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Business Books to Add to Your Nightstand

A great business book can turn on an inspiration lightbulb, and we often ask our members what business books they have on their nightstand.

Bookstore shelf with pile of new business books.Presentation of book.

Such inspiration can be a tough commodity to come by these days. A quick poll or glance around a zoom call will reveal a general sense of fatigue with life as it stands right now, so it seemed like the perfect time to crack open some inspiring business books to recharge our mental batteries and get creative juices flowing.

Several of the books that came out on top in 2020 take a look behind the scenes of giant corporations such as Amazon, Instagram, Netflix and Uber. Some offer inspiration on how to run a great business, and some are an exposé on what not to do. They run the gambit from innovation to corporate responsibility to artificial intelligence.

The Innovators Dilemma
The Hard Thing About Hard Things Business Book
Business Adventures Book

Also below are the favorite business books as recommended by giants in the corporate world. It turns out that Bill Gates received his favorite business book of all time, Business Adventures, as a gift from Warren Buffet, who also ranks it as his number one. I’ve never gotten a gift from Warren, but I hear he hands out good business advice.

All-Time Favorites: Recommendations from C-Suite Notables

Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
Built to Last, by Jim Collins
This classic tops many “best” lists.

Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway) &
Bill Gates (Microsoft)
Business Adventures, by John Brooks

Marillyn Hewson (Lockheed Martin)
Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking &
Outliers, both by Malcom Gladwell

Ennie Lim (HoneyBee)
The Infinite Game &
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, both by Simon Sinek

Oscar Munoz (United Airlines)
Separated: Inside an American Tragedy, by Jacob Soboroff

Elon Musk (Tesla Motors, SpaceX)
Structures, by J.E. Gordon

Ginni Rometty (IBM)
Earning It, by Joann S. Lublin

Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook)
Why Nations Fail, by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson

Susan Wojcicki (YouTube)
Trailblazer, by Marc Benioff

Best of the Best

The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business, by Steve Jobs

Daring Greatly: How the Courage To Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, by Brené Brown

The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz

These books found their way onto the must-read lists of many of the CEO’s listed here and rank high as some of the best business books of all time.

Lencioni The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

New Books Rising to the Top in 2020

Always Day One Business Book
No Filter Business Book
No Rules Rules Netflix Business Book

What's your favorite business book?
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