Business books can easily fall into the top 50 books to read of just about any sort of instructional literature — an abysmal noise-to-signal ratio. Some are scams, some will only work for a few select people, and some are just badly written tripe. These 50 books on business, finance, and leadership all have qualities that raise them above the fray, and mark them as either the best or most popular of the lot. Generally slanted towards large corporations, the book still has powerful implications for businesses of all sizes when it comes to pricing decisions. It delves into how we influence people, and what methods work the most effectively, techniques that can be devastating if used properly. Through witty and easy to understand writing, Ries and Trout create a perfect introduction to marketing strategy. In industries with heavy market saturation, differentiation can be the difference between success and failure. Zag shows how to separate your brand from the rest of the pack, and thrive because of it. The silver-tongued gift of the gab, which Zig lays down for any and all comers. Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable Yet again we hit the touchstone of brand differentiation. Gladwell looks at powerful individuals who can spread information, and how a tsunami of small changes can add together to a major paradigm shift. Years of incompetent leadership has left the company poor, with many horrific purchases under their belt, and a toxic board. While Jobs may not have been a nice or pleasant individual, he was an excellent businessman who demanded perfection from his staff. He revolutionised user interface, and created a world of design and industrial art that has influenced the entire world of technology. Sure, he was a prick, but he was truly good at what he did. Top 50 books to read Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything Everyone has an idea for a business. A must read for startups, it clearly lays out how to get your idea off the ground. First published in 1983, it pushed forward the radical idea that traditional advertising campaigns were sub-optimal, and lead to the birth of guerrilla, and the more modern viral, marketing. Rather than rely on the traditional methods of marketing, Levinson urges alternative platforms and paths that can allow better penetration for less outlay. In the time of freelance programmers and coffee shop journalists, this book looks at a massive growth in a new demographic and how it changes the face of the world. The Wisdom Of Crowds The general thought is that enormous crowds of people are stupid, unruly mobs, ruled by their worst instincts. Surowiecki posits the opposite, that the crowd is in fact smarter than specifically trained elites. To a certain degree you see this with crowdsourcing, but huge groups can still bring out the worst in people. The Lexus and the Olive Tree New York Times Foreign Affairs columnist Thomas L. Friedman wrote the Lexus and the Olive Tree as a way of analyzing the incredible power of globalization in the world right now. In a system where everyone is interconnected at a previously unforeseen level, where you can email a manufacturer in China to send a product to a packaging plant in Africa, understanding the globally holistic nature of business is crucial. The 48 Laws of Power For the geeks in the audience, consider this a real-life version of the Rules of Acquisition. Thousands of years of graft, management, rulership and ruthlessness compressed down into a slim 48 rules on how to take power, and crush your enemies beneath your corporate bootheel. The Top 50 books to read Of Management In modern business, the Practice of Management is something of a classic. While now much of the advice may seem trite and obvious, it was a trendsetter, and laid down the groundwork for much of what we consider completely standard now. When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management In a world where hedge funds are currently reviled as being major players in the current economic crisis, this book tracks the rise and fall of one of the biggest hedge funds of all time: Long-Term Capital Management. Rather than ads that butt into your shows top 50 books to read reading, ones that create a relationship with the viewer, and entice them into becoming a customer. The largest takeover ever attempted, it was seen as an endemic representation of the excesses of that decade. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies Based on an incredible body of research from Stanford, rather than focus on leaders and products which redefined industries, Built to Last instead focused on a number of long-lived companies. While some of them are in slightly worse shape in the current economic climate, the basis for their longevity is well worth investigating. The One Minute Manager First published in 1982, The One Minute Manager was a revolutionary and highly influential book when it landed. It fundamentally broke down much of the business of management into creating small and achievable goals and actions, improving motivation and performance. Small enough that you can burn through it in a quiet afternoon, and get at a book that is incredibly effective. The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life Creativity exists in more than people who have outwardly creative professions. The Creative Habit is about the work of inspiration. The One Thing You Need to Know: … About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success Following on from his success with First Break All The Rules, Marcus Buckingham went on to write two more books, including The One Thing You Need To Know, which focused on the three most important and fundamental areas of professional activity. That would be the titular management, leadership, and individual success. Drawing on a number of sample cases, he demonstrated simple truths at the heart of success in all these regions. Hardly subtle, but nonetheless informative, they at least breakaway from the usual somewhat dry formula you top 50 books to read in many of these entries. This can mean that 80% of revenue comes from 20% of customers, or that 80% of my writing comes from 20% of my time the rest is spent playing around on the internet. