1. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
Look no further if you want to know what successful business leaders think about!
From Martin Luther King to Steve Jobs, author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek attempts to find a common thread in their accomplishment, despite having quite different goals and aspirations. Simon Sinek uses personal stories to explore how corporate leaders think, act, and communicate in the workplace.
This book will help you become a better leader, inspire your workforce, and build client loyalty.
The finest leaders ask why. Why do people buy particular brands? Why are some leaders more loyal than others? Why do firms fail? Great leaders seek to know why things happen and do everything possible to find out. Sinek weaves together a clear image of what it takes to lead and inspire people. His work is a must-read for everyone seeking to understand confident leadership.
Great firms hire qualified individuals and inspire them, not the other way around.
2. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Michael E. Gerber is the founder of Michael E. Gerber Companies, a business skills training organization based in California. In The E-Myth Revisited, Gerber examines why 80% of small businesses fail and offers advice on avoiding being one of them.
In his book, The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber peels down the fallacies of running a business and takes you through real events with accompanying actions to operate a successful business.
Gerber's premise is that people incorrectly expect technical knowledge to transfer into business success, which is not frequently the case. Gerber teaches readers how to break out of this mindset and build a company that relies on "systems" rather than people.
The E-Myth Revisited is a must-read for tech entrepreneurs, analyzing how companies with an amazing product can self-sabotage by not contemplating how that innovation translates into financial success.
3. Good to Great by Jim Collins
Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't
A look at how firms like Intel, Coca-Cola, and Merck overcome their competitors.
In Good to Great, corporate management consultant Jim Collins describes how good firms become great by examining successful and unsuccessful transitions. Collins' book is ideal for entrepreneurs seeking a competitive advantage. For example, several members of The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council have chosen Good to Great as the best management book they have read.
Good slays are great. And that is why we have so little greatness. We have good schools, not outstanding schools. We have a good government, not a great government. As a result, few individuals live great lives, in part because settling for a good life is so easy.
This unique business book contains insights from 21 researchers, 6000 articles, and 2000 pages of interview transcripts.
4. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss
Steve Jobs was an entrepreneur and investor who later became a lifestyle expert. His first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, earned over four years on the New York Times Best Seller List and is regarded as one of the best productivity books ever published.
It is a well-known book among entrepreneurs. This book shows us how to live like billionaires without being rich.
Isn't it intriguing? Is it not that easy? Ferriss admits that not everyone can follow the steps in this book. But if you read with an open mind and without prejudice, you can reduce your workweeks from 80 to 4 hours.
One of the primary takeaways from this book is Ferriss' perspective on outsourcing work and increasing productivity. As a result, this is one of the best books for entrepreneurs and those just entering the business sector.
5. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman is a psychologist and Nobel laureate economist specializing in judgment and decision making. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, he examines how intuition and slow thinking influence our judgment and aid decision-making.
We all know that entrepreneurs face daily decisions. This book delves into decision-making and judgment psychology.
Kahneman also discusses the impact of quick and slow thinking on decisions. He explains two major psychological systems that motivate us. The vibrant and quick processes. Kahneman's insights benefit both merchants and marketers who want to better their decision-making skills.
Intelligence is the ability to reason, discover important information in memory, and pay attention when needed.
6. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Think and Grow Rich is a 1937 self-help and personal development classic. Napoleon Hill studied the lives of nearly 40 millionaires to identify a common connection.
One of my personal favorites. This book provides 13 important concepts to success that you can apply to any goal you wish to attain. For example, Hill uses 'rich' in a spiritual context and a monetary one.
Entrepreneurs will learn the importance of perseverance, faith, and ambition in achieving their goals. These are only a handful of the 13 concepts passionately portrayed in this book.
This book is for you if you are ready to take action in your life, whether spiritual, financial, or domestic.
"The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat."
Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich
7. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Anyone in business has heard of Apple's founder, Steve Jobs.
Author and former Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson examines one of the tech world's heavyweights in Steve Jobs. Isaacson, Time magazine's managing editor from 1996 to 2001, has published biographies of Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, and Henry Kissinger.
Over two years, Isaacson interviewed more than 40 people about Steve Jobs, including friends, family, colleagues, and foes. A fascinating biography of one of the 20th century's most fascinating characters, Isaacson, examines how his views on business and creativity affected his life, Apple, and the globe. Isaacson's biography is the greatest, most intimate retelling of Jobs' story.
"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
Steve Jobs, as quoted by Walter Isaacson
8. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
This best-seller has impacted the lives of countless people, from entrepreneurs to CEOs to stay-at-home moms.
The habits that steer you from dependency to independence to interdependence provide essential knowledge on developing success. Covey tells us how to understand ourselves and others better from mental paradigm shifts to synergy and a win-win mindset.
This updated edition by Covey's son is easily one of the top entrepreneur books of 2020, if not one of the best of the last four decades.
9. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
Benjamin Graham is an economist, investor, and educator renowned as the "father of value investing."
Written in 1949, The Intelligent Investor delivers timeless stock market wisdom. In addition, Graham teaches the reader how to discover longer-term, risk-averse investments based on research rather than conjecture.
The Intelligent Investor is a must-read for everyone interested in value investing and making wise financial decisions.
"The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists."
Benjamin Graham, The Intelligent Investor
10. This Is Marketing by Seth Godin
The bestselling author and blogger Seth Godin has inspired millions of business owners, marketers, and leaders.
Godin distills his marketing wisdom into a concise, timeless package for the first time.
This is Marketing teaches you how to accomplish great jobs as a tech company founder, small business owner, or corporate executive. Great marketers utilize marketing to solve other people's issues, not their own. Instead of eye-catching ads and spamming email funnels, they use empathy, connection, and emotional labor. Marketing, when done well, attempts to transform the world.
Conclusion
Entrepreneurial books may be the answer to many of your business challenges. Of course, some novels may be more applicable to your business than others, but it is still a learning exercise. Profit from life and business lessons. Accept advice from industry veterans. Build a prosperous business!