Beyond the Basics: A Bookworm’s Guide to Continued Growth for CEO’s
Congrats! You have built or become an instrumental part of a successful company. But even the most accomplished CEOs know there’s always room to learn and grow; without it, there would be no progress. If you find yourself wondering what’s next, or perhaps you’re trying to figure out how to navigate through the obstacle in your path; here’s a curated list to help spark new ideas and keep you cutting edge. If you find yourself short on time and are looking for a few books for something specific, I have broken them up into categories for convenience. Let's get started.
Sharpen Your Mindset
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Published in 2022, it has a fresh take on identifying the skills and practices that have led to the success of the world's top-performing CEOs. The book highlights the significance of making bold moves and defining purpose and emphasizes the importance of spending time with key leaders. It spends time encouraging treating the “soft” stuff as the “hard” stuff, meaning that CEOs have a duty to pay attention to people and culture, as it is something a lot of companies struggle to get right. Studies have shown that people and culture issues account for around 72% of barriers to success for corporations, and this book is adamant about helping CEOs not get lost in that trap. It covers many other topics, such as strategic thinking, connecting with stakeholders, finding your “why,” and managing crisis responses.
CEO Excellence is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to get into the nitty gritty parts of what it takes to be a successful CEO. It is well-written, provides practical advice for any company and is engaging, you won't find yourself falling asleep to this one.
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This memoir, by former Disney CEO Bob Iger, offers relatable and inspiring advice for aspiring leaders. It keeps the audience engaged with fascinating stories, triumphs, and the hardest leadership lessons. Through Iger’s lived experience, he is honest about the challenges he faced and how he overcame them. He is blunt about taking a company by storm and being bold but also remembering the people. He sheds light on some of Disney’s biggest acquisitions, like Pixar and Marvel, showing real-life examples of the negotiation process. His emphasis on building strong teams and remaining true to a company’s value is an intense reminder of how important it is to stay on a clear path. Perhaps the most empowering part is that he does all this as if he is your friend; the book is written in a conversational style, making it pleasant and personable.
Some critics say it lacks personal reflection, focusing more on professional winds and how he got there rather than his personal vulnerabilities. That being said, he does discuss his inspiration for being a better leader by looking up to his father, and the effects grief had on him. If you’d like to have a relatable read that is intriguing with its history, motivational, and inspiring; I highly recommend jumping into The Ride of Lifetime.
Cultivate Exceptional Leadership
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Paul Sarvadi has his mission, and it is to remind you that businesses thrive when they prioritize their employee's well-being and invest in their success. Through his experience as co-founder of Insperity (an HR outsourcing company), he stands by his argument that a company’s greatest asset is its people. By challenging traditional thinking of focusing solely on profit through cold, hard economics, he suggests building a business around a strong foundation of human capital.
He does this by offering a five-part approach:
Vision and strategy: well-defined goals give employees purpose and direction
Culture: A positive culture that values employees and collaboration is vital.
Leadership: Be a leader who inspires, empowers, and supports their team to create a more engaged workforce.
Talent Management: recruiting, developing, and retaining top talent it gives the company a competitive edge
Execution: Effective implementation of plan strategies will ensure success.
His emphasis on investing in employees' well-being is through suggestions of competitive compensation, benefits, and opportunities for growth, which lead to higher productivity, lower turnover, and ultimately greater success in your business. When you have employees who want to work for you and believe in you the way you are showing you believe in them, you truly can become unstoppable. If you're looking for strategies for creating a high-performing and successful team, take a look at “Take Care of Your People '' which not only gives insight but does so through practical guidance.
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If you find yourself short on time but need some help improving team dynamics, look no further. Lencioni takes us through what prevents teams from reaching their full potential; he lists the dysfunctions and how to address them in a specific order, which leads to a team building trust, allows space for health conflict, aids in making clear decisions, and ultimately helps provide results.
Through his simple and actionable framework, it is easy to understand and remember his dysfunctions as well as follow his suggestions for overcoming each of them. Most interesting, it is told in a fable format, making it an engaging and enjoyable read; as well as it seems to fly by. If you want to build trust and learn how to do so in an entertaining and fun way, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” may be right for you.
Think Outside The Box
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Sometimes, the best way to succeed is to be different. Thorndike explores this concept amongst several CEOs who defied conventional business practices that led to their thriving. He did not want his book to state his opinion; he wanted it to talk the talk and walk the walk, ensuring that it was accurate through compelling case studies where he observed eight CEOs. He looked at their data and financial accomplishments, combined with the historical data, to demonstrate the long-term outperformance of these “outsider” CEOs. Through his study, he found that there were key characteristics such as prioritizing sustainable growth over short-term gains, making rational, data-driven decisions that (to people's surprise) went against the fads and popular trends, as well as cultivating a culture of ownership and accountability within their organizations.
It could be easy to look at these CEOs and question their methods, but Thorndike Jr’s point was that sometimes calculated risk and action is necessary for success and that it's not always linear. The book is heavy on the numerical side of things, so it might not be for everyone. However, if you're looking for inspiration beyond mainstream management and are perhaps interested in challenging your conventional thinking, “ The Outsiders” will deliver that.
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This young entrepreneur breathes life into the industry! His main focus is teaching through his collection of reflections, what he has learned over time, and giving genuine advice from his experience as well as from the interviews with other successful leaders. He believes there are four key pillars to greatness, most importantly, being relatable and having a good sense of self. You are a strong leader when you have self-control, awareness, and self-belief when grinding your way through the challenges of leadership. This, combined with storytelling, is a tool that helps inspire and influence others to lead with equal greatness. He focuses less on numerical value and follows the philosophy of having CORE values; when you have that, the rest will fall into place. If you have your values and strength of self, when strategies change, you will be able to navigate them with precision and build a successful company.
His words are wrought from experience, not shying away from his failures. His candid voice allows you to relate and feel comfortable taking his advice, truly focusing on how self-development is important for success as a leader, which will then flow and be seen in your industry. Perhaps the best of “The Diary of a CEO” is that if you're in a place where you feel you need to grow or are stuck, this book offers insight and helps you have a sense of community that you are not alone in your struggles.
As these books suggest, it is never too early or too late to add something new to your development, whether it's for your business, to be a better leader, or to understand people; these books can help you achieve the goal you are looking for. I hope you enjoy these books as much as we did and that they help lead you to a better tomorrow.
