Over the past few months, I’ve combed through hundreds of leadership books that debut in the new year. It wasn’t always fun: there was no shortage of unproven claims and clichés about how leaders differ from managers. But some stood out on the three criteria that matter most to me: they introduced original ideas, backed them up with evidence and experience, and brought them to life in an engaging way.

To kick off 2019, here are my top 19* picks -- on making work better, courage and passion, innovation, and the past and future of humanity:

MAKING WORK BETTER

1. Nine Lies About Work by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall (April 2)

This is one of the most provocative, lucidly written books I’ve read on work, by a renowned thought leader and an influential talent executive. Be prepared to throw your strategic plan out the window and become well-lopsided instead of well-rounded.

2. Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan (February 19)

Imagine a world of work that enhances our dignity and freedom instead of degrading and constraining us. That’s what Aaron Dignan helps organizations create, and his book on how to do it is a breath of fresh air.

3. Range by David Epstein (May 28)

In a world that’s increasingly obsessed with specialization, star science writer David Epstein is here to convince you that the future may belong to generalists. It’s a captivating read that will leave you questioning the next steps in your career—and the way you raise your children.

4. No Hard Feelings by Liz Fosslein and Mollie West Duffy (February 5)

If you’ve ever thought it’s best to check your emotions at the office door, this book will change your mind. It’s full of lively illustrations and practical examples to show how you can harness emotions to become more creative, collaborative, and productive.

5. The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek (June 4)

In my view, this is Simon Sinek’s biggest idea yet. If you think success is about winning and losing, you’ve already lost. It works in sports because you're playing a finite game, but business is an infinite one. He argues that the companies that last aren't the ones that play to win. They're the ones that play to keep playing.

COURAGE AND PASSION

6. Be Fearless by Jean Case (January 8)

Jean Case has been in the arena as a technology pioneer and philanthropist. Her book is full of stories and advice to embolden you to take bolder risks and have bigger impact.

7. The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates (April 23)

Melinda Gates is on a mission to empower women around the world. With a powerful combination of heart and facts, her debut book shows how we can all take steps to create equal opportunities for education, healthcare, work, and family leave—and how much that matters for the health of every society.

8. Brave, Not Perfect by Reshma Saujani (February 5)

The perfect is not just the enemy of the good; the pressure to be perfect is the enemy of girls around the world. Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, examines how to free girls—and women—from the shackles of social expectations.

9. Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle (April 16)

Silicon Valley’s best-kept secret is not a piece of hardware, a bit of software, or a hacker. It’s a former football coach named Bill Campbell, who became so indispensable that Steve Jobs went on a weekly Sunday walk with him and the Google founders said they wouldn’t have made it without him. We all need coaches to improve, and this book explains what made Bill such a great one—it’s a playbook for bringing out the best in others, being simultaneously supportive and challenging, and giving more than lip service to the notion of putting people first.

10. From the Ground Up by Howard Schultz (January 28)

Before becoming the CEO who grew Starbucks into an international powerhouse, Howard Schultz grew up in the Brooklyn housing projects and became the first person in his family to go to college. He intersperses his personal journey with his vision for building socially responsible companies and communities.

11. To Stop a Warlord by Shannon Sedgwick Davis (April 2)

How far would you go to stop a murderous Ugandan warlord who had turned thousands of children into soldiers and sex slaves? As the head of a human rights foundation, Shannon Sedgwick Davis did something unprecedented: she hired private military contractors to train an army to stop him. It’s impossible to read her memoir without feeling moved to do more to help those with less.

12. The Passion Paradox by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness (March 19)

Passion is a roller coaster ride that can send us on a sudden, precipitating plunge from the heights of happiness to the depths of despair. This thoughtful, immediately readable book shows how to manage passion so it brings out the best in us—rather than the worst in us.

INNOVATION

13. Loonshots by Safi Bahcall (March 19)

A physicist and award-winning biotechnology entrepreneur specializing in cancer drugs reveals how creativity is not just about culture—it’s heavily driven by structure. Applying the physics of phase transitions to a stunning array of entertaining examples, Safi Bahcall shows how entrepreneurs and innovators can set the stage for ideas to flow and breakthroughs to emerge.

14. The Bartering Mindset by Brian Gunia (March 14)

Brian Gunia is an expert on negotiating, and he does something unusual here: he offers insights about bargaining that are both novel and useful.

15. Goliath’s Revenge by Todd Hewlin and Scott Snyder (February 12)

Will your business be disrupted? Definitely. Do the disruptors have to be a small band of hackers in a garage? Definitely not. This book is full of practical tips for big companies to get a leg up on scrappy startups.

16. New to Big by David Kidder and Christina Wallace (April 2)

Big companies are normally where creativity goes to die, but it doesn’t have to be that way. This is the long-awaited playbook for figuring out how to turn your bureaucracy into an innovation machine. Whether you’re down in the trenches or up in the C-suite, it’s full of smart ideas that are immediately actionable and immensely useful.

THE PAST AND FUTURE OF HUMANITY

17. Blueprint by Nicholas Christakis (March 26)

It’s rare for a physician to become a prominent social scientist. It’s even rarer for that person to write a book that opens your eyes to a fresh way of understanding the world. Blueprint is a contrarian exploration of how good societies may be shaped less by historical forces and more by natural selection.

18. Accidental Presidents by Jared Cohen (April 19)

In American history, eight have become president without being elected to the office. Jared Cohen, founder and CEO of Jigsaw at Alphabet, launches a fascinating analysis of how these historical accidents shaped the country and what they can teach us about power.

19. The War for Kindness by Jamil Zaki (June 4)

In a time when it seems empathy is a lost cause and compassion is a dying art, it may not be too late to revive the better angels of our nature. Jamil Zaki is one of the bright lights in psychology, and in this gripping book he shows that kindness is not a sign of weakness but a source of strength.

*Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Dan Pink and I are reading some of these books right now for consideration for the Next Big Idea Club winter box.

**

Adam is the New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take and Originals, and the host of the TED podcast WorkLife. He shares new ideas in GRANTED, his free monthly newsletter on work and psychology. Join today: www.adamgrant.net