10 Books Every Leader Should Read on Building Winning Cultures in High-Pressure Environments

Several years back I began a deep-dive into the leadership lessons you can learn from European soccer.  The level of intensity, pressure, expectations, elite talent, and how entire communities lived and died with the success of their clubs attracted me.  I wanted to know what it is like to lead in those type of environments.

I cannot begin to tell you how this study has improved my leadership.  As Chris Brady wrote in Carlo Ancelotti: Quiet Leadership: Winning Hearts, Minds and Matches, “The parallels with business are very clear.  Every week a sporting manager is subjected to the same scrutiny that a CEO receives with quarterly statements.  As an English Premier League chairman once stated, ‘Every week 40,000 stakeholders turn up and tell me how they think I’m running the business.’  Everything in sport is compressed into the span of a single season, whereas the life cycle in business, before results can be validated, is likely to be around ten quarters or thirty months.”

The following are the best books I have found which helped learn how to build winning cultures in high-pressure environments.  I think they will help you as well, whether you are a soccer fan or not.

The following are my Top 10 leadership books on soccer:

1. Believe Us: The Inside Story of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool by Melissa Reddy.  One of the best books on building a winning culture you will ever read.  My personal favorite on this list.
2. At the End of the Storm: Stories from Liverpool’s Historic Title Win by James Pearce, Oliver Kay, and Simon Hughes.  Another great book detailing Jurgen Klopp’s culture building practices.
3. Revolution: The Rise of Arteta’s Arsenal by Charles Watts.  Outstanding!  An excellent book on how to instill a winning culture at an organization.  
4. Carlo Ancelotti: Quiet Leadership: Winning Hearts, Minds and Matches by Carlo Ancelotti.  The book I am currently reading.  Ancelotti just won the recent Champions League trophy.  I can’t wait to learn from him.
5. Pep’s City: The Making of a Superteam by Lu Martin and Pol Balls.  A great breakdown of the team which won the 2023 Treble.
6. Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World by Graham Hunter.  The perfect book for studying elite performers like Lionel Messi.
7. The Barcelona Complex: Lionel Messi and the Making–and Unmaking–of the World’s Greatest Soccer Club by Simon Kuper.  This is the definitive account of Messi, Guardiola, and arguably the greatest club of all-time. 
8. Even the Defeats: How Sir Alex Ferguson Drew Inspiration from Manchester United’s Losses to Mastermind Some of Their Greatest Triumphs by John Silk.  This book will help you to know how to deal with failure and turn it into something positive.
9. Masters of Modern Soccer: How the World’s Best Play the Twenty-First-Century Game by Grant Wahl.  For anyone interested in innovation, this book by the late Sports Illustrated author is a must-have.
10. Transformer: Klopp, the Revolution of a Club and Culture by Neil Atkinson – I want to get this book on everyone’s radar.  Releasing on December 3rd, this looks to be the definitive work on the Jurgen Klopp era in Liverpool.  I can’t wait to read this!  Perfect Christmas gift!
11. ***Special Request*** Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress by Brian Dodd – Yes, this is my latest book and I hope you purchase several copies if you haven’t already.  Production. Passion. Resilience. Teamwork. Contentment. Courage. Faith.  In my new book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress, I show you how applying these skills can help you become Mighty and move from the Pandemic to Progress.

To assist you in preparing for the NFL season read 15 Football Books Every Leader (Whether A Fan Or Not) Should Read.

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