100 Best Human Resources Books of All Time

We've researched and ranked the best human resources books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more

Featuring recommendations from Walter Isaacson, Oprah Winfrey, Malcolm Gladwell, and 453 other experts.
1
You can go after the job you want—and get it!
You can take the job you have—and improve it!
You can take any situation—and make it work for you!

Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. One of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People will teach you:

-Six ways to make people like you
-Twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking
-Nine ways to change people without arousing...
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Dustin MoskovitzSeek to be understood. (Source)

Scott Adams[Scott Adams recommends this book on his "Persuasion Reading List."] (Source)

Daymond JohnI love all the Dale Carnegie books. (Source)

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2
When Stephen Covey first released The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the book became an instant rage because people suddenly got up and took notice that their lives were headed off in the wrong direction; and more than that, they realized that there were so many simple things they could do in order to navigate their life correctly. This book was wonderful education for people, education in how to live life effectively and get closer to the ideal of being a ‘success’ in life.

But not everyone understands Stephen Covey’s model fully well, or maybe there are some people who...
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Dustin Moskovitz[I] was surprised at how familiar the topics felt. (Source)

Dave Ramsey[Dave Ramsey recommended this book on his website.] (Source)

Kishore BiyaniImmensely helpful and influential during my early years, it explained some of the basic mindsets required to succeed in any profession. (Source)

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3
To find the keys to greatness, Collins's 21-person research team read and coded 6,000 articles, generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts and created 384 megabytes of computer data in a five-year project. The findings will surprise many readers and, quite frankly, upset others.

The Challenge
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning.

But what about the company that is not born...
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Jeff Bezos"Collins briefed Amazon executives on his seminal management book before its publication. Companies must confront the brutal facts of their business, find out what they are uniquely good at, and master their fly wheel, in which each part of the business reinforces and accelerates the other parts," Stone writes. (Source)

Dave Ramsey[Dave Ramsey recommended this book on his website.] (Source)

Max Levchin[Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?"] (Source)

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4

Influence

The Psychology of Persuasion

Influence, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes"—and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly acclaimed book.

You'll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader—and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life,...
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Charles T. MungerRobert Cialdini has had a greater impact on my thinking on this topic than any other scientist. (Source)

Dan ArielyIt covers a range of ways in which we end up doing things, and how we don’t understand why we’re doing them. (Source)

Max Levchin[Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?"] (Source)

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5
Now updated with new research — the book that has changed millions of lives.

After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset — those who believe that abilities are fixed — are less likely to flourish than those with a growth...
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Tony Robbins[Tony Robbins recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)

Bill GatesOne of the reasons I loved Mindset is because it’s solutions-oriented. In the book’s final chapter, Dweck describes the workshop she and her colleagues have developed to shift students from a fixed to a growth mindset. These workshops demonstrate that ‘just learning about the growth mindset can cause a big shift in the way people think about themselves and their lives. (Source)

Dustin Moskovitz[Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book on Twitter.] (Source)

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6

Crucial Conversations

Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High

Crucial Conversations: Tools For Talking When Stakes Are High is a guide to hone your conversation skills, and prepare you for the most important or trying times of your life and career. The book discusses how talking in the right way can help people achieve what they want. People are often tongue-tied when it comes to interacting with someone, especially when there is a lot of tension in the air. Strong emotions often give away the ability to rationalise one's thoughts, especially during conversations, and emotionally-driven conversations will not work on important occasions. This book... more
Recommended by Max Levchin, Deke Bridges, and 2 others.

Max LevchinA now-venerable guide to having tough conversations in a way that engages the debaters. (Source)

Deke BridgesPicked up this great book @Powells to read. Better conversation and listening enables you to get deeper into subjects at hand. When talking with people, this makes your communication skills a very powerful tool. Always be learning. #growth #education #leadership https://t.co/r0ujX9IPqh (Source)

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7
The book that started the Quiet Revolution

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society. 

In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth...
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Simon Sinekeval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'theceolibrary_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_5',164,'0','1'])); Leaders needn’t be the loudest. Leadership is not about theater. It’s not about dominance. It is about putting the lives of others before any other priority. In Quiet, Cain affirms to a good many of us who are introverts by nature that we needn’t try to be extroverts if we want to lead.... (Source)

Jason FriedA good book I’d recommend is “Quiet” by Susan Cain. (Source)

James AltucherProbably half the world is introverts. Maybe more. It’s not an easy life to live. I sometimes have that feeling in a room full of people, “uh-oh. I just shut down. I can’t talk anymore and there’s a lock on my mouth and this crowd threw away the key.” Do you ever get that feeling? Please? I hope you do. Let’s try to lock eyes at the party. “Quiet” shows the reader how to unlock the secret powers... (Source)

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8
"The Bible of business and personal productivity" —Lifehack

"A completely revised and updated edition of the blockbuster bestseller from 'the personal productivity guru'"Fast Company


Since it was first published almost fifteen years ago, David Allen’s Getting Things Done has become one of the most influential business books of its era, and the ultimate book on personal organization. “GTD” is now shorthand for an entire way of approaching professional and personal tasks, and has spawned an entire culture of websites,...
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Dustin MoskovitzPut first things first. (Source)

Tony HsiehGetting Things Done by David Allen. He recently spoke at our Zappos all-hands meeting and gave me a signed copy of his book. (Source)

Eric RoseWhen I'm flat-out stressed about the volume and complexity of my work, I open this book and find immediate ways to gain a sense of control. That's really a critical need for decision making. David made me what I am today: headstrong and proud of it. (Source)

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9
Why do you do what you do?

Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?

People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why. It was their natural ability to start with why that enabled them to inspire those around them and to achieve remarkable things.
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Tony RobbinsThe basis of this book is so important to anyone looking to increase their influence, profits or impact. People won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it. When you start with the why, everything else falls into place. This book is so impactful, I consider it required reading. (Source)

Richard BransonToday is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. (Source)

Tony HsiehOver the years he’s [] recommended well over 20 business books — including his own, the 2010 bestseller Delivering Happiness and you can always find what he’s currently reading atop his cluttered desk. Start with Why is amogst those titles. (Source)

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10

Getting to Yes

Negotiating Agreement Without Giving in

The key text on problem-solving negotiation-updated and revised

Getting to Yes has helped millions of people learn a better way to negotiate. One of the primary business texts of the modern era, it is based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution.

Getting to Yes offers a proven, step-by-step strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. Thoroughly updated and revised, it offers readers a straight- forward, universally applicable...
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Charles T. Mungerrecommends this title in the book "Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger". (Source)

Dustin Moskovitz[Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book on Twitter.] (Source)

Drew HoustonAbout principled negotiation, and I still think about and apply a lot of those concepts today. (Source)

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Don't have time to read the top Human Resources books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
11
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams.

Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech's CEO, faces the ultimate leadership crisis: Uniting a team in such disarray that it threatens to bring down the entire company. Will she succeed? Will she be fired? Will the...
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Jennifer RockIn Patrick Lencioni's book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, the executive asks her senior leaders "Who is your first team?" And they each answer incorrectly that it's the team that reports to him or her. The point is that you need to shift your perspective to understanding your senior leadership peers are your first team. We read that book as a leadership team in a corporation where I worked --... (Source)

Joel GascoigneA leadership fable about a failing Silicion Valley tech company who brings in a new CEO. Kathryn attempts to unite a highly dysfunctional team and through his narrative Lencioni explains the five key ways that teams struggle, and how to overcome the hurdles. I read this book at a key point in time where we were just discovering that we needed to put our values into words and shape the culture of... (Source)

Mikhail DubovOne of the five books recommends to young people interested in his career path. (Source)

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12
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth...
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Ryan HolidayI loved Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck. There’s a reason this book is blowing up. It’s that good. (Source)

Ella BottingYou’ll meet a lot of d*ck heads at work. This book helps you prioritise how you spend your energy. I liked how Mark used examples from his real life to explain his points, means you can relate to his whole ideology more. (Source)

Chris GowardHere are some of the books that have been very impactful for me, or taught me a new way of thinking: [...] The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. (Source)

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13

Who Moved My Cheese?

Who Moved My Cheese? is a simple parable that reveals profound truths. It is an amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a "Maze" and look for "Cheese" to nourish them and make them happy.

Two are mice named Sniff and Scurry. And two are "Littlepeople"—beings the size of mice who look and act a lot like people. Their names are Hem and Haw.

"Cheese" is a metaphor for what you want to have in life—whether it is a good job, a loving relationship, money, a possession, health, or spiritual peace of mind.

