Recommended books
Our colleagues from the business incubation sector, and in industry and academia, have compiled a list of reference books on entrepreneurship that we thought you might find of value as you start or enhance your business venture. Happy reading!
20 Best Business Books – GENERAL READING:
1. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
2. The One Thing You Need To Know…About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success by Marcus Buckingham
3. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (J-B Lencioni Series) by Patrick Lencioni
4. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham
5. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
6. The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence by Tom Peters
7. Winning by Jack Welch
8. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Harper Business Essentials) by Jim Collins
9. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
10. Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money—That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! By Robert T. Kiyosaki
11. The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership (J-B Warren Bennis Series) by Steven B. Sample
12. Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of The Box by Arbinger Institute
13. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson
14. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join The New Rich (Expanded and Updated) by Timothy Ferriss
15. Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future by Andy Stanley
16. The Four Obsessions of An Extraordinary Leader: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
17. Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart
18. The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers (And Their Employees) (J-B Lencioni Series) by Patrick Lencioni
19. Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters by Jerry I. Porras
20. Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs by Bill Hybels
Entrepreneurship
Seven guides to the passion and art of starting your own company, and practically necessary for anyone starting a new venture:
The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki (also available in CD and audio)
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber (also available in CD and audio)
The Republic of Tea ** by Mel Ziegler, Patricia Ziegler, and Bill Rosenzweig
The Partnership Charter by David Gage
Growing a Business by Paul Hawken
Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson (also available audio)
The Monk and the Riddle Randy Komisar with Kent Lineback
Innovation & Creativity
Insight into the process of developing new ideas – helpful in “figuring it out”:
Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie
The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley with Jonathan Littman (also available in audio)
Jump Start Your Business Brain by Doug Hall
A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger Von Oech
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
Big Ideas
The future of business books lies here – these are the “radical and different”:
The Age of Unreasonby Charles Handy
Out of Controlby Kevin Kelly
The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (also available in CD and audio)
Driven by Paul R. Lawrence and Nitin Nohria
To Engineer is Human by Henry Petroski
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki (also available in audio)
Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (also available in CD and audio)