Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers – Harry S. Truman
What is the fastest way to get smart? Global leaders and CEO’s recommend you read one book a week. Seems too difficult? We have an easy solution, start by reading 10 pages a day for 21 days to build a habit. At the end of the year, you will have read a whopping 3,65,00 pages!
We have listed some outstanding leaders who cannot go a day without reading. Warren Buffet claims to read 500 pages a day. He devotes about 80% of his time to reading. Microsoft founder, Bill Gates tries to read at least 50 books every year. He also successfully got Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, to take on this reading habit. After a slow start, Zuckerberg now reads a new book every two weeks which comes out to 23 to 25 books per year.
We have handpicked 4 of our favorite books to help you start out on your leadership journey:
1. My Years With General Motors by Alfred Sloan
Recommended by the Founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, “This is probably the best book to read if you want to read only one book on business”
My Years with General Motors became an instant bestseller when it was first published in 1963. It has since been used as a business guide for managers, giving personal insights into the discipline of management by the man who perfected it and led the company to success. It is a leadership story, navigating through the chaos and uncertainty of one of the major industries in the world.
2. The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
Recommended by the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet, ″The Outsiders is an outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation,” Buffett wrote in 2012. “It has an insightful chapter on our director, Tom Murphy, overall the best business manager I’ve ever met.”
An exceptional book that pinpoints the extraordinary success of CEOs that took a radical approach and disrupted the corporate world. It answers some very important questions like, What really matters when you run an organization? And, What is the hallmark of exceptional CEO performance? Simply put, it is the returns for the shareholders of that company over the long term. In this book, author Will Thorndike brings forth the analytical wisdom of a successful career in investing, while closely evaluating the performance of companies as well as their leaders.
3. Creativity, Inc.
Recommended by the Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerburg, “His theory is that people are fundamentally creative, but many forces stand in the way of people being able to do their best work,” Zuckerberg shared. “I love reading first-hand accounts about how people build great companies like Pixar and nurture innovation and creativity. This should be inspiring to anyone looking to do the same, and hopefully, there will be lessons we can apply to connect the world!”
Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to go the extra mile to lead their employees to new heights and a guide for anyone who seeks originality. It gives us a peek into the nerve centre of Pixar Animation, into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history were made. As Pixar co-founder and president, Ed Catmull writes, “it is a book of expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”
4. Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg & Alan Eagle
Recommended by the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, “Trillion Dollar Coach has captured his tireless spirit so future generations can learn from one of our industry’s greatest leaders.”
Trillion Dollar Coach examines the life, mindset, principles, values, and stories of Bill Campbell. It highlights Bill’s approach to building teams, cultures, and leaders. His passion for life, love of people, ability to build teams and influence as an executive coach are evergreen lessons that anyone from janitors to CEOs can learn from. The lessons learned from Bill’s leadership style will remind you how important the combination of relationships, mindset, teamwork, and passion are to success.
