Books shape how we think.
This recommended reading list will help you slow down, step back, and see the business, the team, the customer, a little differently.
This reading list is designed for business owners and coaches:
- First, business owners who want to build stronger companies with better leadership, better systems, better people, better sales, and better financial results.
- Second, coaches, consultants, and advisors who want to help business owners think more clearly, lead more effectively, and take meaningful action, and are in the Applied Coaching Academy Program
- Many of these books are practical. Some are reflective. Some will give you tools you can use right away. Others may sit with you for a while and change how you think over time. That’s usually where the best growth happens.
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Applied Coaching Academy Program recommended readings in bold are referenced in the curriculum.
Adizes, I. (1979). How to Solve the Mismanagement Crisis. Adizes Institute Publications. View on Amazon
Adizes, I. (1988). Corporate Lifecycles: How and Why Corporations Grow and Die and What to Do About It. Prentice Hall. View on Amazon
Adizes, I. (1992). Mastering Change: Introduction to Organizational Therapy. Adizes Institute Publications. View on Amazon
Blanchard, K. H., & Johnson, S. (1982). The One Minute Manager. William Morrow. View on Amazon
Blanchard, K. H., Carew, D., & Parisi-Carew, E. (1990). The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams. William Morrow. View on Amazon
Carnegie, D. (1936). How to Win Friends & Influence People. Simon & Schuster. View on Amazon
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Avery. View on Amazon
Connors, R., Smith, T., & Hickman, C. (1994). The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability. New York, NY: Penguin Group. View on Amazon
Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Free Press. View on Amazon
Covey, S. R. (1994). First Things First. Simon & Schuster. View on Amazon
Daniels, A. C. (1994). Bringing out the best in people. McGraw-Hill, Inc. View on Amazon
Deming, W. E. (1982). Out of the Crisis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Advanced Engineering Study. View on Amazon
Deming, W. E. (1993). The New Economics: For Industry, Government, Education. MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study. View on Amazon
Dib, A. (2018). The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, and Stand Out from the Crowd. Successwise. View on Amazon
Fournies, F. F. (1978). Coaching for Improved Work Performance. Van Nostrand Reinhold. View on Amazon
Gerber, M. E. (1986). The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. Harper Business. View on Amazon
Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Little Brown. View on Amazon
Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Little, Brown, and Company. View on Amazon
Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown and Company. View on Amazon
Gleason, K. (1994). The Personal Efficiency Program: How to Get Organized to Do More Work in Less Time. Wiley. View on Amazon
Godin, S. (1999). Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends, and Friends into Customers. Simon & Schuster. View on Amazon
Goggins, D. (2018). Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds. Lioncrest Publishing. View on Amazon
Greenleaf, R. K., & Spears, L. C. (2002). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness (25th anniversary ed.). Paulist Press. View on Amazon
Hall, D. (1997). The Maverick Mindset: Finding the Courage to Journey from Fear to Freedom. Wiley. View on Amazon
Hargrove, R. A. (1995). Masterful Coaching. Pfeiffer. View on Amazon
Hickman, C. R. (1994). The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability. Prentice Hall Press. View on Amazon
Jantsch, J. (2006). Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide. Thomas Nelson. View on Amazon
Johnson, S. (1998). Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. View on Amazon
Kilian, C. S., & Deming, W. E. (1994). The World of W. Edwards Deming. SPC Press. View on Amazon
Levinson, J. C. (1984). Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business. Houghton Mifflin. View on Amazon
Lundin, S. C. (1998). Fish!: A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results. Hyperion. View on Amazon
Mackay, H. (1988). Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. Morrow. View on Amazon
Maslow, A. H. (1965). Eupsychian Management: A Journal. Irwin. View on Amazon
McCormack, M. H. (1984). What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from a Street-Smart Executive. Bantam. View on Amazon
Michalowicz, M. (2014). Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine. Obsidian Press. View on Amazon
Miller, D. (2017). Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. HarperCollins Leadership. View on Amazon
Misner, I. R., & Davies, G. S. (2020). Infinite Giving: The 7 Principles of Givers Gain. BNI Publishing. View on Amazon
Newstrom, J., & Scannell, E. E. (1993). The Big Book of Team Building Games. McGraw-Hill. View on Amazon
Olson, J. (2005). The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life. SUCCESS Books. View on Amazon
Patterson, K. (2002). Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High. McGraw-Hill. View on Amazon
Robbins, T. (1991). Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny! Free Press. View on Amazon
Ruiz, D. M. (1997). The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. Amber-Allen Publishing. View on Amazon
Stack, J. (1992). The Great Game of Business: The Only Sensible Way to Run a Company. Doubleday. View on Amazon
Thiagarajan, S. (2003). Design Your Own Games and Activities: Thiagi’s Templates for Performance Improvement. Pfeiffer. View on Amazon
Tolle, E. (2005). A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. Penguin Group. View on Amazon
Tracy, B. (1985). The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible. Nightingale-Conant. View on Amazon
Voss, C., & Raz, T. (2016). Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It. Harper Business. View on Amazon
Goleman, Daniel (2005) Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam. View on Amazon
Morris, Tom, PH.D. (1995). True Success: A New Philosophy of Excellence. Berkley. View on Amazon
