TOP 20 BOOKS TO READ FOR CEO's

TOP 20 BOOKS TO READ FOR CEO's

In the age of the internet, one must wonder reading a book is old-fashioned. Everyone is so busy with their life; no one realizes the importance of reading a simple book. That's because the new generation has lost patience. They want everything quick and fast. They don't understand that the most valuable things in life take time to come. Reading a book changes our perception of our surroundings. It gives us a new angle to look from. More than that it a good habit. Why so? Because it’s a habit of every CEO.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO READ BOOKS FOR CEOs

CEO! What does come to your mind when you come across this word.  Passion?  Boss?  A leader? CEO expands as Chief Executive Officer, which is the highest position in a company. You already know being a CEO is a big deal. They have so much responsibility and power in their hands that a normal person most probably can't handle. So you must think they are a very rare species of humans? Not at all! They are like any normal human being, but what makes them different is what they think, how they think and when they think. It is not the external features of a person that will make him a CEO one day, but it is their power of mind which takes them to such heights of success. You might also want to become a CEO one day, but do you know what is common among all the CEO's I the world? They all read books, great books which elevate their power of imagination and set them apart from the rest of the crowd.

A CEO has to face a lot of obstacles and issues in professional as well as private life. They believe that whatever difficulties they are facing somebody must have confronted them beforehand and written down the resolutions he/she realized in the form of a book. Hence, a CEO relishes reading books because they can discover the answers to their queries in them.

You see, not all book readers are CEOs but all the CEOs read books, so you must know which book to read. There are millions of books, each one of them different from each other teaches you some important lessons in life.

So by now, you agree that reading books is very important but you may ask which book to read, well keep on reading we have discussed the top 20 books for aspiring CEOs below.

TOP 20 BOOKS TO READ FOR CEOs

1-"Managing Oneself" by Peter F. Drucker

About the author:

Peter F. Drucker was an American-Austrian management counselor and author. His contributions are very significant in present-day business corporations. He was a guide in the development of management training, he developed the concept remembered as management by objectives and self-control, and he is also called "the founder of modern management.

About the Book:

In his book ‘Managing Oneself’, Peter F. Drucker explains how you can develop a life of excellence in a world plentiful of unprecedented possibilities. The main purpose behind it is simple: Concentrate on your strengths and develop a deep conclusion of yourself. You need to study more about yourself than mere insights into your strengths and weaknesses. You need to recognize how you learn, how you pull with others, what your powers are, and where you can make the most significant contribution. Only then will you realize true and enduring excellence.

The challenges of managing one-self may seem understandable, if not fundamental. And the answers may seem the self-apparent point of appearing naive. But managing oneself needs new and unique things from the individual, and particularly from the knowledge worker. In effect, managing one-self requires that each knowledge worker thinks and acts like a Chief Executive Officer.

2-Changing the World without Losing Your Mind by Ramon Ray

About the author:

Ramon is a sought after international keynote speaker and entrepreneur.

If you're looking to have someone encourage, excite, and inform the attendees at your next event, invite Ramon to speak.

About the Book:

The Celebrity CEO is the perfect guide to building a strong personal brand. By improving your brand, you will set your business aside from your opponents and become known as the specialist in your industry

Written for entrepreneurs and small business proprietors who want to make a huge impact and build a faithful fan base, The Celebrity CEO is the origin for celebrity status in business. Learn from the originator of Smart Hustle Media, Ramon Ray, about how to have the mindset of a celebrity CEO and the tools to grow your tribe.

3-The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

About the author:

Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer-prize winning American reporter and non-fiction writer. He has worked for The New York Times and is the author of two books on the topics habits and productivity, titled The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life & Business and Smarter Faster Better.

About the Book:

This book assists us to understand how habits are developed and how we can utilize them to our benefit, change them when we want to and substitute them when necessary. Duhigg does alert the readers that although we know the way habits are made and changed it is not always simple to do it. Defining the actual cue, for instance, can take some experimentation and study. Charles Duhigg leads us to the thrilling edge of scientific findings that illustrate why habits exist and how they can be modified. With comprehending intelligence and expertise to extract vast measures of information into interesting narratives, Duhigg brings to life a wholly different conclusion of human nature and its potential for alteration.

4- "EntreLeadership" by Dave Ramsey

About the author:

Ramsey was born and raised in a city called Antioch in Tennessee. He graduated in 1982 from the college of business administration at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with a degree in Finance and Real Estate.

