The best 21 Talent Development books

Trust & Inspire (2022) provides a new leadership model. Instead of the traditional “Command and Control” approach, Covey proposes one that focuses on collaboration, trust and personal growth. It offers a new set of tools for inspiring and unlocking the massive potential of a modern workforce. 

The Handbook of Strategic 360 Feedback is a guide to the pros and cons of 360 Feedback, including detailed guidance on how to implement the process as well as how to avoid pitfalls such as unconscious bias or people who try to game the system. 

Impact Players (2021) uncovers the qualities of the most indispensable players in a team or organization, and breaks down the mindset that sets these influential individuals apart from the rest. Drawing on insights from top industry leaders, it shows how to leverage the approaches used by influential professionals to multiply your own impact in the workplace.

Evidence-Informed Learning Design (2020) takes stock of where learning and development in the workplace is today. While many learning myths are still encountered in contemporary workplace learning, there’re effective ways for learning professionals to identify them – and stamp them out. Once this is done, there are a number of fantastic techniques learning professionals can utilize to help assist employee learning.

Everyone Deserves a Great Manager (2019) provides business leaders with six crucial practices that will transform team members into high performers. Offering practical solutions, it fills in the gap many new managers encounter when they’re promoted without receiving any leadership training. 

Mavericks (2022) makes a case for maverick leadership. It shows that independent thinkers motivated by meaningful goals can transform their careers and communities – and that anyone can develop their inner maverick by focusing on five key characteristics.

Design for How People Learn (2015) is a practical guide for teachers, workshop leaders, and managers who want to create lessons that engage and inspire. It covers the science of how we learn and then shares the design principles that underpin successful lessons – no matter what’s being taught.

High Impact Tools for Teams (2021) offers flexible tools for project planning, assessment, and creating an empowering environment for your team members. At the center is the Team Alignment Map, a simple chart that will transform the way you conduct meetings, track progress, and identify problems before they occur.

Driving Performance Through Learning (2019) is a guide to help learning and development professionals understand the full breadth of possibilities for learning in the modern workplace. It explains the benefits of learning during the natural flow of work, encouraging a wide range of innovative methods.

The Adaptation Advantage (2020) explores how to navigate the future of work – without worrying about the robots taking over. It provides actionable insights on how to tap into uniquely human attributes like adaptation to excel.

Learning at Speed (2022) is your guide to professional learning and development in the modern world. By adopting a lean methodology inspired by startups, L&D can help businesses thrive.

Conscious Business (2006) pushes beyond conventional measures of success to show you how to create a dynamic organization based on core human values. You’ll learn why companies that empower employees to align their work with the values they hold dear are the companies that succeed in today’s marketplace.

Workplace Learning (2019) argues that learning and development professionals have to offer more than the usual array of courses and seminars. If you want to help your company compete in today’s fast-moving world, Nigel Paine believes, you have to start building the right kind of organizational culture. That culture rests on two pillars: open communication and knowledge sharing. For Paine, these are the foundation for the kind of constant, day-to-day learning organizations need. 

Growing Great Employees (2006) is about coaching, management and leadership. Using gardening as metaphor that runs throughout the book, consultant and CEO Erika Andersen cleverly explains how to successfully develop thriving and productive employees.

The Learning and Development Handbook (2022) is a practical guide for human resources experts who want to upgrade how people learn in their organization without slavishly following new fads. So what’s their best bet? Michelle Parry-Slater thinks companies’ can benefit from the digital revolution, but only if they embed professional development in wider cultures of learning. That means one thing above all: working with the grain of human psychology, collective as well as individual. 

Remarkable (2021) is a playbook for professionals looking to advance their careers. It’s not about getting ahead by any means, though. Covering topics like self-promotion, mistakes, and disagreements, it makes a compelling case that the best way to move forward is by staying humble and working with – and for – your team. 

Solving the Productivity Puzzle (2020) is a guide for people management professionals. It covers topics such as learning and development, motivation of the workforce, and planning strategies. It’s essential reading for HR professionals who want to build a culture in which people can thrive.

Permission to Glow (2021) provides managers with a roadmap to lead with intention and purpose so that everyone can reach their full potential. By embracing its four permissions, it shows how leaders can maximize outcomes and personal successes by first tapping into their own power and then guiding others to do the same.

Map it! The Action Mapping Book (2017) is a practical, hands-on guide for those in the business world that design training for fellow professionals. This revolutionary guide refocuses on solving problems in business and achieving measurable results. So if you’re longing to dump those ineffective webinars and boring slide stacks look no further—Map it! Will help you focus on what the problems are, how they got that way, and what everyone can do about it for provable results. 

Investing in People (2011) shines a light on human resources, a crucial department in a successful company that too often is undervalued and underappreciated. A savvy personnel strategy can fine tune a company’s performance and boost employee well-being. The book provides an easy-to-follow, four-step process to improving your human resources strategies.

The Remix (2019) illustrates the importance of creating and maintaining a multigenerational workspace that is inclusive to all. Combining recent data, independent research, and case studies from Fortune 500 companies, it shows teams how to embrace diverse working styles and turn potential clashes into opportunities.