I posted a required reading list for entrepreneurs a while back. I included a lot of great classics. I've been traveling a lot and I'm actually relaxing on the Big Island in Hawaii as I write this. I have been reading books like crazy lately so I wanted to post a little about them.
1) Abundance by Peter Diamandis- This book is about future of our planet earth and beyond. It tells of an abundant future. It goes into how we can solve some of the world's issues like poverty, clean drinking water, etc. Peter is the founder and Chairman of the X-prize. This is the organization that offered $10 million dollars the first person (non-goverment) to launch a manned flight into space twice within two weeks. Most recently he's been in the news for co-founding Planetary Resources The asteroid mining company with several high profile investors like the founders of Google and James Cameron. I've known about this project for a while now because Peter's Co-Founder/Co-Chairman Eric Anderson is a friend of mine and my forum mate in the Young Presidents Organization. Overall it's a book that gives you great hope for the next 10 to 20 years and for our future generations.
2) Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey- If you are a small/medium sized business owner then this is a must read. It's one of those books that is a mix of reassurance that you are doing things right and new ideas that get you pumped up to implement into your business. It is filled with so many gems of wisdom. The book pulls from the knowledge Dave has gained in the business trenches. No theories here. All real meat! Because of this fantastic book I started listening to the Entreleadership Podcast
hosted by Chris LoCurto This podcast is every bit as good as the book. As a matter of fact, the final 2 books I'm going to cover are as a result of the interviews on the podcast. By the way Chris' blog is awesome too, especially this post about someone you might know of .
3) Great by Choice by Jim Collins- Jim is most famous for his ground breaking best seller Good to Great. A common fixture on the bookshelves of entrepreneurs and business leaders everywhere. In this latest book he uses real life examples of how companies thrive over the long term. It tells you how you can choose to succeed regardless of the economy or any other outside forces. Listening to the 2 part interview on the Entreleadership podcast was actually just as good as the book itself. All of Jim's books are tremendously insightful, well researched, and highly recommended.
4) The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni- This book was great timing for our company. We had all of the leadership team read it and have acted on some of it's principles. Most of Patrick's books in the past have been in story form. This book however, is in the standard business book style. The focus is on your company's organizational health. He gives great examples illustrating the importance of getting to know your team, having meetings that are both often and effective. He also has an interesting take on being a vulnerable leader and how that vulnerability with your team can make your company more healthy. I am going to read some of his fable style books such as Death by Meeting and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team in the future.
