15 Books Every First-Time Manager Should Read

What's social media good for? That might be a hotly debated topic at the moment, but one thing's for sure -- your online friends and followers are certainly a great place to turn if you need book recommendations. (Via Inc.)

Just ask former Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson. He recently asked on Twitter: "What book would you recommend most for new, first-time managers?" and his nearly 16,000 followers poured out excellent suggestions for those just finding their feet as first-time leaders. 

Dickerson filtered out the jokes (chuckles to the wit who suggested Lord of the Flies) and posted the results on his blog. The list is dozens of titles long. If you don't have quite enough time for that, here's a distillation of some of the most often recommended books that will get you up to speed as a new leader fast:

1. High Output Management: Dickerson declares himself to be a "huge fan of this book, wish I had read it long before I did."
   
   
2. The Essential Drucker: He's equally enthusiastic about this one, saying "absolutely love Drucker -- much of what he wrote 50 years ago is more relevant than anything you read today."
   
   
3. Creativity, Inc.: "Great book from Pixar founder Ed Catmull" is Dickerson's succinct description.
   
   
4. The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter:  "Eric Hellweg over at HBR said on Twitter this is one of their all-time best sellers," Dickerson points out.
   
   
5. Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: There were "lots of recs for this book," Dickerson notes.
   
   
6. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High: The TL;DR from product designer Mike Williams: "That confrontation you are dreading? It needed to happen a week ago and you'll both be better off for it."
   
   
7. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone: "From Brené Brown, an exploration of what true belonging means," explains Dickerson.
   
   
8. Thinking, Fast and Slow: "It's one of the best distillations of how people think and reason from a true leader in the field," said Courtney Nash.
   
   
9. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: "Carol Dweck's well-regarded work on growth vs. fixed mindset" is Dickerson's summary of this title.
   
   
10. A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster: "Not a management book per se, but gets you thinking about how people find their best selves," says Akiva Leffert.
    
    
11. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us: This book offers the "surprising truth about what motivates us," according to entrepreneur Matt Fiedler. "Knowing that and what those drivers are is a big part of management."
    
    
12. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions: "A good book to promote curiosity," according to designer and entrepreneur Missy Kelley.
    
    
13. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In: This one "has been handy for negotiating with reports," claims Lucas Gonze.
    
    
14. How Will You Measure Your Life?: This one "taught me people were different and how to focus on their needs as a leader," notes entrepreneur Al Doan.
    
    
15. The Prince: An offbeat pick from top VC Fred Wilson.

Happy reading!