And the "Maze" is where you look...
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Dave Ramsey[Dave Ramsey recommended this book on his website.] (Source)

Daymond John[Daymond John said this is one of his most-recommended books.] (Source)

Darren ChuaWhen asked what books he'd recommend to young people interested in the same career path, mentioned Who Moved My Cheese. (Source)

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14
Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our "two minds"—the rational and the emotional—and how they together shape our destiny.

Through vivid examples, Goleman delineates the five crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they determine our success in relationships, work, and even our physical well-being. What emerges is an entirely new way to talk...
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Drew HoustonIt’s nonfiction, but it spelled out something that I just didn’t know you could kind of break down in a logical way. And, suddenly, I had this understanding about the world that I didn’t have before. (Source)

Sharon Salzberg[Sharon Salzberg recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)

Roxana Bitoleanu[One of the books recommends to young people interested in her career path.] (Source)

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15
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of...
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Cal NewportI recently read an advance copy of James Clear’s new book, Atomic Habits. His thesis is that small but carefully selected habits can, over time, create massively positive results — not just in terms of what you accomplish, but also in terms of the type of person you become. James’s exposition rings true with what’ve I learned hanging around interesting people and high achievers. I recommend you... (Source)

Mark MansonA lot of people email me asking about habits - how to form good ones, how to break bad ones, how to stop doing the dumb shit we always do. I've got a friend named James Clear. He's an accomplished author and business owner and is kind of a "habit guru." He's probably forgotten more habits research than I've ever brought myself to look at. He just launched his first book. It's called Atomic Habits... (Source)

Ryan HolidayThis book is out on Tuesday and it's also very good. An atomic habit is a tiny habit or change that can have an enormous impact on your life. Getting up a little earlier, deleting social media from your phone, automating your savings, developing a system, these are atomic habits. Me personally, I don't feel like I am particularly talented or even that disciplined, but I have a number of atomic... (Source)

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16
An essential book that unlocks the secrets of highly successful groups and provides readers with a toolkit for building a cohesive, innovative culture, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code less

Charles DuhiggIf you want to understand how successful groups work—the signals they transmit, the language they speak, the cues that foster creativity—you won’t find a more essential guide than The Culture Code.

Rick Ross@Laura_L_Johnson @DanielCoyle Fantastic book. An essential read for everyone with an interest in #leadership (Source)

Rick Ross@Laura_L_Johnson @DanielCoyle Fantastic book. An essential read for everyone with an interest in #leadership (Source)

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17

Grit

In this must-read book for anyone striving to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, educators, students, and business people both seasoned and new that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called grit.

Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success. Rather, other factors can be even more crucial such as identifying our passions and following through on our commitments.

Drawing on...
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Benjamin Spall[Question: What five books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path?] [...] Grit by Angela Duckworth (Source)

Bogdan LucaciuGrit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - it was frustrating to read: “Where was this book 20 years ago!?” (Source)

Stephen LewWhen asked what books he would recommend to youngsters interested in his professional path, Stephen mentioned Grit. (Source)

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18
One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results.

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most...
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Marvin LiaoThe Joy of Not Working (Zelinkski), Flash Foresight (Burrus), The Art of Worldly Wisdom (Gracian), Sapiens (Yuval), The End of Jobs (Pearson), Deep Work (Newport), Sovereign Individual (Davidson), The Fourth Economy (Davison) & The Monk & the Riddle (Komisar). Every single one of these books completely changed how I looked at everything in the world & literally pushed my life in a new direction.... (Source)

Daniel PinkAs automation and outsourcing reshape the workplace, what new skill do we need? The ability to do deep work. Cal Newport's exciting new book is an introduction and guide to the kind of intense concentration in a distraction-free environment that results in fast, powerful learning and performance. Think of it as calisthenics for your mind-and start your exercise program today. (Source)

Seth GodinCal Newport is a clear voice in a sea of noise, bringing science and passion in equal measure. (Source)

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19
A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed.

Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history. Suddenly, one of them detects a nearly imperceptible pattern—and with a slight shift in advertising,...
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Naval RavikantI also recently finished The Power of Habit, or close to finish as I get. That one was interesting, not because of its content necessarily, but because it’s good for me to always keep on top of mind how powerful my habits are. [...] I think learning how to break habits is a very important meta-skill that can serve you better in life than almost anything else. Although you can read tons of books... (Source)

Blake IrvingYou know, there's a book called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Simple read book about just how to build positive habits that can be I think I what I'd call you know whether in your personal life or whether in your business life to help you build you know, have a loop that can build your success and that's one I mean there are so many great books out there. (Source)

Santiago BasultoAnother book with great impact was “The power of habit”. But to be honest, I read only a couple of pages. It’s a good book, with many interesting stories. But to be honest, the idea it tries to communicate is simple and after a couple of pages you’ve pretty much understood all of it. Happens the same thing with those types of books (Getting things done, crossing the chasm, etc.) (Source)

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20
In her #1 New York Times bestsellers, Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she's showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead.

Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential.

When we dare to lead, we don't pretend to have the right...
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Sheryl SandbergWith Dare to Lead, Brené brings decades of research to bear in a practical and insightful guide to courageous leadership. This book is a road map for anyone who wants to lead mindfully, live bravely, and dare to lead. (Source)

Ed CatmullBrene visited Pixar to talk with our filmmakers. Her message was important, as movies are best when they come from a place of vulnerability, when the people who make them encounter setbacks and are forced to overcome them, when they are willing to have their asses handed to them. It is easy to sit back and talk about the values of a safe and meaningful culture, but extraordinarily difficult to... (Source)

Marie ForleoDon’t miss one of my favorite human beings @BreneBrown, discuss her book #DareToLead on this #MarieTV: this is for every one of us that wants to show up, contribute, and lean into our purpose 💪🏼💗 https://t.co/QVgSpZe9e9 (Source)

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Don't have time to read the top Human Resources books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
21
The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation

Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better...
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Tobi Lütke[Tobi Lütke recommended this book in an interview in "The Globe and Mail."] (Source)

David Heinemeier HanssonTakes some of those same ideas about motivations and rewards and extrapolates them in a little bit. (Source)

Mike BenkovichI'd recommend a sprinkling of business books followed by a heap of productivity and behavioural psychology books. The business books will help you with principals and the psychological books help with everything else in your life. Building your own business can really f!@# you up psychologically. (Source)

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22
Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) has helped tech giants from Intel to Google achieve explosive growth--and how it can help any organization thrive.

In the fall of 1999, John Doerr met with the founders of a start-up whom he'd just given $12.5 million, the biggest investment of his career. Larry Page and Sergey Brin had amazing technology, entrepreneurial energy, and sky-high ambitions, but no real business plan. For Google to change the world (or even to survive), Page and Brin had to...
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Reid HoffmanWhether you're a seasoned CEO or a first-time entrepreneur, you'll find valuable lessons, tools, and inspiration in the pages of Measure What Matters. I'm glad John invested the time to share these ideas with the world. (Source)

Walter IsaacsonIn this indispensable book, the most important venture capitalist of our era reveals a key to business innovation and success. This crisp and colorful book combines fascinating case studies with insightful personal stories to show how OKRs can add magic to organizations of any size. (Source)

Bill GatesJohn explains how OKRs [Objectives and Key Results] work and shows how you can apply them in all sorts of situations. I’d recommend John’s book for anyone interested in becoming a better manager (and I’d say that even if I hadn’t been interviewed for a super-nice chapter about the Gates Foundation). (Source)

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23
The world s greatest managers differ in sex, age, and race. They employ different styles and focus on different goals. Despite their differences, great managers share one trait: They break virtually every rule conventional wisdom holds sacred. They don t believe that, with enough training, a person can achieve anything he sets his mind to. They don t try to help people overcome their weaknesses. They disregard the golden rule. They even play favorites. Gallup presents the remarkable findings of its massive in-depth study of great managers those who excelled at turning each employee s talent... more

Jared SpoolThe first framework is from Gallup and was written up in their great book: First, Break All The Rules. https://t.co/w54in9zCyH It’s the Q12 employee engagement measures. Each question makes it simple for a manager to identify where they need to improve. https://t.co/A9L8Yx2NHp (Source)

Jessica Pryce-JonesI’m a sucker for books and I always buy management books when I get on planes. There I am at Heathrow Airport going on a business trip, and I think, ‘I’ve got to read this stuff!’ And normally I pick a book up, read the first few pages, then find I can’t face it and end up leaving it in a hotel room. But this book, I picked it up, started to read it and I thought, ‘Hallelujah! Here is a book that... (Source)

