When was the last time you read a book and it made you want to change your life? When was the last time that you were so moved by a bundle of paper with printed words that you decided you were made for something bigger than life itself? Literature has always been a source of motivation for people. It has been one of the most important mediums through which people share their stories and experiences. Books have contained real accounts of peoples’ lives and also proves of how far the human imagination can go. There’s various kinds of fiction, autobiographies, biographies, books on politics, science, history and many, many more that never cease to inspire their readers. Many authors have written books on leadership, building a business and how the top businessmen reached their pinnacle. Out of those hundreds of books, here are the ones that have made their mark globally as the books that every young leader must read – Start With Why by Simon Sinek In his very first book, Sinek asks a daunting question – Why? Organizations spend a massive amount of time figuring out what they’re going to do, what product they’ll launch or what services they’ll be providing. But seldom to they focus on WHY the organization has been created. Is the answer to the question always money and profit? No. Sinek encourages ideas that threaten to boggle a conventional thinkers mind. He talks about influential leaders and how they did what they did and provides a framework on how the businesses can be built and how its people can be motivated and inspired. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek Sinek’s second book ‘Leaders Eat Last’ talks about putting others ahead of yourself in the workspace. It praises the idea of inculcating trust and depth in the people of an organization. He explains this with an example of the Marine Corps where people literally put their lives on the line to save others. He enchantingly creates depth and emotion in his words and pushes people to incorporate them in their lives. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl Based on his experiences in the Nazi death camps, Frankl writes about how he persisted between 1942 to 1945 in Nazi death camps, including Auschwitz, while his family perished. He talks about his experiences during, and after the Holocaust and howHe writes about his theory called logotherapy which holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful. The book has been one of the top ten most influential books in America. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg The Power of Habit has been slightly underrated among ‘top reads’ but it’s one of the books that aims straight for the root of one’s behavior – habits. Habits are capable of transforming lives and often they’re what direct our lives. Duhigg tells us about how habits work and where they’re formed from instances with neuroscientists in laboratories, he talks about how important habits were for the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and many more. In this book, he also argues that habits aren’t destiny, but can be changed and can make us transform our business, lives and communities. Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Kahneman brilliantly explains the two system that drives how we think – system 1, which is fast, intuitive and emotional and system 2, which is slower, more deliberative and more logical. Reasons behind every little thing that we do can be explained or understood by knowing how these two systems work together. He explains how one can make use of both the systems in a way that proves to be beneficial for businesses and our personal lives. There’s very few books that leave a lasting impact and drive the reader to implement what they’ve read. These books have time and time again forced people to turn their lives around and never ceased to inspire their readers. These books are proof that words can change lives!