Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others – The Science-Based Guide to Visionaries, Exemplars, and Mentors Who Transform Lives

by Adam Galinsky

An engaging and rigorous exploration of the science of being inspiring, offering compelling stories, fascinating research, and practical tips for addressing the common problems and dilemmas we face every day—showing how all of us, regardless of status or circumstance, can be more inspiring more of the time in our lives.

There are two kinds of leaders that populate the world: those who inspire, and those who infuriate. Inspiring leaders elevate, motivate, and guide us to become a better version of ourselves. Infuriating leaders, conversely, cause frustration and resentment instead of agreement and action. Together, inspiring and infuriating leaders represent a universal continuum that is rooted in the very architecture of the human brain. But inspiring leaders aren’t born. Instead, we inspire or infuriate in any given moment through our behavior, words, and presence.

Social psychologist and leadership expert Adam Galinsky has spent his career building a quantifiable method of determining who is inspiring versus who is infuriating, and where various leaders—presidents, CEOs, coaches, teachers, parents, and a wealth of others—currently land. In this captivating book, Galinsky identifies the three universal characteristics of truly inspiring leaders:

Visionaries offer a big-picture, optimistic, and accessible vision of the future
Exemplars are courageous and calm protectors, expressing authentic passion, while remaining consistent in word and deed
Mentors encourage, empower, and challenge others
Drawing on decades of scientific studies and global consulting experiences, Galinsky presents an elegant yet profound approach to building leadership skills that anyone can use to fuel motivation, innovation, and cooperation. For current and aspiring leaders alike, Inspire is an invaluable guide to becoming not only a leader but an effective decision maker, a wise problem-solver, a value-creating negotiator, a fair allocator, and an inclusive and ethical guide.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Management, Self Help, Psychology

320 pages, Hardcover

Published January 21, 2025

About the author

Adam Daniel Galinsky is an American social psychologist known for his research on leadership, power, negotiations, decision-making, diversity, and ethics. He is Vikram S. Pandit Professor of Business and Chair of Management Division at Columbia Business School

Reviews

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book for anyone interested in leadership ideas. Chock full of quotable anecdotes and concrete action plans for both understanding the people you work with and ways to be empathic and helpful to them. Family stories are told with great reverence and honesty. A brilliant book from a superb writer, leader, teacher, and person.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself & Others is packed full of valuable insights. While it is doubtlessly a must-read for any leader in an organization, every example and story it contains is analogous to everyday human experience. We’re all leaders in different situations, whether it’s helping friends, family or others in our communities, and we all have the potential to be inspiring. I found myself riveted by the potential systems to increase wellbeing, diversity and productivity at work through building leadership qualities, but also by the ability to apply these theories to my life as a father, where I want to be the best version of a leader I can be to inspire my children. The book posits three core elements to being inspiring: Being a visionary, being an exemplar, and being a good mentor. Author Adam Galinsky then goes on to expand on ways that these elements can succeed and fail by providing some classic pop-science studies and analogies. This is effortlessly readable, and is a must read for anyone interested in pop-psychology. Brilliant… and not surprisingly, fundamentally inspiring.

[David Moretti · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Transformational Read for Leaders and Individuals Alike

I had the honor of receiving an advanced signed copy of Inspire by Adam, and I am deeply touched by his thoughtful gift. This book is nothing short of excellent. It combines years of thorough research with Adam’s personal perspectives and lived experiences, making it both insightful and relatable.

Whether you’re looking to become a better leader, improve yourself, or inspire those around you, this book is a must-read. Adam doesn’t just share practical strategies; he also helps readers recognize behaviors that can be counterproductive or, at times, downright infuriating.

The timing of its release—the week of January 20—couldn’t be better, as the new year is a perfect moment for reflection and growth. Inspire has genuinely challenged me to think differently and approach life and leadership with greater intention. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking meaningful change or looking to leave a positive impact on others.

[Rena Seltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I love about this book is that it combines actionable, research-based ideas with edge-of-your-seat stories that keep me turning the pages. I’m already incorporating concepts such as the “leader amplification effect” into my coaching with higher ed leaders, and have brought the practice of talking about a passion into my workshops on networking. I’m confident that every time I re-read Inspire, I’ll reap additional learning that I’ll be excited to pass on to my clients. I’m also giving Inspire as gift to say “thank you” to people who have referred their colleagues and friends to me and my affiliate coaches.