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24
Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In is a massive cultural phenomenon and its title has become an instant catchphrase for empowering women. The book soared to the top of bestseller lists internationally, igniting global conversations about women and ambition. Sandberg packed theatres, dominated opinion pages, appeared on every major television show and on the cover of Time magazine, and sparked ferocious debate about women and leadership. Ask most women whether they have the right to equality at work and the answer will be a resounding yes, but ask the same women whether they'd feel... more

Mark ZuckerbergFor the past five years, I've sat at a desk next to Sheryl and I've learned something from her almost every day. She has a remarkable intelligence that can cut through complex processes and find solutions to the hardest problems. Lean In combines Sheryl's ability to synthesize information with her understanding of how to get the best out of people. The book is smart and honest and funny. Her... (Source)

Oprah WinfreyHonest and brave... The new manifesto for women in the workplace. (Source)

Richard BransonIf you loved Sheryl Sandberg's incredible TED talk on why we have too few women leaders, or simply believe as I do that we need equality in the boardroom, then this book is for you. As Facebook's COO, Sheryl Sandberg has first-hand experience of why having more women in leadership roles is good for business as well as society. Lean In is essential reading for anyone interested in righting the... (Source)

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25

The Secret (The Secret, #1)

The Secret’s 10th Anniversary Edition includes a new foreword by Rhonda Byrne, and 10 of the most life-changing insights she’s had over the last 10 years of practicing and living The Secret every day. The 10 insights alone will accelerate your understanding and mastery of the law of attraction. less
Recommended by Ntwana Kasi., Woman In Purpose, and 2 others.

Ntwana Kasi.@Sibongubuhle_N Don't you have pdf of it i love this book (Source)

Woman In Purpose@Anele_Nks Best book ever! (Source)

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26
Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but here Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.

Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisions where the business was born to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike where many fast food's flavors are concocted. Along the way, he unearths a trove of fascinating,...
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Richard BransonToday is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. (Source)

Carl HonoréThis book again pulled together a lot of things I was hearing about in a journalistic, methodical, rigorous fashion. I found it a very alarming read, but also a reassuring one. One of the charges leveled at those who sing the praises of slowness is that we can get tarred with the brush of new ageism or airy fairyness. I’m not at all from that school. I’m a journalist and rigorous, and I know that... (Source)

Barry EstabrookEric Schlosser takes apart a single fast-food meal and shows not only how it affects our health but also how the people who serve it to you are treated. He also looks at how the people in the slaughterhouses working with the cattle are treated, and so it shows you the true picture of the all-American meal – burgers and fries. (Source)

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27
Since its original publication in 2000, Leadership and Self-Deception has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon. Its sales continue to increase year after year, and the book's popularity has gone global, with editions now available in over twenty languages.

Leadership and Self-Deception shows how the problems that typically prevent superior performance in organizations and cause conflicts in our personal lives are the result of a little-known problem called self-deception. People who are in self-deception live and work as if trapped in a box. They can't see the reality around...
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Dustin Moskovitz[Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book on Twitter.] (Source)

Mark BallifMy business partners and I built a health-care company on the ideas in this book. We are amazed at what it has helped us achieve. Careful reading and rereading of this book has proven better than any productivity, team-building, or leadership training we’ve encountered. (Source)

Dave BrowneRemarkable. Arbinger possesses the hidden key to productivity and creativity. Do whatever you can to get your hands on this material. (Source)

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28

Difficult Conversations

How to Discuss What Matters Most

The 10th-anniversary edition of the New York Times business bestseller-now updated with "Answers to Ten Questions People Ask"

We attempt or avoid difficult conversations every day-whether dealing with an underperforming employee, disagreeing with a spouse, or negotiating with a client. From the Harvard Negotiation Project, the organization that brought you Getting to Yes, Difficult Conversations provides a step-by-step approach to having those tough conversations with less stress and more success. you'll learn how to:

? Decipher the underlying...
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Gabriel WeinbergThe books I keep coming back to are the ones where I took away lasting mental models. These include [...] Difficult Conversations (about negotiation models). (Source)

April Wensel@amyvpellegrini I really liked a book called Difficult Conversations. I also love the book Nonviolent Communication for conflicts. (Source)

Auren Hoffman@insta_eich i love the book! (Source)

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29

Emotional Intelligence 2.0

"Emotional Intelligence 2.0 succinctly explains how to deal with emotions creatively and employ our intelligence in a beneficial way."
--THE DALAI LAMA

For the first time ever in a book, TalentSmart's revolutionary program helps people identify their EQ skills, build these skills into strengths, and enjoy consistent performance in the pursuit of important life objectives. The book contains proven strategies from a decade-long effort to accurately measure and increase emotional intelligence. Trusted by upper-echelon leaders inside companies worldwide, these strategies will...
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Stephen R. CoveyGives abundant, practical findings and insights with emphasis on how to develop EQ. Research shows convincingly that EQ is more important than IQ. (Source)

Patrick LencioniThis book can drastically change the way you think about success...read it twice. (Source)

Deke BridgesCurrent read... fascinating IQ vs EQ. Worthy book. #books #education #growth #LifeLessons @LeadersBest https://t.co/j0fjFstOWb (Source)

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30
From the time we learn to speak, we’re told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. While this advice may work for everyday life, it is, as Kim Scott has seen, a disaster when adopted by managers.

Scott earned her stripes as a highly successful manager at Google and then decamped to Apple, where she developed a class on optimal management. She has earned growing fame in recent years with her vital new approach to effective management, the “radical candor” method.

Radical candor is the sweet spot between managers who are obnoxiously...
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Daniel Pink"Kim Scott has a well-earned reputation as a kick-ass boss and a voice that CEOs take seriously. In this remarkable book, she draws on her extensive experience to provide clear and honest guidance on the fundamentals of leading others: how to give (and receive) feedback, how to make smart decisions, how to keep moving forward, and much more. If you manage people―whether it be 1 person or a... (Source)

Dux Raymond Sy@magrom I recommend you be radically candid by challenging directly and caring personally - if you haven't, checkout @kimballscott's book #RadicalCandor - tons of great insights https://t.co/TP58vhmi18 (Source)

Christopher LochheadQuestion: What five books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path & why? Answer: I know this is sounds self-serving but I’d recommended both of my books, the soon to be released, “Niche Down: How to Become Legendary by Being Different” and Harper Collins’ “instant classic,” “Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets” In... (Source)

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31

Rework

Most business books give you the same old advice: Write a business plan, study the competition, seek investors, yadda yadda. If you're looking for a book like that, put this one back on the shelf.

Rework shows you a better, faster, easier way to succeed in business. Read it and you'll know why plans are actually harmful, why you don't need outside investors, and why you're better off ignoring the competition. The truth is, you need less than you think. You don't need to be a workaholic. You don't need to staff up. You don't need to waste time on paperwork or meetings. You...
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Recommended by Jeff Bezos, Mark Cuban, Tony Hsieh, and 33 others.

Jeff BezosUnperturbed by conventional wisdom, [the authors] start fresh and rewrite the rules of business. Their approach turns out to be as successful as it is counter-intuitive. (Source)

Mark CubanIf given a choice between investing in someone who has read Rework or has an MBA, I'm investing in Rework every time. This is a must read for every entrepreneur. (Source)

Tony HsiehThe wisdom in these pages is edgy yet simple, straightforward, and proven. Read this book multiple times to help give you the courage you need to get out there and make something great. (Source)

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32
In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a hard-hitting but user-friendly examination of race in America
Widespread reporting on aspects of white supremacy--from police brutality to the mass incarceration of Black Americans--has put a media spotlight on racism in our society. Still, it is a difficult subject to talk about. How do you tell your roommate her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law take umbrage when you asked to touch her hair--and how do you make it right? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend?
In So...
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Mike MonteiroLOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK! https://t.co/x3jxCD3q7g (Source)

Sarah Parcak@PJR23 @IjeomaOluo Amazing book! (Source)

Imani Gandy CornI’m not really kidding. Ijeoma’s book is great for white people—because seriously, get a clue—but it’s also great for Black people who are sick and tired of trying to talk about race with clueless white people and end up frustrated and wanting to stab everything in sight. (Source)

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33

In his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking approach for tackling the perilous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team player.

In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle’s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess, and then build a culture of hiring and development around...

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34
What's the most effective path to success in any domain? It's not what you think.

Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you'll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world's top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.

