In a way, reading is a kind of admission that, as much as it sometimes feels like it, we don’t have it all figured out.
Bill Gates reads upward of 50 books a year. Mark Cuban reads more than three hours a day. Mark Zuckerberg challenged himself to read a book every two weeks last year.
If some of the most successful and prominent business leaders in the world are continuously looking elsewhere for knowledge and advice, there’s probably no reason why you shouldn’t be, too. Here are 10 recommendations from business owners right here in Fargo-Moorhead.
1.) The Third Wave By Steve Case
One of America’s most accomplished entrepreneurs—a pioneer who made the internet part of everyday life and orchestrated the largest merger in the history of business—shares a roadmap for how anyone can succeed in a world of rapidly changing technology.
2.) The Power of Habit By Charles Duhigg
Pulitzer Prize–winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes you to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. At its core, “The Power of Habit” contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive and achieving success is understanding how habits work.
3.) Tribes By Seth Godin
The web can do amazing things, but it can’t provide leadership. That still has to come from individuals—people just like you who have passion about something. The explosion in tribes means that anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at their fingertips.
4.) The Lean Startup By Eric Ries
Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, “The Lean Startup” offers entrepreneurs—in companies of all sizes—a way to test their vision continuously and to adapt and adjust before it’s too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in an age when companies need to innovate more than ever.
5.) Mindful Work By David Gelles
“Mindful Work” is the first book to explain how all sorts of businesses and any kind of worker can benefit from meditation, yoga and other mindful techniques. Mindfulness lowers stress, increases mental focus and alleviates depression among workers. It has also benefited companies that have adopted it—from the millions of dollars Aetna has saved in healthcare costs to the ways Patagonia has combined leadership in its market with a pervasively mindful outlook.
6.) The Millionaire Next Door By Thomas J. Stanley
The best-selling “The Millionaire Next Door” identifies seven common traits that show up again and again among those who have accumulated wealth. Most of the truly wealthy in this country don’t live in Beverly Hills or on Park Avenue. They live next door.
7.) You Are a Badass By Jen Sincero
In this New York Times bestseller, Jen Sincero serves up 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises and the occasional swear word. If you’re ready to make some serious changes, “You Are a Badass” will help you identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, blast past your fears so you can take big, exciting risks, figure out how to make some damn money already, learn to love yourself and others, and set big goals and reach them.
8.) Think and Grow Rich By Napoleon Hill
“Think and Grow Rich” is a 1937 personal-development and self-help book inspired by a suggestion from Scottish-American business magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. While its title implies that the book deals with how to attain monetary wealth, the philosophy taught in the book can be used to help people succeed in all lines of work and to do or be almost anything they want.
9.) The New One Minute Manager By Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
For decades, “The One Minute Manager” has helped millions achieve more successful professional and personal lives. While the principles it lays out are timeless, our world has changed drastically since the book’s publication. “The New One Minute Manager” introduces the book’s powerful, important lessons to a new generation. In a concise, easy-to-read story, the authors teach readers three very practical secrets about leading others and explain why these techniques continue to work so well.
10.) Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson
Most people are fearful of change because they don’t believe they have any control over how or when it happens to them. Since change happens either to the individual or by the individual, Dr. Spencer Johnson shows us that what matters most is the attitude we have about change.
