Getting Started with Leadership Research

Leadership Studies is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses a wide range of perspectives, approaches, and research methods. There is therefore no one good way to do this kind of research. Whether you are looking at leadership studies through the lens of biography, psychology, management, ethics, or something else, however, try some of the following resources as a starting point. 

The Routledge Companion to Leadership (Harvard Login)
The SAGE Handbook of Leadership (Print Only)
The Science of Leadership (Harvard Login)
Leadership: Theory and Practice (Print Only)
Leadership: Essential Selections on Power, Authority, and Influence (Print & Harvard Login)
Handbook of Methods in Leadership Research (Harvard Login)
Thinking Differently about Leadership: A Critical History of Leadership Studies (Harvard Login)
Leadership: Understanding the Dynamics of Power and Influence in Organizations (Harvard Login)
The Oxford Handbook of Leadership and Organizations (Harvard Login)
Research Companion to Ethical Behavior in Organizations (Harvard Login)
Research Handbook on Entrepreneurship and Leadership (Harvard Login)
Handbook of Research on Leadership and Creativity (Harvard Login)
Handbook of Research on Gender and Leadership (Harvard Login)
The Oxford Handbook of Political Leadership (Harvard Login)
Political Leadership: Themes, Contexts, and Critiques (Harvard Login)
Interactive Political Leadership: The Role of Politicians in the Age of Governance (Harvard Login)
Hard Times: Leadership in America (Harvard Login)
Handbook of Research on Crisis Leadership in Organizations (Harvard Login)
The Leadership Capital Index (Harvard Login)
Field Guide to Leadership Development (Harvard Login)
The Handbook for Teaching Leadership (Print Only)
The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development (Harvard Login)

HKS Research on Leadership

In keeping with the Harvard Kennedy School's mission "to improve public policy and leadership so people can live in societies that are more safe, free, just, and sustainably prosperous," researchers at HKS look at leadership from different angles. To find out more about leadership research at HKS, check the following links: 

Research Centers and Programs with a Leadership Focus 

Publications and Events on Leadership

Books by HKS Faculty 

Essence of Decision  (Print Only)
Power, for All: How It Really Works and Why It's Everyone's Business (Print / Harvard Login)
Inside the Five-Sided Box: Lessons from a Lifetime of Leadership in the Pentagon (Print Only)
Eyewitness to Power  (Print Only)
Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Change (Print / Harvard Login)
Leadership Without Easy Answers (Print & Harvard Login)
The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World (Print / Harvard Login)
Hard Times: Leadership in America (Print & Harvard Login)
Professionalizing Leadership (Harvard Login)
Leadership: Essential Selections on Power, Authority, and Influence (Print & Harvard Login)
Leaders Who Lust: Power, Money, Sex, Success, Legitimacy, Legacy (Harvard Login)
The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth About Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations: A Science-Based Approach (Print / Harvard Login)
JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 (Print / Harvard Login)
The Powers to Lead (Harvard Login)
Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump (Print / Harvard Login)
Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era (Print / Harvard Login)
The Education of an Idealist (Print Only)
Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence (Print Only)