David Epstein examined...
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Malcolm GladwellFor reasons I cannot explain, David Epstein manages to make me thoroughly enjoy the experience of being told that everything I thought about something was wrong. I loved Range. (Source)

Susan CainIt’s a joy to spend hours in the company of a writer as gifted as David Epstein. And the joy is all the greater when that writer shares so much crucial and revelatory information about performance, success, and education. (Source)

Kobe BryantThis book looks at how an emphasis on specialization can actually hamper our ability to really excel at something. It aligns with what I try to do when I am coaching, in my stories, and what we’re doing with Mamba Sports Academy — create all-around athletes who can think critically and make assessments in real time to enhance their play rather than rely only on a narrow set of skills. (Source)

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35
Since its original release, The First 90 Days has become the bestselling globally acknowledged bible of leadership and career transitions. In this updated and expanded 10th anniversary edition, internationally known leadership transition expert Michael D. Watkins gives you the keys to successfully negotiating your next move—whether you’re onboarding into a new company, being promoted internally, or embarking on an international assignment.

In The First 90 Days, Watkins outlines proven strategies that will dramatically shorten the time it takes to reach what he calls...
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36
You want to learn about the path that we took at Zappos to get to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in less than ten years. You want to learn about the path I took that eventually led me to Zappos, and the lessons I learned along the way. You want to learn from all the mistakes we made at Zappos over the years so that your business can avoid making some of the same ones. You want to figure out the right balance of profits, passion, and purpose in business and in life. You want to build a long-term, enduring business and brand. You want to create a stronger company culture, which will... more

Chip Conley[The author] is a wise guy. Sincerely. He’s one of the wisest and most thoughtful business leaders of the modern age. (Source)

Adam JohnstonInspiring case study into building brand and customer service. (Source)

Julie Rice[At SoulCycle] we’re all big fans of [this book]. (Source)

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37

Switch

How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Why is change so difficult and frightening? How do you create change when you have few resources and no title or authority to back you up? Chip and Dan Heath, the best-selling authors of Made to Stick, are back with a ground-breaking book that addresses one of the greatest challenges of our personal and professional lives — how to change things when change is hard.

In their follow-up book to the critically acclaimed international bestseller Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath talk about how difficult change is in our companies, our careers, and our lives, why change is...
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Africa Mentor6 fine summer reads | London Business School  London Business School Review A good book is the best travel companion – wherever you are. By the pool or on your commute, be transported with these titles chos... https://t.co/Wo9NYOrwqG via @theafricamentor #entrepreneur #africabiz (Source)

Tudor MihailescuFirst thing first, finance people need to be decent communicators, ideally awesome communicators. There is an art in building a case or in delivering a presentation and we need to treat this step as seriously as we have treated the other steps. I do believe this is a top priority for an aspiring or practicing CFO - There are plenty of books on this topic, I would recommend the works of Chip and... (Source)

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38
A new book that explores the science of productivity, and why, in today’s world, managing how you think—rather than what you think—can transform your life. less

Mike BenkovichLast year I read the book 'Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business' by Charles Duhigg. Look passed the click-baity title and you'll find one of the best books on productivity I've ever read... And I've read a lot of them. (Source)

Chelsea FrankI read everything with an open mind, often challenging myself by choosing books with an odd perspective or religious/spiritual views. These books do not reflect my personal feelings but are books that helped shape my perspective on life, love, and happiness. (Source)

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39
From the visionary head of Google's innovative People Operations comes a groundbreaking inquiry into the philosophy of work-and a blueprint for attracting the most spectacular talent to your business and ensuring that they succeed.

"We spend more time working than doing anything else in life. It's not right that the experience of work should be so demotivating and dehumanizing." So says Laszlo Bock, head of People Operations at the company that transformed how the world interacts with knowledge.

This insight is the heart of WORK RULES!, a compelling and...
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Recommended by Ken Norton, and 1 others.

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40

Antifragile

Things That Gain from Disorder

From the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost philosophers of our time, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a book on how some systems actually benefit from disorder.

In The Black Swan Taleb outlined a problem; in Antifragile he offers a definitive solution: how to gain from disorder and chaos while being protected from fragilities and adverse events. For what he calls the "antifragile" is one step beyond robust, as it benefits from adversity, uncertainty and stressors, just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension.

Taleb stands...
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James AltucherYou ask about success. To be successful you have to avoid being “fragile” – the idea that if something hurts you, you let collapse completely. You also have to avoid simply being resilient. Bouncing back is not enough. Antifragile is when something tries to hurt you and you come back stronger. That is real life business. That is real life success. Nassim focuses on the economy. But when I read... (Source)

Marvin Liaoeval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'theceolibrary_com-leader-2','ezslot_7',164,'0','1'])); My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On... (Source)

Vlad TenevThe general concept is applicable to many fields beyond biology, for instance finance, economics and monetary policy. (Source)

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Don't have time to read the top Human Resources books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

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  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
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41
Can you be in HR for more than 30 years and still be geeked about it? The answer is -- YES you can!! HR leader and popular "Everyday People" blogger Steve Browne takes a fresh look at HR through an engaging assortment of real-life examples, insights, and epiphanies and encourages practitioners to drop the preconceptions of what HR should be and instead look to what HR could be. Read this book to rekindle your passion for a field that is vibrant and vital and touch the lives of everyone your encounter with HR on Purpose!

“Steve does a masterful job of not only helping us all...
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42
Even the smartest among us can feel inept as we fail to figure out which light switch or oven burner to turn on, or whether to push, pull, or slide a door. The fault, argues this ingenious—even liberating—book, lies not in ourselves, but in product design that ignores the needs of users and the principles of cognitive psychology. The problems range from ambiguous and hidden controls to arbitrary relationships between controls and functions, coupled with a lack of feedback or other assistance and unreasonable demands on memorization. The Design of Everyday Things shows that good, usable... more

Marius Ciuchete Pauneval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'theceolibrary_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_5',164,'0','1'])); Question: Was there a moment, specifically, when something you read in a book helped you? Answer: Yes there was. In fact, I can remember two separate sentences from two different books: The first one comes from “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman. It says: “great design will help... (Source)

Grey BakerI mainly read to decompress and change my state of mind, so it’s hard to point to an insight I read that helped me. Reading fiction has pulled me out of a bad mood more times than I can count, though, and always reenergises me to attack problems that had stumped me again. That said, I read and loved Norman Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things”, and it’s helped me think through design problems... (Source)

Kaci LambeThese three books are about how people actually use design in their lives. They helped me understand this very basic idea: There are no dumb users, only bad designers. Take the time to create based on how your design will be interacted with. Test it. Iterate. That's how you become a good designer. (Source)

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43

Who

The A Method for Hiring

In this instant New York Times Bestseller, Geoff Smart and Randy Street provide a simple, practical, and effective solution to what The Economist calls "the single biggest problem in business today" unsuccessful hiring. The average hiring mistake costs a company $1.5 million or more a year and countless wasted hours. This statistic becomes even more startling when you consider that the typical hiring success rate of managers is only 50 percent.

The silver lining is that "who" problems are easily preventable. Based on more than 1,300 hours of interviews with more than 20...
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Daniël Lakens@TheNewStats Thanks. I think saying the correctly used p-value needs an effect size and CI is a perfect example of the Statistician's Fallacy. Your books are great - I learned a lot from Geoff's 2012 book. But the issue is not 'is there good stuff out there' but 'how do we teach it to > (Source)

Matthieu David-ExpertonVery useful book on recruitment. (Source)

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44
Since 2008, busy managers by the tens of thousands have turned to this best-selling book as a handy guide to the ins and outs of human resources. And no wonder! Because whether you're a small business owner, a manager in a business without an HR department, or even a seasoned HR professional, The Essential HR Handbook will help you handle any personnel problem--from onboarding to outplacement--quickly and easily. This fully updated 10th anniversary edition is packed with information, tools, checklists, sample forms, and timely tips to guide you through the maze of personnel issues in... more

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45

Awaken the Giant Within

Based on his exclusive "Date with Destiny" seminars, the bestselling author of Unlimited Powerional anecdotes, case studies, personalized self-help tests and a program anyone can follow teach readers the lessons in destiny that lead to self-mastery. less

Derek SiversWhen I was 18, [this book] changed my life. (Source)

Brian KoppelmanThis book was the first of [Tony Robbins books] I read, and it asked me crucial questions about the stories I was telling myself that were limiting my growth. (Source)

Gennady BatrakovIn the business category, my #1 book is Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins. It has been over 20 years since I read the book for the first time. I reread it a few times since. I even keep extra copies of this book on my bookshelf to give away to my friends. Awaken the Giant Within has helped me in many ways. It aided me to deal with the habits I wanted to stay away from. It was easy to... (Source)

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46

Are you a genius or a genius maker?

