8 authors recommend books that will help you lead in 2026 |
Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
The authors of the most powerful memoirs, self-help books, and leadership bibles combine deep research and self-reflection—in the same way today’s executives need to blend data insights with emotional intelligence. As we look ahead to 2026, I asked eight authors of recent business and business-adjacent books to share their recommendations for books (not their own) that will help you lead in the year to come.
Here are their picks, in their own words:
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Hands down the book I am gifting to everyone this year is The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. The protagonist, Sybil Van Antwerp, is witty, sharp, and just like us—she has lived a life of triumphs, love, tragedies, and regrets. The book is a series of letters that she writes to family, friends, politicians, and strangers. She reminds us that, in the art of letter writing, there is no gray, just black and white, and that is where the most beautiful and honest stories unfold. I devoured the book and hope everyone reads it. They will be utterly delighted they did.
This book will help business leaders think clearly about the power of storytelling. When we look at consumer behavior and how [people] are choosing more long-form content, this book gave me perspective. [How will] letter writing in the age of AI matter? How can we go back to thinking about what connects us as audiences? It’s about the power of building a relationship directly: the one-to-one (versus the spray-and-pray approach). Building trust with your audience is not about influence. It’s about connecting over a story that moves us.
Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis by Graham Allison
In........