About the Book:

Ramsey reveals how to work on your business rather than in it. He explains your company is only as great as its leaders, and your team will never develop exceeding you. So, the actual question is, "Are you growing?"

It is a great practical business book. It's an abundance of good reminders for those with experience in reality, and it's a great method to understand the business from an entrepreneurial viewpoint. Highly recommend especially if you're in any kind of business for yourself.

5-Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level by Leander Kahney

About the author:

Leander Kahney was born on 25 November 1965. He is a technology writer and author. He is a retired managing editor, and earlier a senior reporter of Wired News, the online sister publication of Wired. Kahney is currently famously known for his role as editor-in-chief and publisher of a popular Apple-centric blog, which is also titled Cult of Mac.

About the Book:

The book talks about the journey of Tim Cook. How he became the CEO of the biggest company the world and what came in his way and how he tackled it. Tim is said to be the descended of the great Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. The charisma and ability of Steve Jobs were hard to match. Everyone thought that after the demise of Steve, Apple will sink with him. But then Tim Cook comes who took the responsibility and kept the company on track to triple its value in 8 years. Every young aspirant looks after him for his great decision-making ability and how well he has not only handled such a big company like Apple but steered to grow even bigger than anyone expected it to.

6-Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

About the author:

Vance was originally known for writing for The Register from March 2003 to August 2008, but then moved to The New York Times in September 2008 and then he went to Bloomberg BusinessWeek in January 2011. Vance has covered companies as big such like IBM, HP, Intel, and Dell, and he also writes about a broad range of technology subjects.

About the Book:

Ance uses Musk's story to investigate one of the important questions of our age: can the nation of inventors and creators who commenced the modern world for a 100 years still race in an age of intense global competition? He claims that Musk is a mixture of fabulous inventors and industrialists like those of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Steve Jobs. More than any other entrepreneur in today's time, Musk has devoted his energies and his large wealth to creating a future that is as rich, far-reaching and exciting as it was in the visionaries of the golden age of science-fiction stories. Mr. Musk is an inspiration for the young striving tech buds. Musk’s story of how he managed to escape almost bankruptcy to come the most revolutionary entrepreneur is a hell of a journey itself. His ultimate goal is to colonize the planet Mars. He has been called mad over this, but Musk doesn’t care all that and is currently engaged in his pursue to send people to Mars and colonize it in such a way that most people can afford it. For this, he is using reusable technology in the rocket.

7-Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

About the author

Walter Isaacson was born on May 20, 1952. He is an American writer and journalist. He works as a University Professor of History at Tulane University. He has also been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute.

About the book

This book is based on more than 40 interviews with Steve Jobs directed in over two years of span. Along with the meetings with more than one hundred family members, friends, rivals, competitors, and colleagues, Walter Isaacson was given unparalleled access to Steve Jobs’ life. Jobs is said to have urged the people interviewed to speak truly. Although Jobs agreed about the book, he asked for no authority over its content other than the book's cover and asked the right to see it before it was published. Steve was said to be ahead of his times. He has introduced so many new technologies that no one else thought of it before. Steve was once even fired from his own company by the directors for his outrageous decisions that couldn’t be understood by the people of that.

8-Making of a CEO by Sandeep K. Krishnan

About the author

Dr. Sandeep K. Krishnan is the Director of People Business and an adjunct Faculty of premiere Indian Institute of Management, Indore.

About the book

This book is made after several interviews and analysis of high positioned people across the different sectors of the corporates. The book has its genesis in a common course Krishnan taught at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Where the students interviewed and interpreted twenty CEOs to understand how they charted a clear way to the top. This book is a guide to young aspirants based on real-life experiences of CEOs.

9- The CEO Difference: How to Climb, Crawl, and Leap Your Way to the Next Level of Your by Debra a Benton

About the author

Debra Benton, he is an internationally known speaker, consultant, and renowned bestselling author. In 1976, she established Benton Management Resources and since then has been in business successfully for more than 30 years.

About the book

In the book The CEO Difference, he presents you the insight and means to make subtle modifications in your presentation, attitude, and leadership manner that will dramatically improve your leadership effectiveness and, consequently, assist you enjoy work and life. Learn how to differentiate yourself with tangible steps to get where you want to go.

The CEO Difference explains how to put your career on an uphill trajectory through confidently distinguishing yourself, openness to change, self-motive, and staying intellectually interested.

