This page offers one key book or article for each leadership behaviour. These are not the only sources, but they represent the most direct and accessible next step if you wish to explore a particular idea in greater depth. Each title has been chosen for its clarity, practical value, and close alignment with the behaviour it supports. The references are grouped under the five leadership domains of Strategy, Culture, Leadership, Teams and Yourself, so you can move quickly to the area you wish to explore.

Strategy (S1-S15)

S1. Explain the Why

• Start With Why – Simon Sinek (2009).
  This book strengthens the behaviour by showing how purpose-led explanations inspire alignment, helping you communicate decisions in ways that build clarity and shared commitment. Buy the book.
  

S2. Tell the Story

• What Is Public Narrative? – Marshall Ganz (2016).
  This text deepens your understanding of the behaviour by illustrating how structured storytelling motivates collective action, helping you frame narratives that move people towards a shared purpose. Open the article.
  

S3. Seek the Brutal Facts

• Good to Great – Jim Collins (2001).
  This book strengthens your practice by showing how confronting reality enables better decision-making, helping you lead with honesty, optimism and clarity. Buy the book.
  

S4. Uphold Values

• The Advantage – Patrick Lencioni (2012).
  This text supports the behaviour by demonstrating how values shape healthy organisational culture, helping you use them as a filter for decisions and expectations. Buy the book.
  

S5. Establish Collective Goals

• Measure What Matters – John Doerr (2018).
  This book helps you put the behaviour into action by showing how clear goals and measurable key results create focus, alignment and disciplined improvement. Buy the book.
  

S6. Focus on the Main Thing

• Good to Great – Jim Collins (2001).
  This text deepens your understanding by exploring how clarity of purpose enables organisations to prioritise what matters most and ignore distractions. Buy the book.
  

S7. Communicate Often

• The Advantage – Patrick Lencioni (2012).
  This book reinforces your practice by showing how frequent, consistent messaging builds trust, alignment and shared purpose across a team. Buy the book.
  

S8. Find the Lead Measures

• The 4 Disciplines of Execution – Chris McChesney et al. (2012).
  This text strengthens your behaviour by clarifying how predictive actions drive outcomes, helping you identify where your effort will make the most significant difference. Buy the book.
  

S9. Leverage Marginal Gains

• Dave Brailsford’s case studies on British Cycling.
  These examples deepen the behaviour by showing how small, disciplined improvements compound into transformational results.
  

S10. Sustain Change

• Leading Change – John Kotter (1996).
  This book helps you apply the behaviour by breaking down the steps required to embed change so it lasts, offering a clear structure for leading improvement. Buy the book.
  

S11. Break Through Limits

• Great by Choice – Jim Collins & Morten Hansen (2011).
  This text strengthens your practice by illustrating how bold thinking, disciplined experimentation and resilience enable leaders to achieve 10X results. Buy the book.
  

S12. Lead for Lasting Excellence

• Good to Great – Jim Collins (2001).
  Describes the Flywheel Effect – momentum from consistent, reinforcing actions. Buy the book.
  

S13. Aspire to Greatness

• Built to Last – Jim Collins & Jerry Porras (1994).
  This book deepens the behaviour by showing how consistent, reinforcing actions generate long-term momentum and cultural change. Buy the book.
  

S14. Anticipate Unintended Consequences

• Thinking in Systems – Donella Meadows (2008).
  This book helps you practise the behaviour by revealing how decisions ripple through a system, equipping you to predict impact and act with foresight. Buy the book.
  

S15. Plan with a Premortem

• Sources of Power– Gary Klein (1998).
  This text strengthens the behaviour by demonstrating how anticipating failure in advance leads to better planning, sharper insight and reduced risk. Buy the book.
  

Culture (C1-C8)

C1. Hold High Standards

• Leverage Leadership 2.0 by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (2016).
  This book supports the behaviour by showing how precise expectations and follow-up drive consistency, improvement and professional trust. Buy the book.

