What Are You Reading? My Top 12 Business Books

By Rob Wright, Chief Editor, Life Science Leader
Follow Me On Twitter @RfwrightLSL

Motivational speaker, Bob Garner, recently posed the question to me, “What are you reading?” Well, over my recent vacation to Bethany Beach, DE, I took the time to read Dan Brown’s Deception Point. It was recommended to me by a voracious reader — my sister-in-law, RaeAnn Butler. I found the writing to be excellent, and I marveled at the amount of research he must have conducted to be able to write so expertly about the scientific subjects and technological gadgets described within. That got me thinking again about Bob’s question and the amount of research that must have gone into some of the insightful business books I have read recently.

Great Reads – Careful, You Might Learn Something

Last winter, my colleague, Ed Miseta, chief editor of Outsourced Pharma and Clinical Leader, suggested we start a company book club. I have found the experience to be very beneficial to “sharpening my saw,” and I have learned much from the variety of books we have tackled thus far. For example, we read Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. This proved extremely beneficial in discussing the sensitive subject of racism with my daughter. As part of a high school English class assignment, she had to select a “banned book” to read, and then write an opinion paper as to whether or not it should continue to be banned. We both learned a lot from this experience, including what excellent writing looks and feels like.

I was reminded of the true power of a hurricane in reading Erik Larson’s Isaac’s Storm, which described the devastation unleashed on Galveston, TX on September 8, 1900. In reading Hetty, by Charles Slack, I learned about Hetty Green, one of the wealthiest women in American history. The story is even more amazing when you consider that she achieved this during a time when women weren’t even allowed to vote. If you think you are having a bad day, week, year, or life, be sure to make the time to read Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing. Not only does it provide a thrilling account of one of the most astonishing feats of exploration and human courage ever recorded, it also gives insight into how Shackleton went about selecting people capable of overcoming adversity in the harshest conditions our world has to offer.

You may be thinking, how can these books prove helpful in business? Being able to talk intelligently about Shackleton’s book proved very beneficial to me at this year’s DIA. One of the executives I had the opportunity to interact with had recently taken a vacation which retraced Shackleton’s journey. So don’t limit yourself to just books about business or science. You might be surprised as to what business lessons can be learned from a great work of fiction, such as Dan Brown’s Inferno. 

My Top 12 Business Books

The second part of Bob Garner’s question was if I had a favorite business book. Rather than list just one, I thought of twelve. Now if you are a voracious reader like my sister-in-law, perhaps this list of the 100 best business book of all time would be more appropriate. My rationale for 12 is simple — to get you to commit to reading just one book a month. It will make you a better conversationalist in networking situations. It will make you a better coworker, leader, mentor, spouse, parent, heck, a better person in general! Consider it research. Here is my list of 12 worthwhile business books (not listed in any particular order):

1. The Science of Success by Charles Koch
2. Reverse Innovation by Chris Trimble and Vijay Govindarajan
3. Serve to Lead by James Strock
4. Good to Great by Jim Collins
5. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
6. The Greatest Management Principle in the World by Michael LeBoeuf, Ph.D.
7. The Wisdom of Teams by Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith
8. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko
9. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class DO Not! By  Robert Kiyosaki
10. The Luck Factor: The Four Essential Principles by Richard Wiseman
11. First, Break all the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
12. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Have a suggestion for a good book, or how we can improve? Please, make the time to give me a call, drop me an email, or even a shoot me a tweet. I’ll be glad you did.