10-Ceo Material by Debra A Benton

Another book by Debra which all the aspiring CEOs must read

About the book

In CEO Material, D. A. Benton confers you how to become extremely visible and unquestionably indispensable to your company. You'll learn how to propose confidence, even when something hasn't worked your way. You'll recognize the importance of being a generalist, able to understand every aspect of your business's structure and function. You'll find out how to keep learning and improving so that you never sense stuck, much less seem so to decision-makers.

               

11-The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Reviews by Stephen Covey

About the author

Stephen Covey was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, The United States. He was one of the professors at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.

About the book

When Stephen Covey first published his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the book converted an instant rage because people quickly got up and took note that their lives were directed off in the wrong direction; and more than that, they understood that there were so many mild things they could do in order to drive their life correctly. This book was a wonderful lesson for people, education on how to live life completely and get closer to the model of being a ‘success’ in life.

12-Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, Reviews by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras

About the author

James C. Jim Collins was born in 1958. He is an American author, consultant, and lecturer on the different subjects of business management and company sustainability and growth. Jerry I. Porras was born on September 20, 1938. Jerry I. Porras is an American organizational theorist, an also a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Change at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

About the book

This book is the result of his six years of research. Published in 1994 by James C. Collins who is more commonly known as Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, it’s long been a contemporary classic and has been interpreted in over 25 languages.

Collins and Porras led a survey with hundreds of CEOs of the world’s top companies at the time and then assembled a list of 18 visionary companies, which they then completely analyzed, examined and compared with their non-visionary counterparts.

They wanted to find out what has assisted them to stay successful over the decades, and, in some cases, even a century. Here are the 3 reasons in the book that most struck me:

1. Visionary companies are like a cult

2. Without a core ideology, a company will never be visionary.

3. You don’t need a great idea to start a great company.

13- Good to Great by James C. Collins

About the author

James C. Jim Collins was born in 1958. He is an American author, consultant, and lecturer on the different subjects of business management and company sustainability and growth. Collins has received a BS in Mathematical Sciences at Stanford University and after that obtained his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business then followed by 18 months as a consultant for McKinsey & Company.

About the book

The author defines leadership in terms of 5 different stages with Level 5 being the top level in the hierarchy. Following are the characteristics of a Level 5 leader:

The first and foremost think of the achievement of their organization and then personal wealth.

These are the leaders who are humble but show absolute fierceness in getting the job done

These people think regarding the future of their companies without them and plan about their continuation.

They are modest in nature and rarely like to discuss themselves or their accomplishments. They favor sharing the credit with others as compared to other “good” company leaders who are self-obsessed and egoistic.

Level 5 leaders always allocate the credit of success to others and if there were no one to the credit they credited towards ‘Luck’

In times of failure, they take responsibility. This was accurately the opposite in case of leaders of ‘good’ or failed organizations

14-Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All by James C. Collins, Morten T. Hansen

About the author

Morten T. Hansen is a Norwegian-American professor, motivational speaker, management theorist, and author.

About the book

 Great by Choice differentiates itself from Collins's prior work by its locus on the type of volatile environments faced by leaders today.

The new findings in the book are: The best leaders were more disciplined, more experimental, and more paranoid. Following the assumption that leading in a "fast world" only requires "fast decisions" and "fast action" is a reliable way to get killed. The great companies evolved less in reaction to a completely changing world than the comparison companies.

15-Option B- Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg

About the author

Sheryl Kara Sandberg is an American technology executive, billionaire, and author. She is the chief operating officer at Facebook and founder of the Leanin.org

About the book

Option B is an original book about facing difficulty, building flexibility and finding joy.

Option B blends Sheryl’s insights beside Adam’s eye-opening study on discovering strength in the face of adversity. It searches the stories of a broad range of people who have succeeded challenges in their lives recognize how we can best talk to and supports others in disaster, and offers practical tips for designing resilient families, communities, and workplaces.

16-Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam Grant

About the author

Adam M. Grant is an American psychologist and an author who’s currently working as a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania specializing in the field of organizational psychology.

About the book

Give and Take sheds light on what effective networking, influence, collaboration, negotiation and leadership skills have in general.

For generations, we have concentrated on the individual drivers of accomplishment: passion, talent, hard work, and luck. But today, success is more dependent on how we communicate with others. It turns out that at the workplace, most people operate as a matcher, takers, or givers. Whereas takers endeavor to gain as much as possible from others and matchers intend to trade evenly, givers are the unique breed of people who provide to others without anticipating anything in return.

