What are some of the top books that inspire and educate CEOs? As part of Young Presidents’ Organization’s Q&A series with chief executives around the world, we ask about their must-read books for business leaders. Here are 14 titles to put on your reading list.
1. Winning
“Jack Welch’s Winning is the best business book I ever read.” – Christine Sfeir, CEO of Meeting Point (Dunkin’ Donuts Lebanon) and Treats Holding (Semsom, Green Falafel)
2. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
“Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It is absolutely timeless. If you have to pick one habit among all others to start with, make it, ‘Begin with the end in mind.’” – Phil Hickey, chairman of Miller’s Ale House
3. The Power of Habits
“The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg. It talks about how we should, as much as possible, have habits built into our days so that we don’t spend lots of time making small decisions throughout the day when we can focus our energy instead on work decisions we actually do need to make.” – Joelle Goudsmit, president of Dimension-All Formworks and Scaffoldings
4. How Will You Measure Your Life?
“How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen. The business world has a way of crowding out our personal lives. We lose sight of important aspects of what makes us human: integrity, the ability to form personal relationships, experiencing happiness and satisfaction in our careers. This book gives you the tools to step back from the rat race and evaluate your life. It helps you strip away the clutter and get to the crux of what matters in your life and how to prioritize it.” – Umang Bedi, managing director for Adobe, South Asia
5. Switch
“A book I enjoy is called Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. It’s about the psychology and the science of change, and emphasizing change within people. If there is something within yourself or within your organization you’d like to change, the steps to changing it may be less intuitive than you might think.” –Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments
6. & 7. Creativity Inc. and Daring Greatly
“I am constantly reading so I can’t pick just one. I just finished Creativity Inc. and it was very insightful about how to build a culture of creativity. And I found Daring Greatly to be eye-opening and thought provoking around the power of vulnerability.” – Kelly Mooney, CEO of Resource
8. The No A**hole Rule
“The No A**hole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t by Robert Sutton. We require all supervisors and higher to read it and give a copy to every employee. It’s a serious book, despite the name, and a good explanation of how to deal with assholes — how to keep them out of a company and how not to be one (we all have the potential). This book helps us define the way we want our people to treat fellow employees, subordinates and customers; and the title gets everyone’s attention.” – Kurt Herwald, CEO of Commercial Foodservice Repair
9., 10. and 11.. Autobiographies by Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, and Ronald Reagan
“My favorite books from last year include autobiographies written by Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, and Ronald Reagan. I think CEOs can learn a lot from political figures.” – Jessica Mah, CEO of InDinero
12. The Effective Executive
“The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker. Everything a CEO needs to know about leadership and management is in there.” – Sanjay Kucheria, CEO of Trinus Corporation
13. Blink
“Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is a must read book for any business leader. It captures the essence of what I sometimes try to explain to people regarding my decision making process – mainly that it isn’t always a science and being a strong leader also means trusting your own instincts.” – Reshma Dave, managing director of Sapthagiri Hospitality Private Limited
14. Strategy Rules
“David B. Yoffie and Michael A. Cusumano’s book Strategy Rules, which examines five, timeless lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove and Steve Jobs.” – Ian Halfon, managing director of Slick Restaurant Group
Read more: Book Review: The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz, or How to Grow a Killer Business