Leaders are readers!
Here are a few of the most impactful business books I’ve read. If you were to see my personal copy of each of these books you would notice they have a lot of underlined text, notes, and ideas highlighted in the margins. I’ve read them all several times over the years and get value every time. (Note: These are Amazon links, and if you purchase one I will earn a very nominal commission…think pack of gum, not retirement!)
- Selling the Invisible (Harry Beckwith) – You can’t see or touch services, making them much more challenging to sell than products.
- Built to Last (James Collins, Jerry Porras) – You don’t need a great idea to start a great company. Without a core ideology, a company will never be visionary. Introduced the business world to the wonderful concept of a “BHAG” or Big Hairy Audacious Goal!
- Good to Great (James Collins, Jerry Porras) – the followup to Built to Last, introduced the Hedgehog Concept and that great leaders are more often humble than outgoing.
- Crossing the Chasm (Geoffrey Moore) – Provides high tech startups with a marketing blueprint for getting the initial traction they need to eventually reach the majority of the market and not die in the chasm between early adopters and pragmatists.
- The Lean Startup (Eric Ries) – Codifies the Silicon Valley mode of creating a startup. Begin with a vision, create a hypothesis, quickly test and iterate until you have a MVP (Minimum Viable Product), pivot as necessary. Key principle: Get out of the building!
- The Startup Way (Eric Ries) – Translating the lessons from The Lean Startup into the corporate world.
- The E Myth Revisited (Michael Gerber) – Why most small businesses don’t work, and what to do about it. The most successful entrepreneurs work on their business, not in it.
- Predictable Revenue (Aaron Ross) – This is the bible for the inside sales development movement.
- Influence – the Psychology of Persuasion (Robert Cialdini) – Brilliant book that shares six mental short-cuts that we use to make decisions: Reciprocity, Scarcity, Authority, Consistency, Liking, and Consensus.
- The Challenger Customer (Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon) – The followup to Challenger Sale (and the recommended one to read). Lead with an insight, not your business!
- Let’s Get Real (Mahan Khalsa, Randy Illig) – Key principle when selling: no guessing!