Just as the original Renaissance revolutionized art, science, and society, today’s AI-driven Renaissance will redefine how we create, innovate, and flourish. Kass leverages his deep industry expertise to explain how this transformative technology will solve previously unimaginable challenges, presenting entirely new possibilities.

Rewire your organization—and your leadership—for a world driven by projects. It’s time to stop treating projects as side work. In the age of constant transformation, projects are the primary way organizations create value and accelerate innovation. In this new paradigm—the project economy—traditional agile approaches are no longer enough. The next evolution is the project-driven organization, where projects sit at the center of how companies are structured, led, and rewarded. Powered by Projects explores this bold new model. Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, the worldwide expert on project-based work, reveals the leadership styles and organizational structures necessary to drive success today.

How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success by George Newman

Great ideas are all around us, waiting to be discovered. Here’s how to find them. We’re used to imagining creativity as a lightbulb moment—sudden, mysterious, reserved for the gifted few. But what if ideas aren’t conjured from thin air? What if they’re discovered—more like precious artifacts that we unearth and refine? In How Great Ideas Happen, cognitive scientist George Newman draws on cutting-edge research to show that creativity isn’t magic, it’s method. The most successful innovators don’t wait to be struck by brilliance; their creative process is more like archeology. As keen-eyed explorers, they scan the terrain, dig with intention, and, with a little luck, find gold.

The Way of Excellence: A Guide to True Greatness and Deep Satisfaction in a Chaotic World by Brad Stulberg

Whether you are practicing guitar, pushing your limits at the gym, leading a team, honing a craft, studying medicine, or giving yourself the time and space to finally write that book, the pursuit of excellence is a big part of what makes life worth living—and it is for all of us. Unlike “pseudo-excellence,” which is about hustle culture and hacks, genuine excellence is about challenging yourself in worthwhile endeavors, focusing on what matters most, and expressing the unique qualities that make you who you are. Too often, we get caught up in convenience and distraction to the detriment of our true potential. The good news is that we can set ourselves on a better path, one that includes more aliveness and resonance, more connection to self and others. Here, Stulberg finds convergence between modern science, age-old philosophy, and daily practice to explain that we are wired to strive for excellence—it is what we are here to do, core to our humanity. Yet our environment often works against us.

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* * *“I read books because, at their best, they make me better, more empathetic, more socially aware, more in tune to the stranger beside me. They help me imagine a better future, provide me with answers to my insatiable questions, take me to places I’ll never get to go. ”

— Annie B. Jones

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