What books do C-level leaders recommend? To find out, I reached out to leaders from different industries, such as healthcare, financial services, food, security management, and technology, to findout about the books that they find insightful, motivating, or inspiring. Below is a list of interesting books that touches on everything from leadership to performance to overall business management. For a list of books focused on marketing-related topics, click here.
To kick it off, I will share a hot-off-of-the-presses book that I have really enjoyed. It’s Psyched Up: How the Science of Mental Preparation Can Help you Succeed, by Daniel McGinn. It isn’t a marketing, management, technical, or leadership book. Rather, this book combines theory, research, and practice to uncover the scientific approaches that can help strengthen mental preparation, resulting in greater success. What I particularly like about the book is that it is written by an artful, vivid storyteller who has appreciation for research and evidence-based insight. The tools provided can help anybody, whether giving a big speech or making an important client pitch or preparing for an interview, build a pre-game muscle to achieve better game-time performance.
Jeff Jones, former President Uber and EVP/CMO, Target
Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight. Coming off of my recent experience with an infamous tech entrepreneur, I recently visited Nike's campus in Beaverton with my youngest daughter. I had been there multiple times over the years but this trip was different as I saw the history, the product, the innovation and the culture differently; wondering about the journey Phil Knight had taken with a fresh perspective. I immediately bought Shoe Dog and it didn't disappoint! I knew a fair amount about Blue Ribbon Sports, the waffle iron and Bill Bowerman...but this book provided a new look into the struggles, perseverance and ultimate victory, giving new meaning to Just Do It!
Jeff Hennion, Former EVP - Chief Marketing & e-Commerce of Dick’s Sporting Goods & GNC, Board Member at Briggs & Stratton
Wild Ride: Inside Uber’s Quest for World Domination, by Adam Lashinsky. Often, the best lessons on management, leadership and marketing come not from books specifically on the subject, but by delving into behind the scenes, real world, case studies. Adam Lashinsky, an Executive Editor at Fortune, first did this well in his book Inside Apple, Shedding Light on a Very Private Company. In Wild Ride, just released in May, Adam digs into the history, growth, stumbles and successes at Uber through in-depth research and countless hours with recently departed CEO Travis Kalanick Whether you’re interested in the business perspectives or are just an Uber rider, the book is an entertaining read full of interesting insights and the timing for its publication couldn’t have been better.
Jody Bilney, Senior Vice President and Chief Consumer Officer, Humana Inc.
Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice, by Clayton M. Christensen. A central premise of this book is that understanding consumers does not spur innovation. Rather, business leaders must understand their customers’ jobs, i.e. what job is the consumer hiring the product/service to do? “Jobs theory” reframes products and services in terms of the “jobs to be done.” As I’m reading, I’m asking myself “What does the consumer hire Humana’s products and services to do?” The book has driven significant reflection on brand positioning, product development, operating models, service delivery, and more.
Dave Minifie, Chief Experience Officer, EVP, and Corporate Strategy, Centene Corporation
Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes, by Tamim Ansary. If you're trained in Western Civilization history, you may want to read Ansary's entertaining and thorough view of world history through Islamic eyes. If you work on a global business, or a business impacted by politics or diplomacy, you should spend the time to learn how and why others in the world see events differently than most Americans do.
Margaret Molloy, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Siegel+Gale @margaretmolloy
The Leadership Mind Switch, by D.A. Benton and Kylie Wright-Ford. For leaders looking to leave summer geared up to finish 2017 with gusto, The Leadership Mind Switch is the perfect read. It provides a wealth of knowledge on successfully navigating various generations and cultural shifts that comprise the "new world of work." Provocative yet accessible, it guides the reader on becoming the inspired and inspiring example in a time of tech advancement and demographic disruption. Compiled using data and stories, you will fly through it.
Antonio Lucio, Global Chief Marketing and Communication Officer, HP Inc.
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, by Sheryl Sandberg. Option B was written after the tragic death of Sheryl's husband. It provides poignant insight on how she managed her grief, her focus on her children and the need to ask for help. Its lessons are much broader about the importance of resilience. We'll all deal with grief and adversity in our lives and need to manage it, choose to move forward, grow from it and make the best out of the life we are given.
Martyn Etherington, Chief Marketing Officer, Cisco IoT Cloud
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? by Louis Gerstner, Jr. It’s an account of IBM's historic turnaround as told by the architect. Gerstner led IBM from the brink of bankruptcy and mainframe obscurity back into the forefront of the technology business. The book is divided into five parts: "Grabbing Hold," "Strategy," "Culture," "Lessons Learned," and "Observations." He was an outsider, he challenged traditional thinking and when everyone was talking mouse-clicks and eyeballs he defined E-Business, the fore runner to Digital Transformation. This is not a how to book but rather a how he did it book. Great business book and compelling read.
Sara Spivey, CMO, Bazaarvoice
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth. In this book, Duckworth sets out to prove her hypothesis that the secret to outstanding achievement in almost any field is not talent, but a special blend of passion and perseverance. Interviewing dozens of high achievers in a wide variety of fields, Grit describes and explores what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that — not talent or luck — makes all the difference. Whether you are trying to develop your own resilience, grow resilient employees or raise resilient children, this is an excellent read.
To add to Spivey's recommendation, I have shared Duckworth's research with students in the past because it is empowering. Her research suggests that to a degree, success isn't controlled by genes (i.e., IQ), but rather by those factors within an individual's control.
Join the discussion: @KimWhitler
