Leadership is about what you know and how you apply that knowledge.  Some people are born leaders but for the rest who aren't that lucky, here are some of the best books on leadership so you can have an arsenal of great information to build your skills upon.

Resilience is critical to success in leadership

Resilience as the one defining skill and behavior that allows some to stand out from the rest. In the face of adversity, some are able to pick themselves up and brush themselves off and move on, while others are not. Denise Brosseau in her book Ready to Be a Thought Leader: How to Increase Your Influence, Impact, and Success

Bridge the communication gap created by leadership

Most successful people have little interest in listening to those individuals who cannot add value to a situation or topic but force themselves into a conversation just to hear themselves speak. Good communicators address both the what and how aspects of messaging so they don't fall prey to becoming the smooth talker who leaves people with the impression of form over substance. Mike Myatt in his book Hacking Leadership: The 11 Gaps Every Business Needs to Close and the Secrets to Closing Them Quickly

Leadership is, at its core, about the mobilization of ideas

Leadership is about setting a direction. It's about creating a vision, empowering and inspiring people to want to achieve the vision, and enabling them to do so with energy and speed through an effective strategy. In its most basic sense, leadership is about mobilizing a group of people to jump into a better future. John P. Kotter in his book Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World

Good leaders are highly aware of their own vulnerabilities

The role played by blindspots is to meditate between the poles of self-confidence and self-doubt. A leader with too many blindspots can be overconfident, even blindly arrogant, and exposed to a range of risks. Robert Bruce Shaw in his book Leadership Blindspots: How Successful Leaders Identify and Overcome the Weaknesses That Matter

Leaders equip people for success beyond their own purview

Entrepreneurial leaders foster in people the feeling that they are personally successful--the hallmark of leadership. Derek Lidow in his book Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises

The role of a leader is primarily to care for others

When a leader embraces their responsibility to care for people instead of caring for numbers, then people will follow, solve problems and see to it that that leader's vision comes to life the right way, a stable way and not the expedient way. Simon Sinek in his book Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't

Reflect and lead in the moment without just focusing on problems

Most leaders can barely breathe through the blur of activity, much less reflect on and register the best of what is happening in the present moment. And on the rare occasions when they do step back to assess the situation at hand, they focus on the problems, ignoring the opportunities. Kathryn D. Cramer in her book Lead Positive: What Highly Effective Leaders See, Say, and Do

Trust in leadership can be distilled down to four basic elements

Trust in others (and their trust in us) depends on four elements: reliability, congruence, acceptance, and openness. Joanna Barsh and Johanne Lavoie in their book Centered Leadership: Leading with Purpose, Clarity, and Impact

Body language trumps spoken instruction

Remember, every communication is two conversations, the spoken content and the body language. The body language always trumps the content when the two are in conflict. So in planning your content and failing to think much about your emotions, which drive your body language, you're leaving that to chance--the more important of the two conversations. Nick Morgan in his book Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximizing Your Personal Impact

Analyzing success and feedback

To increase your chances of moving toward your ideal self, challenge any self-defeating thoughts. Keep in mind your past accomplishments, candidly assess what has stopped you from achieving goals, as well as your personal beliefs about your abilities. Consider relevant feedback from others about what you have achieved and what your potential is. This helps increase your sense of hopefulness, which research has shown is critical in imagining and realizing the ideal self. Stewart D. Friedman in his book Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life