First Look: Leadership Books for October 2025

HERE’S A LOOK at some of the best leadership books to be released in October 2025 curated just for you. Be sure to check out the other great titles being offered this month.

A CEO for All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra and Kurt Strovink

In the high-stakes world of corporate leadership, becoming a Fortune 500 CEO is an Everest-like ascent—with only the savviest managing to avoid falling off the mountain. In A CEO for All Seasons,you’ll find an essential climbing route that will take you through every stage. Unique in applying a number of sophisticated metrics to isolate the world’s top 200 CEOs, reduce them to a representative sample, and then reap their wisdom, the McKinsey team, in A CEO for All Seasons, spotlights the specific stage-based hurdles that CEOs face. From preparing for the role to starting strong to sustaining momentum to ensuring a lasting legacy, the book leaves no segment of the journey unmapped. Along the way, it offers proven strategies for maintaining forward progress and, crucially, alerts readers to common blind spots that can sabotage success, as revealed by a detailed survey of thousands of executives.

Don’t Be Yourself: Why Authenticity Is Overrated (and What to Do Instead) by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

“Just be yourself” might be the worst advice you’ve ever received. For years, we’ve been told that authenticity is the key to success—that we should be true to ourselves, tune out others’ opinions, and lead with unwavering genuineness. This feel-good message has spawned countless self-help books, leadership seminars, and viral social media posts. There’s just one problem: science says it’s wrong. Drawing on decades of research, renowned psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic reveals an uncomfortable truth: our obsession with authenticity is backfiring. From Silicon Valley’s authenticity worship to failed diversity programs, he exposes how our fixation on our “true selves” undermines both individual and organizational success.

Team Intelligence: How Brilliant Leaders Unlock Collective Genius by Jon Levy

Ever wonder why some of our most effective leaders aren’t known for the skills we’ve been told are essential for great leadership? Would you describe Elon Musk or Steve Jobs as having empathy or humility? Of course not, and yet they’ve led teams that achieved extraordinary results. So, what leadership attributes, habits, and skills do cause teams to become more than the sum of their parts? Why does a team made of up superstars often underperform? What causes teams to work together effectively and produce high team intelligence? Jon Levy unpacks the myths that hold leaders and their teams back and points out the paradox of success: focusing on creating teams that operate well is what makes an effective leader, but focusing purely on the leader does almost nothing for the team.

Leadership Unblocked: Break Through the Beliefs That Limit Your Potential by Muriel M. Wilkins

Your mindset may be the only thing standing between you and your potential. Break free from the beliefs that hold you back. As a leader, do you find yourself frustrated, wondering why employees don’t meet expectations, peers are slow to act, or pressure from your boss falls unfairly on your shoulders? It’s easy to point a finger at others and double down on getting results. But have you ever considered that the problem might not be them—that it might be you? In Leadership Unblocked, Wilkins reveals seven key beliefs that hold leaders back, from “I know I’m right” to “I need to be involved” to “I don’t belong here.” Combining illustrative and powerful coaching conversations and research from the fields of neuroscience, leadership, and adult development theory, Wilkins offers a self-coaching guide for identifying, unpacking, and breaking through these barriers.

Delivering the Wow: Culture as Catalyst for Lasting Success byRichard Fain

In Delivering the WOW, Fain shows how a culture united people around a mission, delighted guests, and unlocked extraordinary performance. Drawing on vivid stories from 33 years at the helm, Fain explains how a remarkable culture was forged and strengthened through: • Alignment: ensuring every employee understands the same clear mission, beyond hierarchy or titles • Intentionality: never losing sight of the ultimate goal and ensuring that every action, big or small, supports that objective • Continuous improvement: never being satisfied; always believing that there are ways to improve • Crisis response: deeply rooted culture as a stabilizing force during black swan events, including the global pandemic. Invaluable principles like these are woven into unforgettable stories which help explain how the company’s profitability, guest capacity, and employee base all grew more than thirtyfold.

Respect: How to Change the World One Interaction at a Time by Robert Dilenschneider

Robert Dilenschneider delivers an insightful and original discussion of how to cultivate respectfulness in every facet of your life. You’ll learn how to embody and encourage respectful behavior and speech among work colleagues, family, friends, and others. You’ll learn about how respectfulness has life-changing consequences for all who practice it and why it’s within reach for us all. You’ll also discover why it’s so sorely needed in an increasingly fragmented society and how it can transform our interactions for the better.

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* * *“You can’t think well without writing well, and you can’t write well without reading well. And I mean that last “well” in both senses. You have to be good at reading, and read good things.”

— Paul Graham, Y Combinator co-founder

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