Five Books Entrepreneurs Need to Read
Whether you’re just starting out or are focusing on expanding an already impressive portfolio, your entrepreneurial habits should include one key component: learning.
Continual learning is what gives us the flexibility, adaptability and creativity to overcome new hurdles and implement new concepts within our company. It pushes us and our understanding of ourselves, both personally and professionally. (Here are some of my other tips for investing in yourself as an entrepreneur.)
Reading or listening to audiobooks (Audible is a great source) is one of the most powerful tools entrepreneurs have to grow their skill set, learn directly from some of the world’s top leaders and continue to shape their perspective. I am a physical book person: I love being able to interact with the text and touch the pages. I highlight sections that resonate with me and leave notes in the margins, so I can engage with what I’m reading on a deeper and more meaningful level.
No matter what stage you are in your entrepreneurial journey, these books are essential to helping you access and act upon your full potential.
good to great by JIM COLLINS
“Can a good company become great?” That’s the question that preoccupied Jim Collins, author of the 90s business manifesto Built to Last, and led him to conduct an extensive, five-year research study into why some companies achieved excellence — and why some don’t. Does a company have to be born great, or can it become an industry force over time? Ie, if your company struggles in the beginning, does that foreshadow its future or just offer other avenues for growth?
In Good to Great, Jim breaks down some essential leadership concepts that can be instructive in shaping your approach to running a company. And it also emphasizes what I believe is key for any successful person in business: discipline.
RADICAL CANDOR by KIM SCOTT
Being a successful boss requires more than good business acumen — it requires compassion. Kim Scott has worked at heavy hitters like Apple and Google, and Radical Candor has been translated in over 20 languages, a testament to how well it captures the near-universality of good leadership. It shows how to strike the balance between praise and criticism in order to create a team that does their best work and feels supported at their job.
It also emphasizes the concept of collaboration, which is instrumental both inside an organization and within your network: our best results come from when we work together and connect with each other in the most authentic ways.
MASTERING THE ROCKERFELLER HABITS by VERNE HARNISH
Mastering the Rockefeller Habits is another book that breaks down the fundamentals of business, especially for companies that are emerging or expanding. It offers thorough outlines and worksheets to share how major corporations succeed, ranging from creating a more unified culture to getting financing. Like Good to Great, it also emphasizes the powerful role that routine can have in our lives — developing good habits and patterns that we practice every day is integral to a business. It requires putting in the work, even when things seem tough.
Verne’s books have won international business book awards and influenced tens of thousands of entrepreneurs around the world.
HOW WOMEN RISE by SALLY HELGESEN AND MARSHALL GOLDSMITH
What if success started with doing less? In How Women Rise, Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith examine and challenge myths of women’s behavior in business to find what it takes to succeed. It looks at everything from delegating to networking, and the tips and knowledge you need to excel.
The book isn’t just targeted towards female leaders — it’s targeted towards all members of an organization to consider gender dynamics and expectations in leadership, and how we can more critically think about these biases to give everyone greater opportunities to grow.
from suck to success by todd palmer
Often one of the best ways we can learn is by failing — which Todd Palmer experienced directly. When his business almost went bankrupt, he used it as an opportunity to learn exactly how to create a successful company and what was essential for leaders to achieve their goals. He also used this to transition into coaching other entrepreneurs (including me!) and teaching a philosophy that guides my own approach: living a life by design.
Todd provides straightforward steps, processes and concepts that entrepreneurs of all stages can apply to their business. He asks leaders to evaluate their own goals and gives insights into business operations, with an emphasis on investing in your culture and your team.
A note about failure: it’s part of any business (and any endeavor worth doing.) One of the best things I’ve learned in my entrepreneurial journey is embracing the potential for failure with a determination to learn, rather than fear.
BUSINESS SUCCESS SECRETS (ANTHOLOGY)
I’m proud to have gotten the chance to contribute to Business Success Secrets, alongside more than 30 other entrepreneurs. In it, we break down our experiences, how we built our ideas into companies and how we overcame the challenges that arose. It’s an opportunity for others to learn from our mistakes in order to tap into the best navigational tools and secrets of successful leadership.
I’ve been lucky to work with and learn from incredible entrepreneurs, who have shaped my approach to business and leadership — and now I’d love to work with you, too. I offer consulting services for clients and organizations of all sizes to help them grow, overcome hurdles and reach their goals, and look forward to connecting.