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us Everyone struggles with motivation. Be it professional, personal, or romantic, getting together the energy to attempt something — and even more to stick with it — can feel impossible inside the world of apathy. Anyone who has been stuck under a cruel but competent boss knows this well enough, as people work best under leaders they feel actually care about them. In fact the author runs a WordPress blog continuing on the advice that carries from the book. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High Written by the quartet of Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, this New York Times bestselling book really boiled top 50 books to read one of the key skills of a high-stress business environment: how to talk to people. While that may sound like an easy enough task, and for many day to day tasks it is, but it can easily turn extremely difficult. They actually talked to and interviewed some 200 people for this book, about how they grew and developed in their industries and live. Bill Clinton, Jeff Bozos, Warren Buffett, Maya Angelou and more all offer their insight. Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs Bill Hybels is the leader of the large and powerful Willow Creek Community Church, and his book Axiom approaches the skills needed for leadership from the perspective of a church leader, and a man revitalizing the Christian community. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors Now hitting a ludicrous 60th printing, Competitive Strategy has been incredibly popular ever since it was first published in 1998. He focuses on what makes a business competitive: lowest cost, differentiation, and focus, and how competitive advantage is crafted. By analyzing the rich, this book picks seven factors which seem to be the most common traits of millionaires, laying bare many which may sound like common sense, but are remarkably adroit when you dig deeper. The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron The fall of Enron was a financial disaster that was heard around the world. Their financial maleficence was hidden so well for so many years that when it finally fell apart, and the executives walked away still rich while employees were devastated, the world was left agog. Instead, he used careful statistical analysis to gather players with skills that were not usually considered nearly as valuable, and in doing so took the tools of business into baseball. His account of the corporate culture at Toyota that propelled the company into worldwide success for decades is an incredible one, and one that can be applied to just about any industry. While some current historical work seems to suggest that it may have been written as satire, it has nonetheless been used as a guidebook for people in any and all fields who want to improve their lot, and are willing to damn any that come against him. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich Timothy Ferriss is a controversial figure. Unarguably endowed with the gift of the gab, he got his start selling nutrition supplements of dubious value, and managed to parlay his success into a book empire. While his book is a quick and easy read, it does have some valuable information — but it pays to remember that these methods worked for him, and might not for you. These young men gambled with millions, attempting to bluff and out manoeuvre one another in financial transactions that shook the world. Written more than 2,000 years ago as guide for military strategists in ancient China, with only a bit of lateral thought its lessons equally apply to the world of modern business. While they may seem oblique at times, the lessons therein are incredibly important. Smith not only championed the free market, but also worried that too much power to the corporations would lead to abuse of the individual. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity Face it, one of the major problems with getting things done is…well…getting things done. Everyone procrastinates, and discovering how to beat that problem is the key to being efficient and productive. How to Win Friends and Influence People 1936. Much of the advice has been absorbed into other books and methods, but Carnegie designed his style to help his students become good salesmen, and it remains invaluable to this day. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Another classic in the fields of both self help and business, 7 Habits was published in 1990 and has sold 10 million copies in the intervening decades. And them from one that truly, truly succeeds. Jim Collins wrote Good to Great to top 50 books to read the difference between the good and the great in the business world, and how certain companies manage to make the transition. He argues that even companies without greatness inherent can last and thrive, if they behave in the right way. It might not get off the ground, or even worse, it might go well for a while before falling apart. Easy to read and provocative, it is a modern classic, and arguably the best business book around.