We've all had experience with two dramatically different types of leaders. The first type drain intelligence, energy, and capability from the ones around them and always need to be the smartest ones in the room. These are the idea killers, the energy sappers, the diminishers of talent and commitment. On the other side of the spectrum are leaders who use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them. When these leaders walk into a room, lightbulbs go off over people's heads, ideas flow, and problems...

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Ben ChestnutMultipliers by Liz Wiseman is an excellent book on leadership. (Source)

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47
Coaching is an essential skill for leaders. But for most busy, overworked managers, coaching employees is done badly, or not at all.  They’re just too busy, and it’s too hard to change.

But what if managers could coach their people in 10 minutes or less?

In Michael Bungay Stanier’s The Coaching Habit, coaching becomes a regular, informal part of your day so managers and their teams can work less hard and have more impact.

Coaching is an art and it’s far easier said than done. It takes courage to ask a question rather than offer up advice, provide an answer,...
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Scott PerryMichael Bungay-Stanier’s The Coaching Habit was the first book I read when I received the altMBA6 “care package.” It delivers a system for developing worthwhile habits and engagements that I found compelling and effective. I use the seven question system Michael teaches in my work as a guitar teacher, life coach, and musical collaborator. (Source)

Brene BrownCoaching is an art and it's far easier said than done. It takes courage to ask a question rather than offer up advice, provide and answer, or unleash a solution. giving another person the opportunity to find their own way, make their own mistakes, and create their own wisdom is both brave and vulnerable. In this practical and inspiring book, Michael shares seven transformative questions that can... (Source)

Armina SirbuThe Coaching Habit by M. Stanier - for people who need to coach their teams. (Source)

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48

The One Minute Manager

For more than twenty years, millions of managers in Fortune 500 companies and small businesses nationwide have followed The One Minute Manager's techniques, thus increasing their productivity, job satisfaction, and personal prosperity. These very real results were achieved through learning the management techniques that spell profitability for the organization and its employees.

The One Minute Manager is a concise, easily read story that reveals three very practical secrets: One Minute Goals, One Minute Praisings, and One Minute Reprimands. The audio also presents...
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49

Winning

Jack Welch knows how to win. During his forty-year career at General Electric, he led the company to year-after-year success around the globe, in multiple markets, against brutal competition. His honest, be-the-best style of management became the gold standard in business, with his relentless focus on people, teamwork, and profits.

Since Welch retired in 2001 as chairman and chief executive officer of GE, he has traveled the world, speaking to more than 250,000 people and answering their questions on dozens of wide-ranging topics.

Inspired by his audiences and their...
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Recommended by Ev Williams, Jamie Dimon, and 2 others.

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50

Flow

The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness... more

Austin KleonWhile re-reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s wonderful book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, I came across this passage on working crossword puzzles. I think he could just as well be talking about making blackout poems: "There is much to be said in favor of this popular pastime, which in its best form resembles the ancient riddle contests. It is inexpensive and portable, its challenges... (Source)

Tom ChatfieldThe notion of flow is the idea that there is a state that is characterised by complete immersion in an activity, by a constant response to stimuli, and a perfect match between your ability and the challenge in front of you. (Source)

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Don't have time to read the top Human Resources books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
51
A New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller

In this iconic bestseller, popular business blogger and bestselling author Seth Godin proves that winners are really just the best quitters. Godin shows that winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt--until they commit to beating the right Dip.

Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out fun...then gets really hard, and not much fun at all. You might be in a Dip--a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it's really a...
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James AltucherIn this iconic bestseller, popular business blogger and bestselling author Seth Godin proves that winners are really just the best quitters. Godin shows that winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt—until they commit to beating the right Dip. Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out fun…then gets really hard, and not much fun at all. You might be in a Dip—a... (Source)

Foti PanagioMy favourite business book at the moment is The Dip by Seth Godin because it has some great advice on when to stick with something and when to quit. I’m currently working on a new venture called GrowthMentor.io and The Dip gave me the ammunition I needed to follow my gut and to stick with the project even when I felt like shelving it and moving on to something else. [...] When I was reading The... (Source)

Michael HerrmannVery motivating for sticking through hard times. (Source)

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52
The SHRM Essential Guide to Employment Lawis your One-Stop Legal Reference to Employment Law. It simple, straightforward language on everything HR professionals, employers, and small business owners need to know about their relationship with their employees in order to comply with the law and protect thems elves and their business from legal action.Covering more than 200 workplace law topics, the Guide provides an overview of U.S. workplace laws, regulations, and court decisions that employers, large or small, are likely to face, as well as what pitfalls to anticipate and when... more

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53

The Laws of Human Nature

Robert Greene is a master guide for millions of readers, distilling ancient wisdom and philosophy into essential texts for seekers of power, understanding and mastery. Now he turns to the most important subject of all - understanding people's drives and motivations, even when they are unconscious of them themselves.
We are social animals. Our very lives depend on our relationships with people. Knowing why people do what they do is the most important tool we can possess, without which our other talents can only take us so far. Drawing from the ideas and examples of Pericles, Queen...
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Ryan HolidayRobert has been writing this book since Mastery came out in 2013 and it shows - it's a spectacular masterwork that builds atop all his other books. Robert's book have always been an unvarnished look at how the world really works, for better and for worse. What I like about this book is that it pushes us to question our own biases, our own assumptions, irrationalities and tendencies. It's almost... (Source)

James Altucher@BrettSSimon Any book by @RobertGreene is great so pick up his latest: "The Laws of Human Nature". (Source)

Ayush KumarPeople are the ROI, people are the asset, everything is people and one needs to understand people. (Source)

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54
Show Up and Let Yourself be Seen

Is vulnerability the same as weakness? “In our culture,” teaches Dr. Brené Brown, “we associate vulnerability with emotions we want to avoid such as fear, shame, and uncertainty. Yet we too often lose sight of the fact that vulnerability is also the birthplace of joy, belonging, creativity, authenticity, and love.” On The Power of Vulnerability, Dr. Brown offers an invitation and a promise - that when we dare to drop the armor that protects us from feeling vulnerable, we open ourselves to the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our...
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Recommended by Chelsea Frank, and 1 others.

Chelsea FrankI read everything with an open mind, often challenging myself by choosing books with an odd perspective or religious/spiritual views. These books do not reflect my personal feelings but are books that helped shape my perspective on life, love, and happiness. (Source)

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55

Decisive

How to Make Better Decisions

Just making a decision can be hard enough, but how do you begin to judge whether it's the right one? Chip and Dan Heath, authors of #1 New York Times best-seller Switch, show you how to overcome your brain's natural shortcomings.

In Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath draw on decades of psychological research to explain why we so often get it very badly wrong - why our supposedly rational brains are frequently tripped up by powerful biases and wishful thinking. At the same time they demonstrate how relatively easy it is to avoid the pitfalls and find the best...
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Cristian-Dragos BaciuSo for business related books, the one that I think had the most impact for me was Decisive: How to make better choices in life and work, by Chip & Dan Heath. [...] The reason I enjoyed their work so much is because they offer real-life stories and insights that makes it so much easier for the reader to imprint that information in his mind. (Source)

Sean MallonIt looks at what hinders great decision making, and how to improve any decisions you make. Any entrepreneur knows how crucial their decisions in business are (and how devastating indecision can be). Decisive helps the reader to understand how good decisions are made, what key elements to look for, and how to make your choices better and quicker. (Source)

Julia GalefExplains four of the biggest judgment errors [...] and gives tips for combating them. (Source)

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56

Team of Teams

New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

The retired four-star general and and bestselling author of My Share of the Task shares a powerful new leadership model

As commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), General Stanley McChrystal played a crucial role in the War on Terror. But when he took the helm in 2004, America was losing that war badly: despite vastly inferior resources and technology, Al Qaeda was outmaneuvering America’s most elite warriors.

McChrystal came to realize that today’s faster, more interdependent world had overwhelmed the conventional, top-down hierarchy of the...
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Doug McMillonHere's a list of the top books that taught and inspired me this year. I go back to Sam Walton's book frequently and was struck, this year, by some common principles between Sam and General McChrystal. It seems they learned some similar things about what works when it comes to leading teams. For example, fostering a shared consciousness and empowering execution delivers results. Greg Foran shared... (Source)

Gene KimI love this diagram from the amazing book "Team of Teams" by General Stanley McChrystal! RT @TechBeaconCom: RT @manupaisable: Great visualization of the problems relying on org charts by @j_elmqvist @DOES_EUR #DOES19 https://t.co/XTz8SAWhff (Source)

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57
The definitive guide to working with -- and surviving -- bullies, creeps, jerks, tyrants, tormentors, despots, backstabbers, egomaniacs, and all the other assholes who do their best to destroy you at work.

