A photo of a book by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash

Essential List of Books for Catholic Leaders to Read

Here is a list of what I consider to be essential reading for Catholic leaders. This is my shortlist of go-to books that I’ve assembled over the years. Since my work is tailored for Catholic business leaders I have created sections that we address in the Attollo program; Personal Development, Professional Mastery, and Spiritual Maturity. Leaders however are not just business owners, CEOs, presidents, and executive directors of non-profits. Everyone can and should be a leader in their own area of influence; at home, at your parish, and in the community. Regardless of your role as a leader, I think many of these books you will find applicable. What’s important is that you apply the principles that work for you that are found with the covers of these books. 

If you are interested in buying these physical books I will have links to Good News Book Shop if they carry the book. Good News is a Catholic Apostolate that curates and sells books for all ages. They carry many books that have been canceled by our current culture. Support them when you can! 

Spiritual Maturity

Catholic business leaders are readers!

The Vocation of the Business Leader

Commissioned in 2012 by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the president Cardinal Turkson, this document was created to be a handbook for Catholic business leaders by helping them form their day-to-day business decisions.

Cover of the book Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church for Catholic Business leaders

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

Published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, this book was created to serve as a tool to inspire and guide the faithful, who are faced with moral and pastoral challenges daily. All chapters are important to read but read the chapters that address Human Work Economics first! 

Read online here.

Cover of the book - The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America

The Decline & Fall of the Catrholic Church in America

In this groundbreaking book, author David Carlin investigates the roots of the crisis of identity of the Catholic Church in America. They are not theological, he says; they’re cultural. Forty years ago the Church in America unwittingly sailed into a perfect storm spawned by the unprecedented confluence of three powerful social forces. Discover the real cause of the disintegration of the Catholic Church in America.

Cover of the book "From Christendom to Apostolic Mission

From Christendom to Apostolic Mission

From Christendom to Apostolic Mission helps us understand that we are living in a new cultural situation. We are living in a post-Christendom culture, an increasingly aggressively anti-Christian culture that demands that we adopt a new mindset, a new way to counteract the influence of culture to help people know, love, and follow Jesus and his Gospel. 

Book cover of Strangers in a Strange Land by Archbishop Charles Chaput

Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World

A vivid critique of American life today and a guide to how Christians—and particularly Catholics–can live their faith vigorously, and even with hope, in a post-Christian public square. Archbishop Chaput gives more than a penetrating diagnosis of the nation’s problems. He offers a compelling reflection on the person of Jesus Christ, the nature of the Church, the urgency of radical faith, and the redemptive power of beauty – all in the spirit of Psalm 8 and the enduring words of Irenaeus: “The glory of God is man fully alive.”

Business Mastery

Book cover of The Five Most Important Questions Every Organization Shuld Ask Itself by Peter Drucker

The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization

Peter Drucker’s five essential questions and the help of five of today’s thought leaders, this little book will challenge readers to take a close look at the very heart of their organizations and what drives them. A tool for self-assessment and transformation, answering these five questions will fundamentally change the way you work, helping you lead your organization to an exceptional level of performance.

Book cover of the E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It

The short summary of this book is simply this – processes run your business, people run the processes. It’s the secret of every Fortune 1000 company!

Cover of book Maverick by Ricardo Semler

Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace

Ricardo Semler turned his family’s business, the aging Semco corporation of Brazil, into the most revolutionary business success story of our time. By eliminating unneeded layers of management and allowing employees unprecedented democracy in the workplace, he created a company that continues to blaze a path to success in uncertain times. 

Book cover of B-Corp Handbook

The B Corp - How to Use Business as a Force for Good

B Corps are a global movement of more than 3,300 companies in 70 countries that are using the power of business as a force for good. B Corps have been certified to have met rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Many of these company B-Corp standards align closely to those of Catholic Social Teaching.

Book cover of Conscious Business by Fred Kofman

Conscious Business: How to Build Value through Values

Consciousness is the main source of organizational greatness. Conscious business, explains Fred Kofman, means finding your passion and expressing your essential values through your work. A conscious business seeks to promote the intelligent pursuit of happiness in all its stakeholders. It produces sustainable, exceptional performance through the solidarity of its community and the dignity of each member.

Personal Development

Book cover of Passage Through Mid-Life by Paul Robb SJ

Passage Through Mid-Life - a Spiritual Journey to Wholeness

The passage through mid-life is often marked by hardships and challenges as well as breakthroughs that bring new life. This book encourages readers to look inward at their emotions and affective experiences during this passage. It reminds readers that mid-life is an invitation to change and to grow. After reading this book, I realized the principles that Fr. Robb explores can be applied to anyone who is navigating transition in their lives. 

Cover of the book Virtuous Leadership by Alexandre- Havard

Virtuous Leadership - An Agenda for Personal Excellence

Drawing on the lives of some of the greatest political, intellectual and religious leaders of modern times, and the author’s personal experience, Virtuous Leadership demonstrates that leadership and virtue are not only compatible, but they are also actually synonymous. He states that leadership IS character and character is formed through the practice of human virtues of magnanimity, humility, self-control, prudence, courage, and justice. 

Book cover of Temperament to Character by Alexandre Havard

From Temperament to Character - On Becoming a Virtuous Leader

Temperament and character together constitute our personality. Temperament is rooted in our biology and cannot change but by mastering the human virtues our character is developed. We are no longer slaves to our natural inclinations based on our temperament but when we achieve self-mastery we achieve true eedom.

Book cover of Strengths Based Leadership - Rath & Conchie

Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow

This book identifies three keys to being a more effective leader: knowing your strengths and investing in others’ strengths, getting people with the right strengths on your team, and understanding and meeting the four basic needs of those who look to you for leadership.

Book cover of Discernment of Spirits a Guide to Everyday Living by Timothy Gallagher OMV

The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

Fr. Timothy Gallagher, a talented teacher, retreat leader, and scholar, helps us understand the Rules for Discernment and how their insights are essential for our spiritual growth today. By integrating the Rules and the experience of contemporary people, he shows the precision, clarity, and insight of Ignatius’s Rules, as well as the relevance of his thought for spiritual life today. When we learn to read Ignatius correctly, we discover in his remarkable words our own struggles, joys, and triumphs

Book cover of Heroic Living by Chris Lowney

Heroic Living: Discover Your Purpose and Change the World

Author Chris Lowney combines the proven practices of Ignatian spirituality with his business expertise to help each of us discover our mighty purpose in life and develop a personal life strategy to achieve it. By merging Ignatian Spirituality with astute business knowledge, Lowney provides the tools and strategies needed to make practical, long-term life changes that move us away from our fractured, compartmentalized lives and toward the satisfaction and wholeness that each of us desires so deeply.

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