What do you do when vacations have been cancelled, webinars are redundant, TikTok has been banned, and there are too many podcasts to keep up with? No, you don’t go all in on your LinkedIn personal branding… You read.
What do today’s biggest global leaders have in common? They make it a daily habit to read a good book.
Studies have proven that reading every day develops you into a better thinker, builds your people skills, stimulates creativity, strengthens analytical skills, and reduces stress levels resulting in improved mental health.
All good things, especially those in the position to lead businesses.
We’ve put together our Top 5 books that will help your business.
1. Traction – Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman – this is an oldie, but goodie. Every business should implement an operating system like the Entrepreneurial Operating System described in this book to track metrics, analyze people, and scale. Since being published in 2007, EOS comes with templates to ease integration and a tracking software, NINETY . At minimum, building out the company’s vision and core values will create some alignment among the team. This practice works for any business of any size – although the smaller the business, the easier to integrate.
2. Principles by Ray Dalio – it’s long. 592 pages to be exact. But it’s also broken up into 3 parts which makes it easier to read without your eyes glazing over. This book hones in on understanding your strengths, realizing you know very little, and how to use these principles to make life and business decisions. Stressing the principles of “radical truth” and “radical transparency”, Dalio takes you inside the story behind one of the largest hedge fund management companies in the US – Bridgewater. There is way too much information to get it the first time around, but cherry picking the main ingredients to decide what you want, what is true, and what to do about it can instantly change a business’s dynamics.
3. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander – to be a good business leader today, it is imperative to be knowledgeable about social injustice and understand the environment current and future black and brown employees live in on a daily basis. Alexander, a civil rights lawyer, dives deep into the history of slavery and how it has evolved into a modern day, widely accepted racial caste system. Draped in the ineffective political agenda known as the “War on Drugs”, the book explains how both the Republicans and Democrats played key roles in perpetuating the mass incarceration of young black men the last 30 years.
4. This Could Be Out Future – A Manifesto for a More Generous World by Yancey Strickler – from one of the cofounders of Kickstarter, this book explains why our current system of capitalism is killing the planet. A thoughtful presentation of how we got here in such a short period of time and how we can replace our current practices with those of sustainability and equality, Strickler at minimum provokes the question: Will my business help save the planet, or kill it? With the introduction of his values structure “bentoism”, readers can use this tool to make personal and business decisions moving forward.
5. Business Adventures – Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks – If you enjoy the Netflix Dirty Money documentaries, you’ll enjoy this book of juicy stories about the massive fails and triumphs of some of the biggest organizations in United States history. Reading these stories will help business leaders recognize when they’re on to something that can change the world, or when they’re diving head first off of a cliff to meet their doom.
BONUS BOOK:Â
Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior by Phil Jackson – Everyone is a coach these days, but 11x NBA World Champion Phil Jackson makes those coaches look like pee wees. Aside from the compelling stories he shares about being a player and a blockbuster coach on the biggest basketball stage in the world, Jackson provides key leadership lessons about discipline, flexibility, and what a team can accomplish when there is one shared goal that is bigger than any one person on the team. Known by his players as the Zen Master, he attributes his success to his unorthodox teachings of practicing mindfulness, ditching the ego, and knowing each person’s role.
For more book recommendations, feel free to email us at info@eva8.com.