17-Grit by Angela Duckworth

About the author

Angela Duckworth, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. A specialist in NON-I.Q. competencies

About the book

In this a must-read book for anyone endeavoring to succeed, pioneering psychiatrist Angela Duckworth shows parents, students, educators, and business people both experienced and new that the mystery to outstanding achievement is not genius but a directed persistence called grit. In Grit, Duckworth shares research looking at why one person would rise to be an optimist & another to be a worrier.

The study achieved with a group of middle school students. It looked for “helpless” students whom they believed struggled due to their deficiency of intellectual ability and not for a short of effort.

She hypothesized that their “core assumptions about success and learning” made them depressed, not their past defeats.

In the study, she distributed those same kids into two groups. They allotted half to a “success-only” program. They would praise the kids for performing well no matter how many math questions they solved. They did this each day over the program of several weeks.

The other half they allowed to an “attribution retraining program”. The students solved math problems as well. Sometimes, they told the students that they hadn’t done enough questions and that they should have worked harder. It showed exactly what they were expecting. The children of group one were more optimistic against group B. More such studies are done and explained in the book.

18-Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek

About the author

Simon Oliver Sinek was born on October 9, 1973. He is a British-American motivational speaker, author, and organizational consultant. He is the author of very famous five books, including Start with why (2009).

About the book

The book starts with a correlation of the two main ways to control human behavior. Administration and inspiration. Sinek claims that inspiration is the most powerful and sustainable of the two. Sinek says people are motivated by a sense of purpose (or "Why"), and that this should come primarily when interacting, before "How" and "What".

19-The Lean Start-up by Eric Ries

About the author

Eric Ries was born on September 22, 1978) is a blogger, American entrepreneur, and author of The Lean Start-up, a book on the lean startup journey. He is also the author of The Start-up Way, a book on current entrepreneurial management.

About the book

In The Lean Start-up, Eric Ries put out the works of successful start-ups like making minimal viable products ("MVPs"), extensive customer-centric testing based on a measure, build, learn a method of constant innovation, and deciding whether to continue or pivot. The Lean Start-up approach encourages companies that are both greater capital efficient and that of leverage human creativity more effectively.  Sparked by readings from lean manufacturing, it depends on “validated learning,” active scientific experimentations, as well as a whole of counter-intuitive methods that shorten product development periods. Measure actual growth without resorting to showing metrics, and determine what customers want. It enables a company to change directions with agility, adjusting plans inch by inch, minute by minute.

Rather than exhausting time building elaborate business strategies, The Lean Start-up offers entrepreneurs, in companies of all sizes a way to experiment with their vision continuously, to adjust and change before it’s too late. Ries presents a a scientific approach to building and managing successful start-ups in an age when companies need to innovate more than ever before.

20-The start-up way by Eric Ries

About the author

Eric Ries was born on September 22, 1978. He is an American entrepreneur, author, and blogger of The Lean Start-up, a book on the lean start-up movement. He is also the author of The Start-up Way, a book on contemporary entrepreneurial management.

About the book

In the book The Start-up Way, he directs his thought to a whole new group of organizations: iconic multinationals like GE Silicon Valley and Toyota, tech titans like Facebook and Amazon, and the next generation of Silicon Valley start-ups like Airbnb and Twilio. Drawing on his expertise over the last past five years operating with these organizations closely, as well as non-profits, NGOs, and governments directly, Ries lays out an innovative management system that leads to significant growth and long-term impact. Filled with in-the-field stories, insights, and tools, The Start-up Way is a crucial roadmap for any organization steering the uncertain waters of the century preceding.

CONCLUSION

A CEO doesn’t read all kinds of books. Their central focus is on Non-Fiction which helps and assists them to gather prominent thoughts and ideas. Later on, they utilize likewise to their personal and professional lives. If you ask a CEO the cause behind their success; instantly you will get an answer that they are successful because of their great reading habits. While most of us collect some motivation from films, a CEO doesn’t do that. Rather, they rely on books for their motivation. According to them, there are a lot of non-fiction stories that guide them how hard work makes a person climb the stairs of success and finally touch his/her objective or goal in life. Being a CEO is a very active and hectic job. Oftentimes, you have to say bye-bye to good night sleep. This can lead to a lack of enthusiasm and determination to do hard work. CEOs retain themselves motivated with an intense desire to accomplish what they want by reading good books.

These are some of the reasons that enforce CEOs to acquire great reading habits.

Not just CEOs, it is imperative for everybody to read. At one point of life or another, what you have read earlier, will help you.