"What an asshole!"

How many times have you said that about someone at work? You're not alone! In this groundbreaking book, Stanford University professor Robert I. Sutton builds on his acclaimed Harvard Business Review article to show you the best ways to deal with assholes...and why they can be so destructive to your company. Practical, compassionate, and in...
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Ronn TorossianPR is notoriously a hard industry to succeed in. And as an entrepreneur, it’s really hard - and sometimes you have to make decisions that are not always easy but best for the company. A great book — necessary reading for everyone at 5WPR — is the great business book, The No Asshole Rule. The book’s theory, while seemingly obvious, is quite difficult to adhere to for many people – learn to cut... (Source)

Mark Hertling@Strike_Williams Dealing with toxic leaders is a challenge, each is different w different motivations...they usually fly under their bosses radar. Much longer conversation than we can have here...but check out this great book: “The No Asshole Rule”. (Source)

Jessica Pryce-JonesI love this book, because while work is about trying to make a context in which everybody can thrive, and continuously building up trust, you also have to dismantle distrust. You have to do the two things at the same time, in my view. You walk into any school and if they say, ‘We don’t have any bullies,’ my thought is you’re just not looking hard enough. There’s always going to be distrust,... (Source)

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58
The Truth About Employee Engagement was originally published as The Three Signs of a Miserable Job.

A bestselling author and business guru tells how to improve job satisfaction and performance.


In his sixth fable, bestselling author Patrick Lencioni takes on a topic that almost everyone can relate to: job misery. Millions of workers, even those who have carefully chosen careers based on true passions and interests, dread going to work, suffering each day as they trudge to jobs that make them cynical, weary, and frustrated. It is a simple fact of...
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Recommended by Sean Si, and 1 others.

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59
Don't wait for that promotion!

Start leading NOW... right where you are!

What's the number one question leadership expert John C. Maxwell is asked while conducting his leadership conferences?  "How can I implement what you teach when I'm not the top leader?"

Is it possible to lead well when you're not the top dog?  How about if the person you work for is a bad leader?  The answer is a resounding yes!  

Welcome to The 360° Leader.  People who desire to lead from the middle of organizations face unique challenges.  And they are often held back by...
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Recommended by Sean Si, and 1 others.

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60
The inside story of Facebook, told with the full, exclusive cooperation of founder Mark Zuckerberg and the company's other leaders.

In little more than half a decade, Facebook has gone from a dorm-room novelty to a company with 500 million users. It is one of the fastest growing companies in history, an essential part of the social life not only of teenagers but hundreds of millions of adults worldwide. As Facebook spreads around the globe, it creates surprising effects—even becoming instrumental in political protests from Colombia to Iran.

Veteran technology...
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Dustin Moskovitz[Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book during a Stanford lecture.] (Source)

Craig PearceIf you read to maintain motivation and be entertained, I recommend a few books that in addition to telling great stories, also contain lessons and learnings. You won’t gain many step-by-step type lessons from these books but you will come away realizing that not all startups, regardless of what stage they are in, are as well polished as they make you think. You will realize that they make... (Source)

Angela PhamThe Facebook Effect by David Kirkpatrick made me a fan of Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg years ago. I didn’t hesitate to take my current role at Facebook because I feel so strongly about their integrity and leadership, no matter the negative sentiments and media narratives the company has endured recently. (Source)

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Don't have time to read the top Human Resources books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

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61
Build It provides a comprehensive and practical approach to addressing and improving employee engagement through 'The Employee Engagement Bridge'. This bridge is a model which has been 10 years in the making. In fact, the bridge is the practical plan that Reward Gateway have used to engage with their own workforce and build the world's largest employee engagement technology company. The model, information and tips/tools provided in the book speak at a level that HR professionals will easily be able to understand and action. Build It not only contains information based on Reward... more

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62
Wall Street Journal best-selling author Jon Acuff reveals the steps to getting unstuck and back onto the path of being awesome.

Over the last 100 years, the road to success for most everyone has been divided into predictable stages. But three things have changed the path to success:

Boomers are realizing that a lot of the things they were promised aren't going to materialize, and they have started second and third careers.

Technology has given access to an unprecedented number of people who are building online empires and changing their lives in ways...
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Recommended by Dave Ramsey, and 1 others.

Dave Ramsey[Dave Ramsey recommended this book on his website.] (Source)

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63

Fish!

A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results

Here's another management parable that draws its lesson from an unlikely source--this time it's the fun-loving fishmongers at Seattle's Pike Place Market. In Fish! the heroine, Mary Jane Ramirez, recently widowed and mother of two, is asked to engineer a turnaround of her company's troubled operations department, a group that authors Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen describe as a "toxic energy dump." Most reasonable heads would cut their losses and move on. Why bother with this bunch of losers? But the authors don't make it so easy for Mary Jane. Instead, she's left to... more
Recommended by Simon Sinek, and 1 others.

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64
In The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau shows you how to lead of life of adventure, meaning and purpose – and earn a good living.
 
Still in his early thirties, Chris is on the verge of completing a tour of every country on earth – he’s already visited more than 175 nations – and yet he’s never held a “real job” or earned a regular paycheck.  Rather, he has a special genius for turning ideas into income, and he uses what he earns both to support his life of adventure and to give back. 
 
There are many others like Chris – those who’ve...
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Tony HsiehIn this valuable guide Chris Guillebeau shows that transforming an idea into a successful business can be easier than you think…You are in charge of which ideas deserve your time, and this book can help you wake up every morning eager to progress to the next step. (Source)

Katie KeithThis book consists of case studies from people who have built successful businesses with little or no initial outlay. Personally, I believe that startups put far too much emphasis on seeking outside investment, and often create unsustainable businesses as a result. I built my own business gradually with no external investment, and appreciate the fact that books such as 'The $100 Startup' show... (Source)

Chelsea FrankI read everything with an open mind, often challenging myself by choosing books with an odd perspective or religious/spiritual views. These books do not reflect my personal feelings but are books that helped shape my perspective on life, love, and happiness. (Source)

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65

HR from the Outside In

Six Competencies for the Future of Human Resources

"This definitive work on HR competencies provides ideas and tools that help HR professionals develop their career and make their organization effective."
--Edward E. Lawler III, Professor, University of Southern California

"This book is a crucial blueprint of what it takes to succeed. A must have for every HR professional."
--Lynda Gratton, Professor, London Business School

"One single concept changed the HR world forever: 'HR business partner'. Through consistent cycles of research and practical application, Dave and his team have produced...
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66
The authors of the New York Times bestseller Crucial Conversations show you how to achieve personal, team, and organizational success by healing broken promises, resolving violated expectations, and influencing good behavior.

Discover skills to resolve touchy, controversial, and complex issues at work and at home--now available in this follow-up to the internationally popular Crucial Conversations.

Behind the problems that routinely plague organizations and families, you'll find individuals who are either unwilling or unable to deal with failed promises. Others have...
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67
FROM THE BACKCOVER

The way we manage organizations seems increasingly out of date. Deep inside, we sense that more is possible. We long for soulful workplaces, for authenticity, community, passion, and purpose.

In this groundbreaking book, the author shows that every time, in the past, when humanity has shifted to a new stage of consciousness, it has achieved extraordinary breakthroughs in collaboration. A new shift in consciousness is currently underway. Could it help us invent a more soulful and purposeful way to run our businesses and nonprofits, schools and...
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Armina SirbuReinventing Organizations by F. Laloux - the best book there is about the organizations of the future. (Source)

Cristina RiesenFirst, a word on career paths. In time, I realised that career paths are like one-way streets. Magic happens in unexplored territories. Plus life is how you choose to live every moment, every day. So today, rather than building a career, I prefer to make lateral moves in life, working with great people and being part of ambitious projects impacting the world. There are a few books that got me... (Source)

Bogdan LucaciuCompletely unrelated people told me about it at the same time, for different reasons. People that I really looked up to. Quite serendipitous. It was almost spooky reading it, I didn't expect such a highly regarded book to be so close to my unconventional beliefs about organisation design. (Source)

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68

Scrum

The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

Se você já foi surpreendido por quão rápido o mundo está mudando, Scrum é uma das razões. Para aqueles que acreditam que deve haver uma maneira mais eficiente de se fazer as coisas, este é um livro sobre o processo de gestão que está mudando a maneira como vivemos. Desde o advento do método, já foram registrados ganhos de produtividade de até 1.200%. Tecida com insights de artes marciais, tomadas de decisão judicial, combate aéreo avançado, robótica e muitas outras disciplinas, Scrum é sempre fascinante. Seja para inventar uma tecnologia pioneira ou para estabelecer os alicerces de... more

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69
For readers of Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Pink, and Freakonomics, comes a captivating and surprising journey through the science of workplace excellence.
 
