The Top 10 Selling Leadership Books Of 2019

Many of you reading this site are going to be getting Amazon gift cards for Christmas.  I want to help you know how to best leverage those resources.

Frequent visitors to this site know my love for reading and my desire to promote quality authors and resources.  As a result, A LOT of books get purchased through this site.  A few learnings come from this year’s most-purchased list:

1. As much I enjoy sports, military, and business writings, the entire Top 10 consists of Christian leadership books.  Even the three books with a business focus have strong Christian messages in them and are clearly applicable to church environments.
2. Four of the Top 10 are repeats from 2018.  It is great to see these have an extended shelf-life and still continue to add value to people.

The following are The Top 10 Best-Selling Christian Leadership Books Of 2019 via this site as determined by you the readers:

1. Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A: How Faith, Cows, and Chicken Built an Iconic Brand by Steve Robinson. Simply put – THIS IS THE BEST BUSINESS BOOK I HAVE EVER READ!!!  During his thirty-four-year tenure at Chick-fil-A, Steve was integrally involved in the company’s growth–from 184 stores and $100 million in annual sales in 1981 to over 2,100 stores and over $6.8 billion in annual sales in 2015–and was a first-hand witness to its evolution as an indelible global brand. In Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A, Robinson shares behind-the-scenes accounts of key moments, including the creation of the Chick-fil-A corporate purpose and the formation and management of the now-iconic “Eat Mor Chikin” cow campaign.  Drawing on his personal interactions with the gifted team of company leaders, restaurant operators, and the company’s founder, Truett Cathy, Robinson explains the important traits that built the company’s culture and sustained it through recession and many other challenges. He also reveals how every aspect of the company’s approach reflects an unwavering dedication to Christian values and to the individual customer experience.
2. Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the Seven Greatest Challenges That No One Expects and Everyone Experiences by Carey Nieuwhof.  Carey has written a masterpiece and it is the second-most purchased book on my site this year!  As Founding Pastor of one of North America’s most influential churches, he wants to help you avoid and overcome life’s seven hardest and most crippling challenges: cynicism, compromise, disconnectedness, irrelevance, pride, burnout, and emptiness. These are challenges that few of us expect but that we all experience at some point. If you have yet to confront these obstacles, Carey provides clear tools and guidelines for anticipation and avoidance.
3. The Original Storyteller: Become a Better Storyteller in 30 Days by Robert Carnes.  Robert is one of the key players for Orange Leaders, so he knows what he is talking about.  What makes stories so powerful? Why are they so universal?  How is a good story able to penetrate the distractions of a busy world?  What causes a story to activate the minds of people anywhere?   The Original Storyteller seeks to answer those questions through the lens of God’s stories.  He is the first and best storyteller.   His stories reveal the essence of all great stories.  Take the 30-day journey towards becoming a better storyteller.
4. Church Growth Flywheel: 5 Practical Systems to Drive Growth at Your Church by Rich Birch.  Are you ready to see your church impact more people than you have ever before? Are you tired of church leadership books that are long on theory but short on practical help? Have you wanted to reach more people in your community but you weren’t sure where to start? Are you worried that your church isn’t reaching its full potential? Rich has pulled together his own hard-fought experience leading within one of the fastest growing churches in the country as well as over 200 interviews with church leaders from prevailing churches to help you know how.
5. Know What You’re FOR: A Growth Strategy for Work, An Even Better Strategy for Life by Jeff Henderson.  Working with companies like Chick-fil-A and the Atlanta Braves, then serving as a pastor for 15 years at one of the country’s largest and most influential churches, North Point, Jeff knows what success looks like for healthy organizations and healthy lives.  With fascinating stories from a host of entrepreneurs and Jeff’s remarkable career, Know What You’re FOR equips you with a simple strategy and the tools for extraordinary growth.  You can learn more about this great book by clicking  25 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Jeff Henderson’s Book Know What You’re FOR.
6. Lead Like A Shepherd: The Secret To Leading Well by Larry Osborne.  I think this is appropriate because the next great movement in leadership is becoming a shepherd rather than an entrepreneur or CEO.  Some instruction is timeless. Regardless of the age in which we live, certain instruction carries no expiration on its relevance. Pastor, author, and leadership consultant, Larry Osborne has discovered this to be the case with instruction on how to be a good leader. The best, most practical advice comes from the Bible, and in particular, 1 Peter 5:1-4. It’s in this short passage where leaders are exhorted to shepherd the flock among them.
7. Teams That Thrive: Five Disciplines of Collaborative Church Leadership by Warren Bird.  This books is a 2015 Readers’ Choice Award Winner which is still having a significant impact.  Researchers and practitioners Ryan Hartwig and Warren Bird have discovered churches of various sizes and traditions throughout the United States who have learned to thrive under healthy team leadership.  Using actual church examples, they present their discoveries here, culminating in five disciplines that, if implemented, can enable your team to thrive.
8. The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It by Kyle Strobel and Jamin Goggin.  Pastor Jamin Goggin and theology professor Kyle Strobel invite readers on a journey to uncover Jesus’ seemingly contradictory way to power: weakness.  Why do so many rock-star pastors implode under the spotlight? Why do modern-day churches become so entangled in growing their brand that they lose sight of their true purpose? Because, according to Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel, Christians have succumbed to the temptations of power and forgotten Jesus’ seemingly contradictory path to power—first giving it up.  This may be the most important book I read all summer.
9. Developing The Leader Within You 2.0 by John Maxwell. 25 years ago, John Maxwell published the book that forever transformed how we think about leadership. Developing the Leader Within You revolutionized the way leaders are made and in the process sold more than one million copies.  Now he returns to his classic text to include the leadership insights and practices he’s learned in the decades since the book first appeared.  Thoroughly revised and with two completely new chapters, this new edition updates the foundational principles for transformative leadership that Maxwell has used as a leader for more than 40 years.
10. Hero Maker: Five Essential Practices for Leaders to Multiply Leaders by Dave Ferguson.  Everybody wants to be a hero, but few understand the power of being a hero maker.  In Hero Makeryou will learn how to bring real change to your church and community by developing the practical skills to help others reach their leadership potential.  Drawing on five powerful practices found in the ministry of Jesus, Hero Makerpresents the key steps of apprenticeship that will build up other leaders and provides strategies for how you can activate gifts, help others take ownership, and develop a simple scorecard for measuring your kingdom-building progress.

I look forward to continuing to point you to quality resources in 2020.

If you have not purchased my book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices Of Apex Leaders it is available for purchase as well.  If you have ever wanted to become the leader God created you to be, this book is for you!  By combining leadership lessons from biblical heroes like Jesus, Daniel and Joseph, along with modern day leaders like Bill Gates, Nick Saban, Kobe Bryant and multiple pastors, Timeless will equip and inspire you.  This book is not to be read alone.  Discussion questions are included in each chapter allowing you to develop those in your circle of influence.  Click HERE or on the image provided and order your copies TODAY.