I get a lot of questions from people who ask me what books I can recommend to them regarding career, networking or business. Therefore I outline my top 10 books in career, networking (the kind of way that I teach & preach, based on value creation and generosity) and business in this blog post.
Many of these books are not dummies guides but rather explore principles to follow and, of course, mention a lot of stories (because I love stories).
#10 – Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion
This book is a creation from Gary Vaynerchuk. If you ever need to hear a very successful business professional swear on stage for an hour, check out his speeches on Youtube.
Gary explains why now is the right time to start something on your own or in your career that is based on your passion.
#9 – Poke the Box
This book is written by Seth Godin, one of my favorite business philosophers. It’s basically a call to action to take initiative and stop waiting for somebody to give you permission to lead.
Another book from Gary Vaynerchuk where he goes into details how his idea of the thank you economy works. It’s an amazing book you can apply to anything in your life, career, personal life or your own business.
#7 – Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Based on Simon Sinek’s idea of starting with WHY, I created the Why-How-What Technique that you can find in the Communication Excellence Workbook. The philosophy behind it is all explained in this book and there are tons of stories and examples you can relate to.
If you really want to find your passion, communicate on a deeper level with others and digg deep into your personality, this is the book to buy.
#6 – The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career
A book I recently finished reading and that was a generous gift from a much valued business partner.
This book is fantastic for career management and development purposes. It shows you a different path than just one straight career and acts as the bridge to understand how similar entrepreneurship to a successful career are. A must read for anyone who wants to take his career to the next level.
#5 – Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
The most brilliant book about networking I have ever ready. It completely aligns with my values based on value creation and generosity and is filled with great stories from Keith’s own life and others.
If networking is something you want to practice but don’t like those networking events where people just go to sell stuff and hand out 100 business cards, this book is a must read.
#4 – The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?
Seth Godin’s newest creation and another masterpiece. It’s based on the idea of the Icarus myth and compares it to our professional life today.
It opened my eyes even more to how brainwashed we actually are by the left overs of the industrial age and what we can do to come back to living our professional life to the fullest and enjoying every moment of it.
#3 – Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
Everyone who wants to become a true leader and connector in a career has to read this book by Seth Godin. As you can probably see in my reading list, Seth is my favorite author in business philosophy.
Linchpin explains who these individuals are that become almost indispensable for an organization and the economy and how you can become one of them to excel in your career.
#2 – Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
I have probably listened to this audiobook from Seth Godin over 15 times by now and I keep listening to it over and over again. If you want to learn the principles of leadership, this is the book. There is nothing I have come across that can compare to it when it comes to authentic leadership.
Tribes is the reason I took the first step to start jordico.com and one of the main reasons why my business is thriving. Read this book if you want to become a passionate and authentic leader that encounters others with generosity.
I am a huge fan of Michael Port. He is somebody who completely aligns with my personal values.
This book is the reason why my business has such a strong foundation and is built on principles that completely align with my values and a clear vision. I recommend this book to anyone starting or thinking about starting his own business.
Even though this book is designed for service professionals starting their own business, you can apply almost everything to your career.
If you do, there will never again be a need for you to look for a new job as you will likely start a business or develop such a strong foundation and endless demand in the market for your personality that your career will skyrocket.
Thanks a lot, Daniel! The reading plan for next weeks is now clear 😉
My pleasure Dimitri 🙂
Thanks for sharing. I’m looking forward to adding some of these to my reading list.
My pleasure Simonne
One of my readers just sent me an email with some other recommendations:
“In regards to your last blog post, I would like to share some books about Swiss culture from a British point of view and sometimes humour. I read it before going to Switzerland and I found it very interesting. It is a pleasing reading and I believe it could make easier expat integration.
Diccon Bewes 2010. Swiss Watching: Inside the Land of Milk and Money. (Swiss culture in general).
Diccon Bewes 2012. Swisscellany: Facts & Figures About Switzerland. (Curiosities about the country).
And the next one is coming!
He also has a blog: http://www.dicconbewes.com/“
I would recommend Peter Church’s book Added Value-the life stories of Indian business leaders. Amazing insight on some truly inspirational people. You should read this book not only because it was fantastically insightful and interesting in relation to the individuals but also gives the reader an incredibly helpful view of the mindset of the business leaders. The book is an excellent primer for anyone seeking to do business.
http://amzn.com/B009PMPKZ4
Thanks for that input John