Were you to ask any great leader in the world for his or her secret to success, the answer would be simple: listening. That’s because the best leaders aren’t necessarily the best at speaking, in order to dictate, but rather listening, to understand.

Yes, being a leader requires a large drive to learn, which is why we’ve compiled a list of some of the best books on leadership. Check them out below:

Meetings Suck by Cameron Herold

Everyone hates useless meetings. You know . . . the ones where you’re sitting there not really knowing what to do or say, and feeling that whatever is being said could be consolidated into a single email. They’re tedious, frustrating and, quite frankly, a waste of time. And, as an entrepreneur or leader, you’ll likely find that Meetings Suck is the perfect introduction on how to bring your team together, starting from day one.

The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene

As a book lauded by the likes of celebrity entrepreneurs 50 Cent and Jessica Alba, Robert Greene’s book takes a look into the relationship between power and manipulation. While many consider this book a “pick-up artist” piece, Greene offers more, detailing the power dynamics and behaviors for people. Believe it or not, the book actually follows suit with how being nice can be a good thing (and also work to your advantage).

The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

The books’s primary focus is helping you maximize your work efficiency and productivity. The goal is to cut out the clutter and accordingly help you live a more stress-free, successful lifestyle.

The Art of the Pitch by Peter Coughter

Coughter walks you through the journey of not just how to write a good pitch or presentation, but also how to tell a captivating story in a concise way. And, as we can all talk for days about the changes we want to make in the world, The Art of the Pitch helps us carve out the meat and potatoes there, empowering us to express our core mission.

The 48 Laws of Power By Robert Greene

Greene’s book goes over a few different sets of laws dealing with power dynamics. These are incredibly useful for anyone striving to be mindful in formulating an approach to leadership.

The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen R Covey

Arguably one of the most popular self-help books ever, this book delivers the basic principles on how to become a more productive person. 

The Lean StartUp by Eric Ries

The Lean Startup offers advice gleaned from the career of serial entrepreneur Eric Ries. Ries develops a philosophy in the book on how we tend to look at our processes all wrong, leading most companies to failure. Instead, he puts his focus on what the business should represent as well as what people want.

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

Written by two former Navy Seals, this book takes the lessons they learned from their time in the service and applies them to business and life. The thesis of the book is to understand how leadership is structured, why it’s necessary for every scenario and how to build high-performance, winning teams. 

Source: Entrepreneur. Reproduced for educational purposes.