Recommended reading: Everyday leadership and inspiring innovation

No Bullsh*t Leadership: Why the world needs more everyday leaders and why that leader is you

By Chris Hirst

Chris Hirst, who by day is CEO of Havas Creative, wants to democratise leadership by illustrating that it isn’t a special club just for those with fancy titles and expensive degrees. He offers a step-by-step guide on how to lead, with simple and direct approaches that will get the best from people. He promises to arm leaders with an understanding of the importance of culture, how to confidently make decisions and create teams that outperform the competition.

Building an Inclusive Organisation: Leveraging the power of a diverse workforce

By Stephen Frost and Raafi Alidina

Diverse teams are proven to perform better, so with that in mind this book offers practical steps to help organisations change behaviour and embrace diversity. It is written by global diversity and inclusion experts Stephen Frost and Raafi Alidina, who have worked with the BBC, Microsoft, KPMG and Harvard University, among others, to introduce more inclusive practices, and offers real-life case studies from KPMG, Uber and the NHS.

Forces for Good

By Paul Hargreaves

This book offers practical advice for aspiring purpose-driven businesses with insights from companies that strive to be ethical, including premium ready meal brand Cook, Timpsons and author Paul Hargreaves’ own company Cotswold Fayre. Forces for Good is split into six sections, including ‘changing the world’ to understand the nature of purpose-driven businesses, and ‘learning to run a business’ which teaches readers how to be a good employer and find the right people. There are also sections on creating work/life balance across the workforce, how to become community-orientated and what ethical capitalism means.

Inspiring Innovation

By Giles Lury

Brand consultant Giles Lury outlines 75 examples of extraordinary innovation that led to companies developing some of the most successful products and brands. It includes stories from brands as diverse as Fanta, Netflix, Viagra and Victoria’s Secret to illustrate there is no one-size-fits-all approach to innovation and that ideas can be sparked by anything and everything. As well as providing case studies of success stories, the book offers tips and techniques to help companies make their next move.