The world of business may increasingly be paperless, with the likes of Bitcoin flooding the finances and gadgetry from phablet organisers to video conferencing changing the face of the modern office – but some of the best lessons for entrepreneurs and business professionals can still be found committed to paper, in the pages of books.
And, while giants such as Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffet have penned essays and advice books that will continue to stand the test of time, 2018 will see the release of some new tomes that should grace any discerning businessman’s bookshelf. Here are our pick of the best…
The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors That Transform Ordinary People into World-Class Leaders, Elena Botelho, Kim Powell
Much of what we hear about who gets to the top, and how, is wrong – according to Elena Botelho and Kim Powell. Based on an in-depth analysis of over 2,600 leaders drawn from a database of more than 17,000 CEOs and executives – as well 13,000 hours of interviews and two decades of experience advising CEOs and executive boards – the co-authors spend their pages overturning the myths about what it takes to get to the top and succeed.
Already covered in brief last year in the Harvard Business Review, this book comes out in early March, and is the perfect way to chart your own meteoric rise to the top.
The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win, Jeff Haden
You’ll have to stick this one. Its advice will feel counterintuitive – but it’s actually a highly practical guide to finding and maintaining the motivation to achieve great things. Author Jeff Haden posits that “motivation” as we know it is a myth. Motivation isn’t the special sauce that we require at the beginning of any major change. In fact, motivation is a result of process, not a cause. Understanding this will change the way you approach any obstacle or big goal.
Out January 9, Haden shows us how to reframe our thinking about the relationship of motivation to success. He meets us at our level – at the beginning of any big goal we have for our lives, a little anxious and unsure about our way forward, a little burned by self help books and strategies that have failed us in the past – and offers practical advice that anyone can use to stop stalling and start working on those dreams.
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, Daniel Coyle
Where does great culture come from? How do you build and sustain it in your group, or strengthen a culture that needs fixing? These are the questions tackled by New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle, in his latest release – out at the end of January.
By going inside some of the world’s most successful organisations – including the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team Six, IDEO, and Pixar – Coyle reveals what makes them tick. He demystifies the culture-building process by identifying three key skills that generate cohesion and cooperation, and explains how diverse groups learn to function with a single mind. Because team work, as we know, is always the key to success.
Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future, Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson
For startups and established businesses, or for anyone interested in what the future holds, Machine, Platform, Crowd is essential reading. We live in strange times. A machine plays the strategy game Go better than any human; upstarts like Apple and Google destroy industry stalwarts such as Nokia; ideas from the crowd are repeatedly more innovative than corporate research labs.
MIT’s Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson know what it takes to master this digital-powered shift: we must rethink the integration of minds and machines, of products and platforms, and of the core and the crowd. In all three cases, the balance now favors the second element of the pair, with massive implications for how we run our companies and live our lives.
Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy, and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth, Eddie Yoon
Eclectic diehards have a lot in common: they’re obsessed about a specific brand, product, or category. They pursue their passions with fervor, and they’re extremely knowledgeable about the things they love. They aren’t average consumers—they’re superconsumers.
Although small in number, superconsumers can have an outsized impact on a company’s bottom line. Representing 10% of total consumers, they can drive between 30% to 70% of sales, and they’re usually willing to spend considerably more than the average consumer. In this book, out now, Eddie Yoon lays out a simple but extremely effective framework that has helped companies of all types and sizes achieve more sustainable growth: he’ll show you how to find, listen to, and engage with your most passionate and profitable consumers, and then tailor your decisions to meet their wants and needs.