Leadership Bibliography

ATG’s Research Leadership Academy and Research Leadership Development courses were created using the best data, evidence, and practices available. As new research emerges, we continually update our content to reflect a broad range of thinking on leadership, team science, and scientific best practices. Below represents a selection of the material that influences our approach to leadership.

Books, Roughly grouped by subject

Leadership Without Easy Answers – Ronald A. Heifetz, Belknap/Harvard University Press, 1998

The Leadership Challenge – Barry Z. Posner and James M. Kouzes, Wiley, 2023 (We used the 2018 Penguin Random House edition)

The Leadership Reckoning: Can Higher Education Develop the Leaders We Need? - Thomas Kolditz, PhD, Libby Gill, and Ryan P. Brown, PhD. McNair Hall, 2021.

Leading Toward Liberation: How to Build Cultures of Thriving in Higher Education - Annamarie Caño, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025.

Theory U: Leading from the Future as It Emerges - Otto Scharmer, Berret-Koehler, 2009.

Systems-Inspired Leadership: How to Tap Collective Wisdom to Navigate Change, Enhance Agility, and Foster Collaboration - Frank Uit de Weerd and Marita Fridjhon, 2021.

The Fifteen Commitments of Conscious Leadership – Chapman, Dethmer and Klemp, self-published. Link is to the Conscious Leadership Group - also available from various resellers.

Leading Without Authority – Keith Ferrazi with Noel Weyrich, Penguin Random House, 2020

Co-Active Leadership: Five Ways to Lead - Karen and Henry Kimsey-House, Berret-Kooehler Publishers, 2015.

The Heart of Coaching: Using Transformational Coaching to Create a High-Performance Coaching Culture – Thomas G. Crane, FTA Press.

Connecting Across Differences: Finding Common Ground with Anyone Anywhere, Anytime – Jane Marantz Connor, PhD and Dian Killian, PhD, 2nd edition, PuddleDancer Press.

Crucial Conversations - Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, McGraw-Hill, 2012.

Conversations for Action and Collected Essays - Fernando Flores, 2012.

Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work & in Life, One Conversation at a Time – Susan Scott. New American Library, 2017 edition.

Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge - Karin Knorr Cetina, Harvard University Press, 1999.'

If I Understood You, Would I have this Look on my Face? My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating – Alan Alda, PenguinRandomHouse.

Listen Like You Mean It: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection – Ximena Vengoechea, Portfolio/Penguin, 2021

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life – Marshall Rosenberg, PhD, 3rd edition. Many versions of this book are available, including free PDFs.

School Culture Rewired: How to Define, Assess, and Transform It – Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker, Associations for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2015

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups - Dan Coyle, Bantam Books, 2018

Alphabetical by Title

Begin With Trust - Frances X. Frei and Anne Morris, Harvard Business Review, May-June 2020.

Collaboration and Team Science: From Theory to Practice - L. Michelle Bennett and Howard Gadlin, J Investig Med. 2012 Jun;60(5):768–775. doi: 10.231/JIM.0b013e318250871d

Empathetic Leadership: Understanding the Human Domain – Chaplain (Maj.) John McDougall, U.S. Army, Military Review, Nov-Dec 2019.

Empathy is an Essential Leadership Skill – And There’s Nothing Soft About It – Prudie Gourguechon, Forbes, Dec. 26, 2017.

Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership – James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

How To Embrace Vulnerability As Your Greatest Strength – Tony Fahry, writing on Medium

The Influence of Affirming Kindness and Community on Broadening Participation in STEM Career Pathways – Mica Estrada, Alegra Eroy-Reveles, and John Matsui; Social Issues and Policy Review, Volume 12, 2019, pp 258-297.

Leaders, Teams, and Their Mental Models – Jensine Paoletti, Denise L. Reyes, and Eduardo Salas for Doerr Institute, in Leader Thinking Skills: Capacities for Contemporary Leadership, Michael D. Momford and Cory A. Higgs, eds., Routledge, 2019.

The Practice of Story Stewardship – Brene Brown, adapted from her book Atlas of the Heart, Random House, 2021

The Three Elements of Trust - Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, Harvard Business Review, February 5, 2019.

What is Collaboration Good For? Raul Pacheco-Vega, et al. in Nature and Dynamics of Collaboration, Edited by Paul FMJ Verschure, MIT Press, 2025

Alphabetical by title

Great Leadership Comes Down to Only Two Rules - Peter Anderton, TEDx Derby, July 25, 2016 (audio only with transcript) - a must!

Locating Yourself, Above or Below the Line - Conscious Leadership Group

Real Talk: Black Women on Pressure, Fatigue and New Opportunities - Ellen Bailey in Harvard Business Review

The 4 levels of listening – Otto Scharmer from the MIT edX course u.lab