120+ Literary Works Impact Leaders Couldn’t Stop Reading In 2022
2022 has been a memorable year for the Australian social enterprise movement. With the Social ENterprise WOrld Forum being hosted in Meanjin, Brisbane, thousands of changemakers from around the world gathered physically and digitally to share their unique knowledge. However, many of these individuals still turn the pages of a book to gain insights and fuel social impact.
On the Impact Boom podcast, over 70 impact-led entrepreneurs, activists and philanthropists shared which invaluable books continue to live on their shelves. These books crossed both fiction and non-fiction, providing self-help, crucial business advice, or just an escape from a tough week. Regardless, our guests believe these books are essential reading, and this article provides a comprehensive list of novels to consider.
Here are the most inspiring books, recommended by world-leading global change makers throughout 2022 on our social impact podcast series.
“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
- Charles W. Eliot
one
Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
two
Cult Status: How To Build A Business People Adore by Tim Duggan
Three
Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success by Carol S. Dweck
four
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
Seven
Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins
Nine
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
Ten
Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta
Eleven
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
Twelve
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
Fourteen
The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
Fifteen
Country: Future Fire, Future Farming by Bill Gammage and Bruce Pascoe
Sixteen
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
Seventeen
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
Eighteen
Investing To Save The Planet by Alice Ross
Nineteen
Solve Problems That Matter: Design Build & Launch Your Social Enterprise Idea by Ben Pecotich
Twenty
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business BY Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
21. Buy the Change You Want to See: Use Your Purchasing Power to Make the World a Better Place by Jane Mosbacher Morris and Wendy Paris
22. Design. Think. Make. Break. Repeat. by Martin Tomitsch
23. Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works by Ash Maurya
24. Strategic Doing: Ten Skills for Agile Leadership by Edward Morrison, Scott Hutcheson, Elizabeth Nilson, Janyce Fadden and Nancy Franklin
25. Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth
26. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken
27. The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty by Peter Singer
28. Reverse Innovation: Create Far From Home, Win Everywhere by Vijay Govindarajan
29. The Only Woman by Immy Humes
30. The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris
31. The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
32. The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change by Beth Kanter
33. Uno’s Garden by Graeme Base
34. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
35. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
36. Social Impact Investing: An Australian Perspective by Stewart Jones, Helena de Anstiss and Carmen Garcia
37. A World of Three Zeros: The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions by Professor Muhammad Yunus
38. Pick Three: You Can Have It All (Just Not Everyday) by Randi Zuckerberg
39. Breath: The New Science Of A Lost Art by James Nestor
40. The Lightless Sky: A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World by Gulwali Passarlay
41. The War on Women by Sue Lloyd-Roberts
42. Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality by Scott Belsky
43. The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling by Stephen Cope
44. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
45. From Generosity to Justice: A New Gospel of Wealth by Darren Walker
46. Outliers: The Story Of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
47. Impact Networks: : Create Connection, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Systemic Change by David Ehrlichman
48. Power: A User's Guide by Julie Diamond
49. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak
50. The Redshirt by Corey Sobel
51. Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
52. Principles For Dealing With The Changing World Order by Ray Dalio
53. Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam M. Grant
54. Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good by Ann Mei Chang
55. The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything by Stephen Covey
56. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins
57. Dollars&Sense by Jason Kimberley
58. The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr
59. Do Purpose: Why Brands With A Purpose Do Better And Matter More by David Hieatt
60. Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us by Seth Godin
61. The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly? by Seth Godin
62. Let's Talk Culture: The Conversations You Need To Create The Team You Want by Shane Michael Hatton
63. Why Millions are Leaving Their Jobs and Who Will Win the Battle for Talent by Russ Hill
64. The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia by Bill Gammage
65. Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
66. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
67. The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan by Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey R. Solomon
68. The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
69. The Overstory by Richard Powers
70. Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferris
71. One Red Paperclip: Or How an Ordinary Man Achieved His Dream with the Help of a Simple Office Supply by Kyle MacDonald
72. All In Startup: Launching a New Idea When Everything Is on the Line by Diana Kander
73. The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
74. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
75. Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel
76. Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity by Douglas Rushkoff
77. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
78. Killer Thinking: How to Turn Good Ideas into Brilliant Ones by Tim Duggan
79. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety by Sarah Wilson
80. Purposeful: Are You a Manager or a Movement Starter? by Jennifer Dulski
81. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey
82. The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki
83. The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
84. Reality-Based Leadership: Ditch the Drama, Add Sanity to the Workplace, and Turn Excuses into Results by Cy Wakeman
85. The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz
86. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant
87. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown
88. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
89. Alice’s Adventure In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
90. Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
91. Small Steps Are Perfect: Simple Ways to Find Comfort & Joy by Catherine Greer
92. Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
93. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
94. Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz
95. The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do
96. Move Over Brokers Here Comes The Blockchain by Keir Finlow-Bates
97. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
98. Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change by Professor Dieter Helm
99. Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs by Muhammad Yunus
100. The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
101. The Great Game Of Business by Jack Stack
102. Effective Altruism: An Introduction by 80,000 Hours
103. Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris
104. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling & Anna Rosling Rönnlund
105. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Professor Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
106. Reinventing Organisations by Frederic Laloux
107. Play Matters by Miguel Sicart
108. The Second Curve: Thoughts on Reinventing Society by Charles Handy
109. The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World by John Elkington & Pamela Hartigan
110. Social Value Investing by Howard W. Buffett
111. Activate Brand Purpose: How to Harness the Power of Movements to Transform Your Company by Scott Goodson & Chip Walker
112. Cascades: How to Create a Movement That Drives Transformational Change by Greg Satell
113. The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
114. Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition That Is Shaping the Next Economy by Nathan Schneider
115. The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy by Mariana Mazzucatu
116. The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
117. Title Fight: How the Yindjibarndi Battled and Defeated a Mining Giant by Paul Cleary
118. No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
119. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau
120. Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health by Thomas Insel
121. Self and Soul: A Defense of Ideals by Mark Edmundson
