If there’s one thing that every executive must do, its read.Read, read, read.It helps keep your creative juices flowing.It can give you new ideas.New perspective.New strategies and tactics that can boost your awesome business to new heights.
I recommend to all my clients, all my students and everyone in the tribe to read every day (at least every week day.)And if you want to get into some awesome books for the executive in you, here we go.
This book is my constant #1. It breaks down literally everything you need to do to run a more efficient and more successful organization. Everything from sales to training to hiring, it is all here. A true manual for running a business like a well oiled machine.
It’s been said that there’s nothing new under the sun. And I 100% believe it to be true. This book will teach you how to use the work that came before you to better your own creations. Think if it like ethical stealing. Bonus: It reads super easily and can be finished in a sitting if you power through.
This is the first “mind” book I’m recommending, but not the last. Personally, I believe that complaining is one of the worst things you can do with your time. You bring attention to something negative without doing anything about it…. what a waste. This book teach you how to stop that. For the executive, this will help you take any problems that come up and immediately start to deal with it positively. Truly an incredible weapon to keep in your arsenal.
Ok, if you want to even think about marketing, you have to read this. Maybe twice. It will break down every rule to be successful in marketing and prove why it’s a rule.
If there’s one thing that an executive MUST be good at, its strategy. That makes a lot of sense, right? But you’d be surprised at how many are purely tactical. This book breaks down some of the greatest strategies of all time. My favorite: The first person to build a business around ice.
A huge part of being successful is the ability to learn from those that came before you. Even from someone born over 300 years ago… From possibly the greatest biography writer of our time, you deep dive into the life and even the thoughts of one of our founding fathers. You’d be surprised at how he was able to grow his printing business into the greatest in the land, the impressive positioning he employed and, of course, how he helped fuel a revolution.
The classic written by the master. The original “mad man” (meaning, Mad Men was based on his firm Ogilvy & Mather.) It covers pretty much every way to get your message to your prospective customer in incredible detail. Copywriting, marketing and direct mail are all covered and still incredibly relevant.
This book is pretty much a play-by-play of everything it took to build the biggest store on the planet. The years of reinvesting, the tough calls to think long term. If nothing else, this book is a testament to the importance of thinking long term.
Every company sells something. To other businesses, to consumers, to government… whatever. Something has to be sold or they can’t exist. The secret is to remember that you are still selling to people. This book goes into the consumers head a bit and discovers the “why” behind buying trends. Busting myths that could waste you money, proving methods that can make you more. A must read for anyone that wants to get to the top and stay there.
A book about the mind, neuroplasticity and meditation, written by a Buddhist monk. How on earth can this help the executive? Simple. The mind controls our perception of the world, our situations, everything really. If you can understand the mind and learn to better control it, you will be YOU (actually, a more calm and in control you) in any situation
It’s tough to put out a “must read” list of books that can help propel you to the top and keep you there, but I stand by this one.Yes, more could have been on there – but a line has to be drawn.You have to start implementing what you read, or it is all for nothing.
On the other hand, you have to keep reading and keep learning be at the top of your game.So read on.
Discover How We Help Startups Scale To 100,000 Users And Beyond.
Enter your info below, and we’ll send you a complimentary white paper that shows you exactly what you need to do to scale your startup.
Steve is a startup executive, consultant, advisor, investor, developer, dad and Jeet Kune Do black belt. He is dedicated to helping startups scale quickly and efficiently without crashing and burning through all their cash when they do it. Subscribe above to learn more.
