THIS MONTH'S PAGE-TURNERS ON BUSINESS AND BEYOND

In a year marked by economic uncertainty, global conflict, and a confluence of other disruptions, McKinsey on Books strived to provide business leaders and organizations with educational, actionable, and inspirational insights—with the help of leading authors and business strategists. Senior partners Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vik Malhotra shared the key to great leadership in the acclaimed bestseller, CEO Excellence; Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary taught us how to use anxiety to our advantage; and this month, Grubhub cofounder Mike Evans explained how he connects financial return with social impact. 

Take a look back at the year in books and catch up on new conversations from Author Talks, plus this month’s top bestselling business books, prepared exclusively for McKinsey by NPD BookScan. Itching for more? Visit McKinsey on Books for the latest, and to get Readers & Leaders in your inbox monthly, click here to subscribe.

IT BEARS REPEATING

“By the time I was halfway across the country, I thought, ‘Well, that was enough of that.’ I realized I was more interested in the relationships I developed with the other cyclists than in the journey. … It wasn’t my goal when I started the ride, but then that became the goal. There’s this thing that happened at Grubhub that also happened on the bike trip, which is the nature of the human journey: as we approach our goals and we change, our goals change—and it’s okay.”

—Mike Evans, cofounder of Grubhub and author of Hangry: A Startup Journey (Legacy Lit, November 2022), in a recent edition of Author Talks

A YEAR FOR THE BOOKS

March 15: CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest (Scribner) hits bookshelves

August 5: McKinsey releases its annual summer reading guide for 2022, with recommendations from CEOs, Nobel Prize winners, and others

October 25: The Titanium Economy: How Industrial Technology Can Create a Better, Faster, Stronger America (Public Affairs) hits bookshelves

November 29: Deliberate Calm: How to Learn and Lead in a Volatile World (Harper Collins) hits bookshelves

December 18: The Readers & Leaders newsletter celebrates the first anniversary of its inaugural edition

CEO EXCELLENCE NAMED TOP LEADERSHIP BOOK OF 2022

This month, the Next Big Idea Club—a book community curated by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, and other prominent thinkers—named CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest as the number-one leadership book of the year. Other books on the top 20 list include:

MORE BOOKS FROM MCKINSEY

YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR TALKS INTERVIEWS OF 2022

January: What separates the best CEOs from the rest? with McKinsey senior partners Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vik Malhotra

February: Hacking into humanity with futurist Amy Webb

March: Attributes—not skills—determine whether you ‘cut it’ or not with Navy SEAL commander Rich Diviney

April: How to handle your work jerk with NYU associate professor Tessa West

May: Make anxiety your ally with Wise Therapeutics founder Tracy Dennis-Tiwary

June: The 15-year career is here with rich & REGULAR blog creators Julien and Kiersten Saunders

July: Lead like a girl with former marketing executive Dalia Feldheim

August: Don’t skip the ‘soft stuff’ with Udemy chief learning officer Melissa Daimler

September: How to remove unconscious bias from the workplace with journalist Jessica Nordell

October: Turn your work enemies into allies with Harvard Business Review contributing editor Amy Gallo

November: What poker pro Annie Duke can teach you about quitting on time with decision-making strategist Amy Duke

December: Rules of power from Jeffrey Pfeffer to help you get your way with Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Stanford’s Jeffrey Pfeffer explains which rules to follow and which to break in order to advance your career: “The rules are made by those already in power. If you’re already in power, follow the rules. If you’re not, make your own.” Watch the full interview. 

Columbia’s Hitendra Wadhwa knows how to stay true to your inner self: “Pay heed to your inner experience. What are the moments and practices and who are the people who make you feel most connected with the peace, joy, love, and wisdom that exist at the very core of your being?” Watch the full interview.

Activist and runner Alison Mariella Désir dismantles the Whiteness of long-distance running: “[It’s] the way that people look at you and are surprised to find you in a certain neighborhood, the way that people say to me, ‘Oh, you run?’ the way that people make assumptions that I must be a beginner, the way a cop might see me running and roll by and look at me funny, making me feel like I have to say hello. …My hope is that, with this book, we can change that.” Watch the full interview.

Peter Fader and Michael Ross share their guide for conducting better customer-base audits: “The opportunities to use customer analysis to change behavior go way, way beyond what is in the marketing domain—it goes to how we think about profitability.” Watch the full interview.

Former GuideStar CEO Jacob Harold details how companies across sectors can bring more social impact to their work: “You need to be thoughtful about bringing the experiences of others, the distribution of consequences, and a stance of deep truthfulness to your work, even when that means you have to admit that something you’re doing is going off the rails.” Watch the full interview. 

TRANSPARENCY

We produced 67 Author Talks interviews this year from conversations with 76 authors. These authors were 43 percent women and 30 percent Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

BUSINESS BESTSELLERS TOP

Whether you’re unwinding from the holidays or getting a head start on your New Year’s resolutions, find your next entertaining or enlightening read on this month’s list of business bestsellers in eight categories, prepared exclusively for McKinsey by NPD BookScan. Explore the full selection on McKinsey on Books.

BUSINESS OVERALL

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way To Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (Avery Publishing Group)

BUSINESS HARDCOVER

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way To Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (Avery Publishing Group)

DECISION MAKING

Ideaflow: The Only Business Metric That Matters by Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn (Penguin Group USA)

ECONOMICS

MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, and How to Survive Them by Nouriel Roubini (Hachette Book Group)

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way To Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (Penguin Group USA)

WORKPLACE CULTURE

The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth About Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations by Robert Livingston (Random House)

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (Oprah’s Book Club) by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House)

SUSTAINABILITY

Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take by Paul Polman and Andrew Winston (Harvard Business Review Press)

If you’d like to propose a book or author for #McKAuthorTalks, please email us at Author_Talks@McKinsey.com. Due to the high volume of requests, we will respond only to those being considered.

— Curated by Molly Liebergall, editor, New York

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