Why do successful companies reward failure? What can casinos teach us about building a happy workplace? How do you design an office that enhances both attention to detail and creativity?
 
In The Best Place to Work , award-winning psychologist Ron Friedman, Ph.D. uses the latest research from the fields of motivation, creativity, behavioral economics,...
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Recommended by David Allen, and 1 others.

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70
Americans tend to cast slavery as a pre-modern institution—the nation’s original sin, perhaps, but isolated in time and divorced from America’s later success. But to do so robs the millions who suffered in bondage of their full legacy.

As historian Edward Baptist reveals in The Half Has Never Been Told, the expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence drove the evolution and modernization of the United States. In the span of a single lifetime, the South grew from a narrow coastal strip of worn-out tobacco plantations to a continental cotton...
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Recommended by Cory Ondrejka, and 1 others.

Cory OndrejkaIt's a heart-wrenching but eye-opening look at the safe ways America looks back at slavery and its impact on modern capitalism. During an election cycle focused on populism and anger, this is a book every American should read. (Source)

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Don't have time to read the top Human Resources books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

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71
Meet Emily and Paul: The parents of two young children, Emily is the newly promoted VP of marketing at a large corporation while Paul works from home or from clients' offices as an independent IT consultant. Their lives, like all of ours, are filled with a bewildering blizzard of emails, phone calls, yet more emails, meetings, projects, proposals, and plans. Just staying ahead of the storm has become a seemingly insurmountable task.

In this book, we travel inside Emily and Paul's brains as they attempt to sort the vast quantities of information they're presented with, figure out...
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Noah KaganA few months ago, I was drinking a Noah’s Mill whiskey (cute) with my good buddy Brian Balfour and talking about life... During the conversation, we got on the topic of books that changed our lives. I want to share them with you. I judge a book's success if a year later I'm still using at least 1 thing from the book. (Source)

Kyrylo TaranenkoThe golden rule that always works for me: “If something takes two minutes or less, just do it”. I also work remotely, so reading “Your Brain at Work” by D. Rock taught me… well, how our brain works at work (sorry if this sentence sounds like a Rihanna`s song). With this knowledge, I manage my priorities better. (Source)

Jason StirmanUnderstand how our brains operate at work throughout the day was really illuminating for me, especially because I manage other humans who have brains. (Source)

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72
From the co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn and author Ben Casnocha comes a revolutionary new book on how to apply the strategies of successful entrepreneurship to your career: in other words, how to run the 'start-up of you'.

In a world where wages are virtually stagnant, creative disruption is rocking every industry, global competition for jobs is fierce, and job security is a thing of the past, we're all on our own when it comes to our careers. In the face of such uncertainty, the key to success is to think and act like an entrepreneur: to be nimble and self-reliant, to be...
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Sheryl SandbergEveryone, women and men alike, needs to think big to succeed. This is a practical book that shows you how to take control and build a career that will enable you to have real impact. (Source)

Jack DorseyThe Startup of You" describes how to take the Silicon Valley approach to building a life: start with an idea, and work over your entire career to turn it something remarkable. In the world today, I think that the startup approach to life is necessary. This book distills the key techniques needed to succeed. (Source)

Marc AndreessenSilicon Valley revolutionizes entire industries through the way we work. It is now time to export our playbook to the rest of the world. The Startup of You is that key playbook: it will help you revolutionize yourself and achieve your own career breakout. (Source)

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73
Popular blogger and CHRO Kris Dunn presents a hard, but compelling reality: every HR professional on the planet can be classified as one of 9 “Faces” based on your career level and your ability to innovate and drive change. The book opens with a behavioral assessment, so readers can quickly identify their own “HR Face” then reveals career tracks, behavioral
markers, ROI, macro-trends driving behavior, and market demand for each face. Which face are you? Which one do you want to be? Whether you’re a solo HR pro trying to make your way in the world or an HR leader trying to build a...
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74

Strengths Finder 2.0

Do You Do What You Do Best Every Day?


Chances are, you don't. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.


To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced StrengthsFinder in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions discover their top five talents.


In StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular online assessment. With...
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Recommended by Cat Williams-Treloar, and 2 others.

Cat Williams-TreloarIf you want my favourite practical business book, go and buy yourself a copy of the Gallup StrengthsFinder. You'll get an access code to the survey in the back of the book. Years ago, my Chairman gifted the book to the entire team as a Christmas present. I loved it because it's grounded in the theory of playing from your strengths. (Source)

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75
When it comes to recruiting, motivating, and creating great teams, Patty McCord says most companies have it all wrong. McCord helped create the unique and high-performing culture at Netflix, where she was chief talent officer. In her new book, Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, she shares what she learned there and elsewhere in Silicon Valley.

McCord advocates practicing radical honesty in the workplace, saying good-bye to employees who don’t fit the company’s emerging needs, and motivating with challenging work, not promises, perks, and bonus plans. McCord...
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Arianna HuffingtonPatty McCord’s compelling account of the culture that made Netflix succeed should be required reading for everyone who wants their business to thrive in the 21st century. A natural-born storyteller, McCord shows us how the Netflix ‘methodology’ of radical honesty, debating everything and relentlessly focusing on the future can set us up to win in the 21st century. With Powerful, McCord... (Source)

Reed HastingsMagical! An enlightening ride through young companies bucking orthodoxy. (Source)

Laurene Powell JobsDrawing on her decades of experience building high-performance professional environments, Patty McCord has given us a valuable playbook for designing workplaces where colleagues thrive. Anyone interested in building and strengthening talent will find Powerful a useful resource to create professional cultures anchored in mutual respect, empathy, and creativity. (Source)

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76
Building and maintaining a successful team is no simpletask. Even people who have taken their teams to the highest level in theirfield have difficulty recreating what accounted for their successes. Is it astrong work ethic? Is it “chemistry”? What tools can you wrap your hands aroundto build–or rebuild–your team?

In The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, leadership expertand New York Times bestselling author John C. Maxwell shares the vitalprinciples of team building that are necessary for success in your business,family, church, or organization. In his practical, down-to-earth...
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77
78
Move over, Moneyball -- a cutting-edge look at major league baseball's next revolution: the high-tech quest to build better players.

As bestselling authors Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik reveal in The MVP Machine, the Moneyball era is over. Fifteen years after Michael Lewis brought the Oakland Athletics' groundbreaking team-building strategies to light, every front office takes a data-driven approach to evaluating players, and the league's smarter teams no longer have a huge advantage in valuing past performance.

Lindbergh and Sawchik's...
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Anders EricssonHigh-speed cameras and radar-tracking devices have revolutionized training and are now giving baseball pitchers accurate, detailed and actionable feedback during practice. This captivating book details step-by-step how merely good major league pitchers have recently been able to transform themselves into great ones and reach previously unattainable levels of mastery by purposeful and deliberate... (Source)

Nate SilverFor too long, stat geeks like me ignored the 'development' side of 'scouting and development.' The MVP Machine is the book that's going to change that. Travis Sawchik and Ben Lindbergh persuasively and entertainingly demonstrate that a baseball player's success is less about God-given talent and more about innovation, hard work, and the willingness to take a more scientific approach to the game.... (Source)

Bill SimmonsI wish this book spent more time on the Red Sox winning four times as many titles as the Yankees this century, but The MVP Machine is a great and informative deep dive on the challenges of unlocking talent and building winning teams in the age of analytics. (Source)

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79
No is perhaps the most important and certainly the most powerful word in the language. Every day we find ourselves in situations where we need to say No–to people at work, at home, and in our communities–because No is the word we must use to protect ourselves and to stand up for everything and everyone that matters to us.

But as we all know, the wrong No can also destroy what we most value by alienating and angering people. That’s why saying No the right way is crucial. The secret to saying No without destroying relationships lies in the art of the Positive No, a proven technique...
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Recommended by Michael Hyatt, Muna AbuSulayman, and 2 others.

Muna AbuSulaymanIt gave me the tools for how to say no consistently and without guilt. (Source)

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Don't have time to read the top Human Resources books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

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81

The Alliance

Managing Talent in the Networked Age

A New York Times Bestseller

Introducing the new, realistic loyalty pact between employer and employee.