C2. Set High Floor, No Ceiling

• The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle (2009).
  This text deepens your practice by demonstrating how stretch, high expectations and focused coaching unlock potential across a school. Buy the book.
  

C3. Establish Routines

• Teach Like a Champion 3.0 – Doug Lemov (2021).
  This text reinforces the behaviour by illustrating how disciplined, reliable action outperforms sporadic bursts of intensity. Buy the book.
  

C4. Maintain Consistency

• Great by Choice – Jim Collins & Morten Hansen (2011).
  The “20 Mile March” concept: consistent discipline outperforms bursts of intensity. Buy the book.
  

C5. Celebrate Successes

• The Power of Moments – Chip & Dan Heath (2017).
  Explains how recognition and designed moments build culture and motivation. Buy the book.
  

C6. Seek Inspiration

• Leading in a Culture of Change – Michael Fullan (2001).
  This book enriches your practice by showing how leaders draw insight from diverse sources and use that inspiration to drive purposeful change. Buy the book.
  

C7. Engage Parents

• The Four Pillars of Parental Engagement – Robbins, J. and Dempster, K., (2021).
• This book strengthens the behaviour by demonstrating how meaningful partnership with parents supports student outcomes and strengthens trust. Buy the book.
  

C8. Create Moments

• The Power of Moments – Chip & Dan Heath (2017).
  This text deepens your practice by illustrating how thoughtfully designed experiences elevate culture and create lasting memories. Buy the book.
  

Leadership (L1-L12)

L1. Lead by Example

• Leaders Eat Last – Simon Sinek (2014).
  This book reinforces the behaviour by showing how modelling actions and values shape culture more powerfully than instruction. Buy the book.
  

L2. Be Positive

• The Progress Principle – Teresa Amabile & Steven Kramer (2011).
  This text strengthens your practice by explaining how celebrating small wins fuels motivation, resilience and team culture. Buy the book.
  

L3. Get the Steps In

• In Search Of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies – Tom Peters and Robert Waterman Jr (1982).
  This book deepens your understanding by showing how visible leadership presence builds connection, insight and shared purpose. Buy the book.
  

L4. Make it Happen

• Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done – Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan (2002).
  This text helps you apply the behaviour by showing how clarity, ownership and disciplined follow-through lead to consistent delivery. Buy the book.
  

L5. Stack the Chairs

• Leaders Eat Last – Simon Sinek (2014).
  This book reinforces your practice by emphasising how small, visible acts of service strengthen trust and model expectations. Buy the book.
  

L6. Leaders Eat Last

• Leaders Eat Last – Simon Sinek (2014).
  This text strengthens the behaviour by exploring how leaders who put others first create safety, loyalty and collective performance. Buy the book.
  

L7. Co-Create What Matters

• The Wisdom of Crowds – James Surowiecki (2004).
  This book deepens the behaviour by showing how collective intelligence leads to better decisions and greater buy-in. Buy the book.
  

L8. Don’t Drop the Ball

• The Speed of Trust – Stephen M.R. Covey (2006).
  This text supports the behaviour by illustrating how reliability and follow-through build credibility and strengthen relationships. Buy the book.
  

L9. Use the Checklist

• The Checklist Manifesto – Atul Gawande (2009).
  This book helps you apply the behaviour by demonstrating how structured tools reduce error and increase consistency in complex environments. Buy the book.
  

L10. Pass the Baton

• Turn the Ship Around! – L. David Marquet (2012).
  This text strengthens your practice by showing how distributing responsibility grows confidence, clarity and ownership across a team. Buy the book.
  

L11. Learn to Bend

• Adaptive Leadership – Ronald Heifetz (2009).
  This book deepens the behaviour by explaining when to hold firm, when to adapt and how to navigate complexity with flexibility. Buy the book.
  

L12. Control the Controllables

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey (1989).
  This text supports the behaviour by helping you focus energy on what you can influence, improving clarity, calm and effectiveness. Buy the book.
  