[Paul Grijincu · Rating 1 out of 5]

It has been a few months since I read this book, and many things have been forgotten, but not the theme that a person should not be expected to help themselves, and no reason for that. It was a recurrent theme, so irked me repeatedly. I finished the book, and the other idea I retained was "the leader amplification effect" (which is not a new concept either) but otherwise felt like the book just wanted to go down the road of wishful thinking, where businesses are run like nurseries. Business needn't be cutthroat, but neither should we expect them to coddle our tender egos.

[Jay Scherr · Rating 5 out of 5]

INSPIRE is an outstanding leadership book that captured and held my attention. I will be referring back to this one often. Adam draws upon his extensive research and lived experiences and shares compelling stories to illustrate his insights. This is a must-read resource for anyone who wants to become an inspiring leader. I highly recommend it. Thank you, Adam, for bringing this important book to life!

[Kevin Stecyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Wonderful Book for a Batter Life

I enjoyed Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others. The book’s title accurately describes the book’s content. It teaches us how to align our thoughts and actions to inspire others. Often, there are small things we can do that will make a big difference to others.

Overall, this book is helpful for teaching us how become better people, both personally and professionally.

[Tina W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book.

it described a series of experiments which I appreciate the scientific nature of. on the flip side, that meant that it didn't really feel like the author spoke from any real life experience. just a series of anecdotes of other people. sometimes the advice would come off as manipulative.

occasionally it was hard to connect the current topic with inspiration and leadership, though all topics were interesting.

[Jay Vidyarthi · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a leader of a small team, Adam's book was incredibly validating. It was helpful to see the different types of leaders from a research basis, and to know that while my style may not look like some highly visible leaders in society, it's still a completely valid and contextually relevant approach in my specific milieu. I needed to hear that!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a breath of fresh air--an uplifting resource for all of us who need inspiration and aspire to be a source of inspiration for others. It's well-paced, has so many rich examples that are relatable, and weaves those in beautifully with relevant research that will get us all to think more deeply about how to be better leaders.

[Jordan Douglass · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Inspiring leaders create inspiring leaders." There was a lot of good insight in this book along with a brief overview of the research that led to the results. The advice provided was reasonable and attainable. I would recommend this book to anyone aspiring to be better than they are today and each and every day. #GoodreadsGiveaway

[Kacper · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
inspirująca do stopnia czasem wręcz wzruszającego - mega na plus historie różnych sytuacji. można się serio wiele dowiedzieć, jak to robić aby być jednym z tych o których można potem pięknie opowiadać. tym samym jak być po prostu dobrym, inspirującym i pozytywnie wpływającym człowiekiem. cieszę się że trafiłem na tą książkę.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspire is an interesting journey into the science of inspiration and how
we can inspire other people. With practical tips, and outlines, it’s easy to follow. I liked how it prompts the concept of not using our power in a corrupt manner.

[Peter P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read filled with new (and some familiar) stories on the psychology of leadership from Columbia Business School's Adam Galinksy. This is his first book, but I suspect we'll be hearing a lot more from him in the coming years.

[Julia Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly inspiring and useful read for leaders, aspiring leaders, and anyone being led. Chock full of evidence-based advice and discussions of interesting and relevant findings. Highly recommend (and a fun read as well)!

[Chase L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it had to do with the audiobook narrator, but this book didn’t really grab me. I had high hopes for it, but it tended to rehash some of the same stories of people staying calm in the face of challenges over and over.

[Leslie John · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant book! Meticulously crafted, contains such fresh and helpful ideas on how to truly inspire, motivate and lead.

[Vanessa Bohns · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it: THE definitive book on leadership. It's the one I'm recommending to everyone going forward. So insightful, so practical, so...inspiring.

[Sam Grayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I’ve read in a while

[Steve Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have selected this book as Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 2/9, as it stands heads above other recently published books on this topic.

[Elizabeth]

As heard on The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos:
https://omny.fm/shows/the-happiness-l...

[EMA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It helped me think differently about the essential qualities of effective leaders. Highly recommend!!

[Matt Winfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was very good, the second half was good not great. All in all a good reminder about leading by example and setting the right tone.