Here is my list of favorite books with a short summary/reason as to why you should consider them:
1) Business Exit Planning: Options, Value Enhancement, and Transaction Management for Business Owners by Les Nemethy. The book provides a comprehensive view of what every business owner needs to know to plan and execute a business exit.
2) What color is your parachute? Richard Nelson Bolles. This is a classic in identifying your skills. If you think you know what are your skills are, think again. Do the exercise that Richard suggests. It’s an investment in YOU and you won’t be sorry.
3) Influence, The psychology of persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini PhD. This is a great book for Sales and Marketing teams.
4) The power of Now, Eckart Tolle. This is a great book on spirituality without any religious overtones. Tolle gives you tips on how to get control of your life, outcomes and stress – I use his tips dally! If you like this book you will enjoy even more…
5) A new Earth, Eckart Tolle. Again spirituality with really cool hints on how to master your life. I strongly recommend both books; they are bit dry at the beginning but get useful once you get used to his style.
6) Rich dad, poor dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki. I like Robert’s modest style. This is not a ‘Get rich quick’ book or scheme. He fundamentally believes in raising the level of education when in comes to personal finance. Read this one first then…
7) Cashflow quadrant by Robert T. Kiyosaki, and Guide to Investing by Robert T. Kiyosaki.
8) Perfect pitch by Jon Steel, this is great for the Adverting agency crowd but not only – great book on how to make great client-winning presentations.
9) Super Freakonomics by Stephen D. Levitt and Stephen J.Dubner. Great book on trends and unusual statistics. It makes you go…Huh!? Fun read and certainly gives Marketing specialists some creative ways to get customer insights.
10) Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders, Srini Pillay M.D. Srini was my teacher and is a master and authority on Brain Science. Finally someone unlocks the code as why we behave in such ways in business (because of brain patterns) and he describes how to address change and to improve team performance.
11) Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.
12) Zero to One by Peter Thiel. It’s my ‘GO to Book’ to understand technology startup potential. I know what to look/ask for because of Thiel’s book! Strongly recommended for start-ups and scale-ups – Reading this book is never too late.
13) Leonardo da Vinci: The Biography by Walter Isaacson. Isaacson’s captivating and thorough writing style helped me attribute the relevant title of “Alien” for my newest book, Demigods, Aliens and Ordinary People.