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Rookie Smarts by Liz Wiseman
Every entrepreneur is at some point a rookie, an upstart, an inexperienced person with a dream... and fortunately experience isn't everything. In Rookie Smarts, Wiseman shows how rookies can outperform veterans, experience can cause us to ignore new ideas, and how sometimes the perfect person to hire is the person who doesn't "know" everything.
Twitter Is Not a Strategy by Tom Doctoroff
If you're trying to build a brand (and if you're not, why aren't you?), social media is just a tool. Creativity, execution, and positioning are the foundation of great brands -- social media is just one way to execute that strategy. Twitter Is Not a Strategy takes you back to basics... and back to ensuring you're actually creating a brand and not just a lot of one-way propaganda.
The Innovators by Walter Isaacson
The stories of Gates, Wozniak, Jobs, Page, Berners-Lee, Turing... plus some people you've probably never heard of that helped create the digital revolution starting in the 1840s. (Seriously.) And if that's not enough, The Innovators is written by Walter Isaacson, the dean of business biographies (and an outstanding speaker to boot.) If you love being inspired by stories of how other people did it, this is your book.
Crazy Is a Compliment by Linda Rottenberg
Contrarians take note: the subtitle of Crazy Is a Compliment is "The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags." Rottenberg claims that if people don't think you're crazy when you launch something new, then you aren't thinking big enough. At the same time she doesn't advocate taking huge risks; instead your goal should be to risk just enough to get in the game. Sounds like the approach every smart successful entrepreneur I know took.
Intelligent Leadership by John Mattone
I'm normally not a fan of labeling people (as the Pythons would say, "We're all individuals!") but the sections in Intelligent Leadership on identifying your predominant leadership trait -- and the predominant traits of the people who work for you -- are outstanding. Hoping to become an even better version of the leader you already are? With Mattone's help, you can.
The Upside of Your Dark Side by Kashdan & Biswas-Diener
The Upside of Your Dark Side shows how some, um, less positive aspects of your personality can actually lead to success and fulfillment. Anger can fuel creativity. Selfishness can increase courage. Guilt fosters improvement. Mindlessness can lead to better decisions. (Hey, a great reason to zone out!) Tap the sum of your emotional parts and be more successful... and surprisingly happier.
Every Idea is a Good Idea by Tom Sturges
Ideas are the lifeblood of every business. But ideas don't just have to come to you. Every Idea is a Good Idea is full of dependable, repeatable ways to be creative almost on cue. While most of the examples come from musicians and artists, that's okay -- they're easily applied to any field. Plus that makes for an entertaining read. (Did you know that Rembrandt painted a lot of selfies? Or that Paul McCartney used the words "scrambled eggs" as a placeholder for lyrics that eventually became "Yesterday"?) Informative and entertaining. Can't beat that.
Scaling Up Excellence by Sutton & Rao
Every startup hopes to scale. But how do you scale when your business is, largely, an extension of you? How do you spread your beliefs and foster the right behaviors so your company not only grows but improves? Scaling Up Excellence shows that scaling isn't an art, it's a quantifiable, repeatable science -- and one that every business trying to grow needs to learn.
Zero to One by Peter Thiel
You won't agree with everything in Zero to One. Some of it might even piss you off. That's okay. No matter what, Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and early investor in Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp, will definitely make you think. And he'll make you question some of your assumptions about business, innovation, and different paths to success. Thiel wonders, "What valuable company is nobody building?" Hopefully that company will be yours.
Winners Dream by Bill McDermott
Since every person's journey is different and lessons learned are often less than broadly applicable, I'm usually not a fan of "how I did it" books. Winners Dream is an exception. McDermott rose through the ranks at Xerox, Siebel Systems, Gartner, and is now the CEO of SAP. (Not too shabby, eh?) It's a great book for anyone who dreams of building and leading a global company... or who just wants to live vicariously through someone that has.
Smartcuts by Shane Snow
Snow thinks it's easier to build a huge business than a small one. (Sounds good, right?) Smartcuts shows how to use lateral thinking to break rules and achieve success quickly. Want to know more about strategies like hacking the ladder, training with masters, rapid feedback, platforms, catching waves, superconnecting, momentum, simplicity, and 10X thinking? Shane is your guy.
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