Check out this list of 25 books that every business professional can benefit from. I have personally read each book on this list. Highly recommendable.
Whether you are starting a new business, responsible for major operations within a company, or an established business owner, it never hurts to learn from some of the most talented people in the industry. These books share valuable lessons and teachings that can help any business grow.
Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
Think and Grow Rich can be seen as the grandfather of motivational books. It was written by Napoleon Hill, who had a long and successful career as a lecturer, an author, and as a consultant to business leaders. Think and Grow Rich was written in 1937, but despite its age, this book contains timeless lessons about wealth, motivation and achieving success.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989, is a business and self-help book written by Stephen Covey. The book focuses on teaching you how to deal with personal and professional challenges in the form of seven effective habits. In order to change a our situation, we must change ourselves, and in order to change ourselves, we must change our perceptions.
Secrets of Closing the Sale – Zig Ziglar
Whether presenting a product, principle, service or idea, we all engage in sales. Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale gives you strategies to become more proficient in the art of effective persuasion. Learn how to project warmth and integrity, increase productivity, overcome objections, and deal with challenging prospects. Zig Ziglar’s principles of success are presented in an way easy to understand and apply, yet they can have a big impact.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – Robert B. Cialdini
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion examines the key ways people can be influenced. The book explains the psychology of why people say “yes” and how to apply these understandings. Through six universal principles Robert B. Cialdini shows you how to become a skilled persuader (or how to defend yourself against them). Insightfully written, giving you a clear breakdown of each principle.
Nudge – Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein
Nudge is a book about the behavioral science behind our choices – how we make them and how we can make better ones. We are all susceptible to biases that can lead us to make bad decisions. And, as Thaler and Sunstein show, no choice is ever presented to us in a neutral way. By knowing how we think and behave, we can learn to make choices towards what is best for us.
As a Man Thinketh – James Allen
James Allen is one of the early adaptors of New Thought philosophy (law of attraction). In As a Man Thinketh he details how you are the creator and shaper of your destiny by the thoughts you think. You rise and fall with the thoughts you entertain. Your environment a result of what you have thought and done in the past, your future shaped and built by your present desires, aspirations, thoughts and actions.
Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
In this entertaining book, Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to high levels of success of the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. What makes highly successful people different? Why do they thrive successfully while others fail to reach their full potential? Outliers explains that success isn’t based on just intelligence, but on a variety of factors.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Robert T. Kiyosaki
In Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert T. Kiyosaki shares his story of growing up with two dads – his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad – and how both men shaped his thoughts about money. The book dismantles the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.
Zero to One – Peter Thiel & Blake Masters
In Zero to One, PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist, Peter Thiel explains how creating new things is the best way to profit economically, as well as the only path for human progress. The Book offers an inside look at Peter Thiel’s philosophy and strategy for making a startup a success by sharing his lessons from founding and selling PayPal, investing in Facebook and becoming a billionaire in the process.
The $100 Startup – Chris Guillebeau
In The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau shows you how to lead a life of adventure, meaning and purpose, while earning a good living. In preparing to write this book, Chris identified 1,500 individuals who have built businesses earning $50,000 or more from a modest investment (in many cases, $100 or less), and from that group he has chosen to focus on the 50 most intriguing case studies.
The Lean Startup – Eric Ries
Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched. Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs a way to test their vision continuously, so they can adapt and adjust before it’s too late.
Tools of Titans – Tim Ferriss
Some people are more successful than others because of the habits they develop. But what are these habits? In Tools of Titans Tim Ferriss shares everything he has learned about health, wealth and wisdom from interviewing over 200 world-class performers on his podcast. The book is filled with lessons worth learning, and is extremely actionable. What lessons you take from this and turn into actions is up to you.
How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
In How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie shares his thoughts on how you can change other people’s behavior simply by changing your own. Dale Carnegie teaches you the principles to better understand people, become a more likable person, improve relationships, win others over, and influence behavior through leadership.
The Art of War – Sun Tzu
The Art of War by Sun Tzu is considered by many to be the definitive book on military strategy and warfare since around 500 BC, inspiring businesses, athletes, and generals to beat their opponents and competition. Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War to share his thoughts on the art of warfare, but the lessons shared can be translated directly to other, competitive fields, like sports or business.
The Power of your Subconscious Mind – Joseph Murphy
Improve your relationships, your finances, your physical well-being. In The Power of your Subconscious Mind, Joseph Murphy examines the connection between the mental dynamics of thinking in relation to one’s quality of life while offering simple techniques designed to create new, more innovative thought processes and stimulate creativity.
Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
In the international bestseller Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical.
Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive
Every day we face the challenge of persuading others to do what we want. But what makes people say yes to our requests? Persuasion is not only an art, it is also a science. Based on more than sixty years of research into the psychology of persuasion, Yes! reveals fifty simple but remarkably effective strategies that will make you much more persuasive at work and in your personal life, too.
How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be – Jack Canfield
In The Success Principles (the alternative title of this book) Jack Canfield shows you how to create a vision, set goals, break them down into small steps, anticipate obstacles and plan how to deal with them, visualize and affirm success and believe in yourself and your dreams. Within minutes of reading this book you will be able to apply its clear, direct and highly effective principles to your own life.
The Science of Getting Rich – Wallace D. Wattles
In The Science of Getting Rich Wallace D. Wattles offers a step-by-step scientific approach to attracting financial and spiritual wealth. First published in 1910, this was one of the earliest self-help books that explained how to acquire wealth in a scientific way based on metaphysical concepts. The book teaches what being rich is really about, and explains how you can live to your full potential.
Starting Up On Your Own – Mike Johnson
Thinking of starting up on your own? Need to know the nuts and bolts of setting up, marketing yourself and prospecting for new business? Have you already made the leap and want to get more work, new clients, higher fees? This practical, no-nonsense book pulls no punches and guides you to set yourself up and shares all the know-how you need to survive, prosper and expand once you’re up and running.
Start With Why – Simon Sinek
Start With Why shows that the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way — and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with why.
The Laws of Human Nature – Robert Greene
Robert Greene is a master guide for millions of readers, distilling ancient wisdom and philosophy into essential texts for seekers of power, understanding and mastery. The Laws Of Human Nature helps you understand why people do what they do and how you can use both your own psychological flaws and those of others to your advantage at work, in relationships, and in life.
Principles: Life and Work – Ray Dalio
In Principles Ray Dalio shares the principles that he has developed, refined, and used over the past forty years of his remarkable career to create results in both life and business – and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals. Dalio argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines.
This is Marketing – Seth Godin
Seth Godin offers the core of his marketing wisdom in one compact, accessible, timeless package. This is Marketing shows you how to do work you’re proud of, whether you’re a tech startup founder, a small business owner, or part of a large corporation. Learn how to use tactics that rely on empathy, connection, and emotional labor instead of attention-stealing ads and spammy email funnels.
How Brands Grow – Byron Sharp
This book provides evidence-based answers to the key questions asked by marketers every day. Tackling issues such as how brands grow, how advertising really works, what price promotions really do and how loyalty programs really affect loyalty, How Brands Grow presents decades of research in a style that is written for marketing professionals to grow their brands.