30 Great Books For CX Leaders

What happens when you ask your professional network to share the most impactful book they've read recently? In my case, the response was incredible!?

After finishing my latest read, I turned to LinkedIn for recommendations, and the flood of thoughtful suggestions blew me away. Colleagues shared titles spanning a wide range of topics, each offering valuable insights directly applicable to the work we do as customer experience leaders.

I've organized these recommendations into key themes relevant to CX leadership and compiled them here for anyone looking to expand their reading list.

1. Leadership and Culture Transformation

The foundation of great customer experience is great leadership. These books offer strategies for aligning organizational values with behavior, fostering accountability, and inspiring teams to consistently perform at a high level.

• Walk the Talk: And Get the Results You Want by Eric Harvey: A must-read for CX leaders, this book provides actionable strategies for aligning values with behavior, creating a culture of accountability, and driving long-term success beyond just financial performance.
• Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara: This book delivers invaluable insights into transforming ordinary customer interactions into extraordinary experiences through radical reinvention and a commitment to bespoke service.
• The Leader You Want to Be by Amy Jen Su: By focusing on purpose, process, people, presence, and peace, this book offers a holistic approach to leadership, helping CX professionals lead effectively while managing stress and enhancing their impact.
• Teaming by Amy C. Edmondson: This book provides strategies for fostering organizational learning and innovation by promoting effective collaboration in dynamic, flexible teams.
• Upside-Down Leadership by Don Janssen: Through a service-based leadership approach, this book guides CX leaders in navigating workplace challenges and driving positive change.
• Setting the Table by Danny Meyers: Offers CX leaders valuable lessons in fostering strong internal relationships and prioritizing customer satisfaction through Meyer's "Enlightened Hospitality" philosophy, helping them drive success in any business environment.

2. Effective Communication & Influence

Clear, effective communication is key to leading teams and building strong customer relationships. These books help CX leaders develop the skills necessary to engage and inspire their audience.

• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: This classic offers timeless strategies for communication and leadership, essential for enhancing both customer relations and team dynamics.
• Mastering the Craft of Writing by Stephen Wilbers: CX leaders can enhance their communication skills with this guide, ensuring their messages are clear, engaging, and impactful.
• Make It Clear by Patrick Henry Winston: This book provides essential techniques for conveying ideas effectively and driving professional interactions that inspire action.

3. Personal Development and Time Management

CX leaders juggle many competing priorities, and personal effectiveness is crucial. These books offer frameworks for improving productivity, focus, and achieving work-life balance.

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey: A foundational read for personal and professional growth, this book empowers CX leaders to lead with purpose and inspire their teams.
• First Things First by Stephen R. Covey: This book provides a framework for prioritizing tasks based on urgency and importance, helping leaders focus on meaningful goals and maintain work-life balance.
• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell: Martell offers practical strategies for trading money for time, enabling CX leaders to focus on business growth without burnout.
• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz: Provides CX leaders with a transformative framework for overcoming self-limiting beliefs and fostering a culture of personal freedom, happiness, and authentic leadership, improving both team dynamics and customer experiences.

4. Performance and Coaching

Building high-performing teams and cultivating a coaching culture are vital for organizational success. These books provide practical strategies for improving team dynamics and individual performance.

• Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore: This book introduces the GROW model, equipping CX leaders with strategies to cultivate a coaching culture that enhances employee engagement and productivity.
• The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier: Through question-based techniques, this book helps CX leaders integrate effective coaching into daily interactions, driving team performance.
• Multipliers by Liz Wiseman: This book teaches CX leaders how to amplify team intelligence and capabilities, fostering a culture of innovation and engagement that leads to superior results.
• Impact Players by Liz Wiseman: Wiseman provides insights into fostering a high-performance mindset among team members, enabling them to make significant contributions to organizational success.
• The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon: Offers CX leaders valuable insights on fostering positivity, overcoming adversity, and motivating teams, providing a practical roadmap for driving personal and professional success.

5. Strategy and Decision-Making

Clear strategic thinking and effective decision-making are critical for navigating the complexities of CX. These books offer frameworks that will help CX leaders guide their organizations toward long-term success.

• Measure What Matters by John Doerr: The OKR (Objectives and Key Results) system is a powerful tool for aligning team goals, enhancing focus, and driving growth through measurable objectives.
• Your Next Five Moves by Patrick Bet-David: This book offers methodologies for strategic thinking and decision-making, empowering CX leaders to navigate challenges with clarity and foresight.
• The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek: Sinek’s framework encourages leaders to adopt an infinite mindset, focusing on building resilient organizations that prioritize long-term vision and lasting impact.
• Nine Lies About Work by Marcus Buckingham: Challenges common workplace assumptions and offers CX leaders fresh insights on leveraging individual strengths and evidence-based practices to create more effective, dynamic, and authentic work environments

6. Innovation and Problem-Solving

Customer experience leaders must continuously innovate to stay competitive. These books inspire leaders to tackle challenges creatively and drive meaningful innovation.

• Purple Cow by Seth Godin: This book challenges leaders to create remarkable, innovative products or services that stand out in the market, pushing beyond traditional strategies.
• The Illusion of Innovation by Elliott Parker: Parker offers strategies to overcome corporate stagnation by leveraging small teams and deliberate inefficiency to foster innovation.
• The Four Workarounds by Paulo Savaget: Savaget provides innovative problem-solving strategies used by resourceful organizations, enabling CX leaders to tackle complex challenges efficiently.
• The Frictionless Organization by Bill Price and David Jaffe: This book equips CX leaders with strategies to enhance customer experiences by reducing friction in products and services, driving customer loyalty and business growth.
• 10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan: Helps CX leaders understand how to achieve exponential growth by focusing on maximizing key freedoms—time, money, relationships, and purpose—rather than simply increasing effort, leading to more impactful and sustainable business outcomes.

7. Navigating Change and Failure

Leading through change and learning from failure are critical skills for CX leaders. These books help guide teams through uncertainty and build resilience.

• The ADKAR Model by Jeffrey M. Hiatt: Hiatt introduces a comprehensive framework for managing the people side of change, helping CX leaders ensure successful organizational transformations.
• Right Kind of Wrong by Amy C. Edmondson: This book explores how to foster a culture of learning by understanding and leveraging failure, helping teams innovate and take smart risks.
• The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin: Willink and Babin provide essential guidance for balancing leadership roles and empowering teams to achieve strategic success.

Each of these books offers valuable lessons to help you lead more effectively, drive meaningful change, and create exceptional customer experiences. Whether you're looking to improve your leadership skills, foster a more innovative culture, or gain a better understanding of team dynamics, these reads have something for every CX professional.

Enjoy your reading!