If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere don’t look now, but summer’s winding down.
Grab time to go outside with your mobile device to catch up on both those rays and that summer to-do hit list.
I know for me that includes mapping the learning blueprint for the Entrepreneurship course I’m slated to teach this fall.
In a recent post for the F.I.T. blog I wrote about how entities like universities go about putting into place the right formula to accelerate learning. A significant factor of which is a student’s ability to learn how to effective and efficiently learn on their own.
So what does this have to do with you?
Unfortunately, most people leave school and never look back, but as a seasoned entrepreneurial leader you know that the quest for knowledge is a never ending voyage. You continue to practice the art of self-learning and I’m here to help.
In the spirit of those heading back to school I put together a list of titles that every businessperson should have in thier reading rotation. Check out these seven ( in alphabetical order) that I’ve consistently recommended to my friends:
- Business Model Generation – A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers and Challengers by Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur and more (Wiley). With more than 35 contributors, this is a blueprint of how business models should be developed and analyzed. The best part is that there is an active community that continuously amends the core work.
- Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors by Michael E. Porter. As Harvard Business School’s leading authority on Strategy and Competitiveness his work. If you want a good start of how to think about competitors, this is the book for you. It is comprised of three sections – – General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions. The real prize is in Chapter One where he introduces the now legendary *Five Forces Driving Industry Competition. Other great titles from Porter are Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (1980) and Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance (1985).
- Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patten. We’re constantly negotiation throughout our entire lives, whether it’s which direction to take the company, who to hire, or what movie to see. It all comes down to empathy and how you behave during the conversations. This book provides a five point outline that you’ll follow for your entire life.
- Management Challenges for the 21st Century by Peter Drucker. The central discussion is centers around how the paradigms of management changed and the impact that it is having on the basic assumptions about the practices and principles of management. The great part about this writing is that the challenges and issues discussed in it were with us at the time it was penned. With the advantage we currently have with hindsight many lessons can continue to be extracted from the work.
- Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi. Without a strong network you’re sunk, period. This work provides the basis of what you need to do to build, grow, and nurture a vibrant network.
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey. There’s a reason that this title makes everyone’s reading list, the advice just flat-out works for anyone in an phase of their life or situation.
- The Art of War by Sun-Tzu. Definitely not a beach read. If, however, you’re looking to survive business quagmires, exploit the right opportunities, and overcome adversarial situations you need to put the effort into absorbing these lessons.
Now it’s your turn: in the comment section below pick the one business related book that inspired you and share it.
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