Ten Must-Reads for Business Owners

One of our writing team’s favorite activities, unsurprisingly, is reading. Like them, many business owners are also avid readers and are apt to spend a quiet moment with a chapter of a new release. Reading can provide inspiration, relaxation, or a helpful suggestion to overcome a nagging problem, and 2013 was a fantastic year for books intended for the business owner.

The books on our list made many similar lists, as well as best-seller lists worldwide on which they still reside. Not all have been universally loved, but all have inspired discussion – in our minds, perhaps an even greater accomplishment.

As you build your reading list for 2014, add these best-of-2013 books to it if you haven’t picked them up already*:

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg 

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell

Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip & Dan Heath 

Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger 

The Business of Belief: How the World’s Best Marketers, Designers, Salespeople, Coaches, Fundraisers, Educators, Entrepreneurs and other Leaders Get Us to Believe by Tom Asacker 

Choose Yourself: Be Happy, Make Millions, Live the Dream by James Altucher (currently only $1.99 for Kindle) 

Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam Grant 

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone 

The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty by Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, & Rick DeLisi 

Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by Tom Kelley & David Kelley

Bonus: The following three books are scheduled for release in early 2014. Take a look – you could get a jump on this year’s best-sellers!

The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits by Zeynep Ton (1/14/14)

Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less by Robert I. Sutton & Huggy Rao (2/4/14)

Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen (3/4/14)

*All books linked are available for purchase on Amazon. Factor Finders does not materially benefit from the purchase of these items using any links on this page and provides them only for the reader’s benefit.