Teams (T1-T10)

T1. Know Your Team

• First, Break All the Rules – Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman (1999).
  This book deepens the behaviour by showing how knowing strengths and motivations enables better deployment and stronger relationships. Buy the book.
  

T2. Ask First

• Coaching for Performance – John Whitmore (1992).
  This text strengthens your practice by offering a clear structure for using questions to build ownership, confidence and clarity. Buy the book.
  

T3. Get the Right People on the Bus

• Good to Great – Jim Collins (2001).
  This book supports the behaviour by explaining how selecting the right people and roles creates the foundation for exceptional performance. Buy the book.
  

T4. Create a Team

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni (2002).
  This text deepens the behaviour by exploring how trust, norms and shared purpose turn groups into effective teams. Buy the book.
  

T5. Mastering Conflict

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni (2002).
  This book strengthens your practice by showing how healthy conflict enables creativity, clarity and commitment. Buy the book.
  

T6. Be Wonderful to Work With

• Radical Candour – Kim Scott (2017).
  This text supports the behaviour by demonstrating how combining care and challenge builds strong, productive relationships. Buy the book.
  

T7. Hold Meetings for Impact

• Death by Meeting – Patrick Lencioni (2004).
  This book helps you apply the behaviour by showing how structured, purposeful meetings drive clarity, alignment and momentum. Buy the book.
  

T8. Create Actions

• Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done – Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan (2002).
  This text strengthens the behaviour by explaining how to turn conversations into clear, owned next steps that move work forward. Buy the book.
  

T9. Go Back and Check

• The Speed of Trust – Stephen M.R. Covey (2006).
  This book deepens your practice by showing how follow-up builds credibility and strengthens accountability. Buy the book.
  

T10. Embrace Accountability

• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni (2002).
  This text supports the behaviour by illustrating how shared accountability strengthens commitment, quality and team cohesion. Buy the book.
  

Yourself (Y1-Y9)

Y1. Protect Your Sleep

• Why We Sleep – Matthew Walker (2017).
  This book deepens the behaviour by explaining the science behind sleep and its essential role in leadership clarity, decision-making and emotional regulation. Buy the book.
  

Y2. Give Yourself Permission

• Essentialism – Greg McKeown (2014).
  This text strengthens your practice by showing how saying no protects time, focus and well-being, helping you prioritise what matters most. Buy the book.
  

Y3. Manage Emotions

• Emotional Agility – Susan David (2016).
  This book supports the behaviour by offering strategies for recognising, naming and navigating emotions with clarity and composure. Buy the book.
  

Y4. Humility

• Good to Great – Jim Collins (2001).
  This text deepens your understanding by illustrating how humility, when paired with resolve, creates exceptional, values-driven leadership. Buy the book.
  

Y5. Organise for Clarity

• Getting Things Done – David Allen (2001).
  This book helps you apply the behaviour by providing clear tools for structuring work, reducing overwhelm and improving focus. Buy the book.
  

Y6. Prioritise What Matters

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey (1989).
  This text strengthens the behaviour by showing how to focus on high-value work, reduce distraction and invest in long-term impact. Buy the book.
  

Y7. Think Long, Act Daily

• The 12 Week Year – Brian Moran & Michael Lennington (2013).
  This book supports the behaviour by demonstrating how long-term goals can be translated into disciplined daily action. Buy the book.
  

Y8. Sharpen Your Tools

• Mindset – Carol Dweck (2006).
  This text deepens your practice by exploring how a growth mindset fuels continuous learning and professional improvement. Buy the book.
  

Y9. Build Habits That Last

• Atomic Habits – James Clear (2018).
  This book strengthens your practice by showing how small, intentional actions compound over time and create lasting behavioural change. Buy the book.
• Immunity to Change – Robert Kegan & Lisa Lahey (2009).
  This book deepens your understanding by revealing the hidden internal barriers that often undermine habit formation and offering practical tools to overcome them. Buy the book.

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