You all know that every year, thousands of books about business and leadership are published. The problem is we don’t have the time to read them all, although we would love to. In 2018, as part of our internal culture is to have a nice library available for my colleagues and read at least one book a month. We believe that growing a startup is a job you can master by reading about the experiences of others.
“Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence—and How You Can, Too” by Gary Vaynerchuk
This book is about rejecting the predictable corporate path in favor of pursuing dreams by building thriving businesses and extraordinary personal brands. Gary, as you probably know him from the Gary Vee Youtube channel, has inspired thousands of young entrepreneurs.
“The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups” by Daniel Coyle
The author of The Talent Code unlocks the secrets of highly successful groups and provides tomorrow’s leaders with the tools to build a cohesive, motivated culture. This book was named one of the best books of the year by Bloomberg and Library Journal.
Spoiler alert: In The Culture Code Daniel Coyle explores and answers two primary questions: Where does great culture come from? And how do you build and sustain it in your group or strengthen in a culture that needs fixing?
“Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility” by Patty McCord
Named by The Washington Post as one of the 11 Leadership Books to Read in 2018
When it comes to recruiting, motivating, and creating great teams, Patty McCord says most companies have it all wrong. McCord helped create the unique and high-performing culture at Netflix, where she was chief talent officer. In her new book, Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, she shares what she learned there and elsewhere in Silicon Valley.
The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win
From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Extreme Ownership comes a new and revolutionary approach to help leaders recognize and attain the leadership balance crucial to victory.
With examples from the authors’ combat and training experiences in the SEAL teams, and then a demonstration of how each lesson applies to the business world, Willink and Babin clearly explain “The Dichotomy of Leadership” — skills that are mission-critical for any leader and any team to achieve their ultimate goal: victory.
What You Don’t Know about Leadership but Probably Should: Applications to Daily Life is satisfyingly specific, offering detailed insights into how to get the tasks of leadership right. These include mundane but essential skills such as leading a great meeting, knowing when and how to intervene in disagreements, managing interruptions with grace, taking the right lessons from mistakes, telling persuasive stories, and “talking to larger groups without boring them to death.”
The author also sees a continuum between the personal life and the public role of the leader, a topic that is usually entirely neglected or treated with excessive reverence or condescension.
