Below are a number of lists of recommended books on various topics related to followership. Linked titles take you to my written review on Goodreads. I’ll continue to add new categories and entries as I make my way through the stacks of books on my to-read shelf. Are there other sources that you would endorse? Other categories that you’d like recommendations for—team building? Cross-cultural issues? Personal development? Comment below and share! (Last updated: July 31, 2018)
Followership Leadership Enneagram
Having read a great deal on this topic, I’ll just list the top resources that have so far been most influential to me:
The Power of Followership, by Robert Kelley
Follower First, by Rusty Ricketson
The Courageous Follower, by Ira Chaleff
Creative Followership, by Jimmy Collins
For more, see the list on the Resources page, as well as the bibliography of specifically Christian works found in Embracing Followership: A Discussion Guide for Teams & Small Groups and the full list of sources from Embracing Followership: How to Thrive in a Leader-Centric Culture. I have a followership shelf on Goodreads which lists many of the books I’ve read on the topic. There is also a good list in the followership entry on Wikipedia.
There are so many books on leadership in the market; a number of the titles below have been most influential to me, and are suitable for a specifically Christian audience.
Leadership Jazz, by Max DePree
Growing Leaders, by James Lawrence
Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, by Ruth Haley Barton
Relational Leadership, by Walter Wright
The Three Signs of a Miserable Job, by Patrick Lencioni (alt title: The Truth About Employee Engagement)
Enneagram books vary widely in terms of content and presentation. I have divided this list into subcategories to highlight various strengths of different books, presenting the books in a rough order of my personal preference. Some of the books could certainly fit in more than one of these categories.
I have also created a free downloadable Enneagram Profile Worksheet as a tool to help you explore and record various facets of your Type and personality.
Intros/Overviews
The Road Back to You, by Ian Cron & Suzanne Stabile (Christian perspective, non-technical, lightly introduces many of the facets of the enneagram along with growth points for each type)
Mirror for the Soul, by Alice Fryling (Christian perspective; simple overviews and brief type descriptions, with foundational thoughts about growth & transformation, with reflection questions)
Self to Lose, Self to Find, by Marilyn Vancil (Christian perspective; presents each type as an Authentic Self and an Adapted Self, with simple summary charts for each)
The Enneagram Spectrum of Personality Styles, by Jerome Wagner (helpful word lists for each type; uses less ‘spiritual’ and more psychological language than most other authors)
The Path Between Us: Study Guide, by Suzanne Stabile (not appropriate as an introduction on its own, but contains a variety of helpful charts summarizing aspects of each type which are great as reminders and to enable one to compare/contrast each enneagram number)
Type Descriptions
Understanding the Enneagram, by Don Richard Riso (brief, well-organized descriptions; also includes growth recommendations for each type)
Personality Types, by Riso & Hudson (thorough type descriptions; one of the standard enneagram works that pioneered much of the terminology/labels)
The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective, by Richard Rohr (thorough type descriptions, with interesting summary charts at the back of the book and summary enneagram diagrams)
The Enneagram: Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life, by Helen Palmer (thorough type descriptions; extensive/technical background to the system as well)
The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships, by Suzanne Stabile (focuses on how each type interacts with others, exploring relational facets that give another layer of understanding and distinctive about each type; a stripped down version of material similar to Palmer’s The Enneagram in Love & Work below)
The Enneagram of Parenting, by Elizabeth Wagele (light-hearted but helpful look at distinguishing types using visual illustrations)
The Enneagram Institute website (follows the Riso-Hudson literature)
Growth/Advanced
The Complete Enneagram, by Beatrice Chestnut (especially good at exploring the 3 subtypes of each of the 9 core types; growth points for each type related to Arrows as well as vice-virtue)
The Enneagram in Love & Work, by Helen Palmer (explores relationships with others based on type combinations)
The Wisdom of the Enneagram, by Riso & Hudson (very deep exploration of each type/subtype, along with lost messages, red flags, etc.)
***Perhaps the only well-known enneagram title that doesn’t appear anywhere on my bibliography is The Sacred Enneagram (by Christopher Heuertz). While his descriptions of the three triads (p.93-98) are excellent, the rest of his book is a rather confusing mishmash of psychology, general spirituality, and Christian references. Much of it is parroted from Richard Rohr’s book (The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective), and the places where Heuertz does attempt to innovate I find unconvincing and unhelpful. I generally would not recommend this book as particularly beneficial in any of the above categories.