The employer-employee relationship is broken, and managers face a seemingly impossible dilemma: the old model of guaranteed long-term employment no longer works in a business environment defined by continuous change, but neither does a system in which every employee acts like a free agent.

The solution? Stop thinking of employees as either family or as free agents. Think of them instead as allies.

As a manager you want...
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Recommended by Brian Armstrong, Phil Libin, and 2 others.

Phil LibinSharpened my thinking significantly around [this idea] of having a relationship between companies and employees that’s more honest. (Source)

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82
Strategic human resource management has been taken up by academics, consultants and practitioners alike. However, the integration of human resource strategy with overall business strategy is often easier in theory than in practice. Armstrong's Handbook of Strategic Human Resource Management provides a bridge between theory and practice and offers a guide both to formulating human resource strategies and to implementing them. 

Substantially updated, this edition includes new material which reflects important developments in HR strategies linked with those issues which affect...
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83

The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws

Quick answers to questions about 20 Key Employment Laws This book explains, in plain English, the 20 most important federal employment laws that come up in the workplace. You can look up what each law allows and prohibits, which businesses must comply, and how to fulfill record-keeping, posting, and reporting requirements. Each chapter covers one law, including:



Americans with Disabilities Act
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Fair Labor Standards Act
Family and Medical Leave Act
Immigration Reform and Control Act
Fair Credit Reporting...
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84
A candid guide for ambitious women who want to succeed without losing themselves in the process

In The Myth of The Nice Girl, Fran Hauser deconstructs the negative perception of "niceness" that many women struggle with in the business world. If women are nice, they are seen as weak and ineffective, but if they are tough, they are labeled a bitch.

Hauser proves that women don’t have to sacrifice their values or hide their authentic personalities to be successful. Sharing a wealth of personal anecdotes and time-tested strategies, she shows women how to reclaim...
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85
NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED

Like Leadership and Self-Deception, The Arbinger Institute's first book, The Anatomy of Peace has become a worldwide phenomenon—not because of a media blitz, movie tie-in, or celebrity endorsement, but because readers have enthusiastically recommended it to colleagues, relatives, and friends.

The Anatomy of Peace asks, What if conflicts at home, conflicts at work, and conflicts in the world stem from the same root cause? What if we systematically misunderstand that cause? And what if, as a result, we unwittingly perpetuate the very...
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86
This bestselling work for professionals and students is the authoritative presentation of motivational interviewing (MI), the powerful approach to facilitating change. The book elucidates the four processes of MI--engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning--and vividly demonstrates what they look like in action. A wealth of vignettes and interview examples illustrate the "dos and don'ts" of successful implementation in diverse contexts. Highly accessible, the book is infused with respect and compassion for clients. The companion Web page provides additional helpful resources, including... more

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87
"Favorite Books of 2018" The Greater Good Magazine

Foreword by Laszlo Bock, the bestselling author of Work Rules! and former Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google

An inspiring guide from Dolly Chugh, an award-winning social psychologist at the New York University Stern School of Business, on how to confront difficult issues including sexism, racism, inequality, and injustice so that you can make the world (and yourself) better.

Many of us believe in equality, diversity, and inclusion. But how do we...
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Recommended by Katherine Milkman, and 1 others.

Katherine MilkmanThe highlight of my week was watching the amazing @DollyChugh discuss her book on holding ourselves to a higher ethical standard (by acknowledging we are biased and have room to grow) on the @TODAYshow! As always, I was so inspired by @DollyChugh’s message and grace. https://t.co/jzjP4ggbt5 (Source)

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88

The Definitive Book of Body Language

Available for the first time in the United States, this international bestseller reveals the secrets of nonverbal communication to give you confidence and control in any face-to-face encounter–from making a great first impression and acing a job interview to finding the right partner.

It is a scientific fact that people’s gestures give away their true intentions. Yet most of us don’t know how to read body language–and don’t realize how our own physical movements speak to others. Now the world’s foremost experts on the subject share their techniques for reading body language signals...
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89
Some talented people reach their full potential, while others self-destruct or remain trapped in medioctiy, What maes the difference? Choices. Here are the 13 choices that can propel you to success. less

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90
With more than 10 million copies sold in 28 countries, the world's most popular job-search book is updated for 2018 and tailors Richard Bolles's long-trusted guidance with up-to-the-minute information and advice for today's job-hunters and career-changers.

In today's challenging job-market, the time-tested advice of What Color Is Your Parachute? is needed more than ever. Recent grads facing a tough economic landscape, workers laid off mid-career, and people searching for an inspiring work-life change all look to career guru Richard N. Bolles for support,...
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Recommended by Armina Sirbu, and 1 others.

Armina Sirbu"What Color is Your Parachute" by R. Bolles is iconic for a student or fresh graduate who has no clue what's next. It helped me realized that even though I was graduating from computer science, my heart was in training and HR so that's how I chose my masters and then built a career path that mixed both IT and HR. Basically it gave me the courage to "go for it", showed me that it's ok to mix the... (Source)

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Don't have time to read the top Human Resources books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

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91
From the beet fields of North Dakota to the campgrounds of California to Amazon’s CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older adults. These invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in RVs and modified vans, forming a growing community of nomads.


Nomadland tells a revelatory tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy—one which foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, it celebrates the...
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92
Recommended by Seth Godin, Park Howell, and 2 others.

Park HowellThis is one of the books I recommend to people looking for a career in advertising. (Source)

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93

William Ury, coauthor of the international bestseller Getting to Yes, returns with another groundbreaking book, this time asking: how can we expect to get to yes with others if we haven’t first gotten to yes with ourselves?

Renowned negotiation expert William Ury has taught tens of thousands of people from all walks of life—managers, lawyers, factory workers, coal miners, schoolteachers, diplomats, and government officials—how to become better negotiators. Over the years, Ury has discovered that the greatest obstacle to successful agreements and satisfying relationships is...

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94

Influencer

The Power to Change Anything

From the bestselling authors who taught the world how to have Crucial Conversations comes Influencer, a thought-provoking book that combines the remarkable insights of behavioral scientists and business leaders with the astonishing stories of high-powered influencers from all walks of life. You'll be taught each and every step of the influence process-including robust strategies for making change inevitable in your personal life, your business, and your world. You'll learn how to:

- Identify a handful of high-leverage behaviors that lead to rapid and profound change.
- Apply...
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95
Align HR practices with your objectives and keep your company competitiveA company's ability to grow and stay on top of customer demand has always depended heavily on the quality of its people. Now, more than ever, businesses recognize that finding (and keeping) a highly skilled and motivated workforce is pivotal to success. Maybe you're a business owner and your company is growing, or you're an employee at a small- to midsize-company and management has asked you to take on some--or all--of their HR functions. Either way, knowing how to set up and implement successful HR practices (not to... more

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96
erformance problems are something we all face. Whether at work or in schools, at home or with friends, people often don't perform the way we want them to. Analyzing Performance Problems gives you the power to identify why people aren't performing as expected and to come up with realistic solutions that work. less

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97

Tribal Leadership

Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization

Tribal Leadership gives amazingly insightful perspective on how people interact and succeed. I learned about myself and learned lessons I will carry with me and reflect on for the rest of my life.”
—John W. Fanning, Founding Chairman and CEO napster Inc.

“An unusually nuanced view of high-performance cultures.”
 —Inc.

Within each corporation are anywhere from a few to hundreds of separate tribes. In Tribal Leadership, Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright demonstrate how these tribes develop—and show you how to assess them...
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Tony Hsiehadmires the book because it explains the importance of creating a strong company culture. (Source)

Graham DuncanHas looked at thousands of organizations and puts them into categories. (Source)

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98
The get ready, get going guide to navigating career change and doing work you love

New York Times bestselling author Jon Acuff has drawn millions of online fans who love his refreshing mix of humor, honesty, and wisdom about the world of work. Now he offers his most important book yet, a guide to making big career changes—by choice or necessity—and escaping the horrible feeling of being trapped in the wrong job.

Acuff finds it amazing that people spend more than eighteen years studying and preparing for college, but little or no time honing their careers...
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99
Have you ever felt caught between the tension of a day job and a dream job? That gap between what you have to do and what you'd love to do?

I have.

At first I thought I was the only one who felt that way, but then I started to talk to people and realized we're becoming the "I'm, but" generation. When we talk about what we do for a living we inevitably say, "I'm a teacher, but I want to be an artist." "I'm a CPA, but I'd love to start my own business."

"I'm a _____, but I want to be a ______."

All too often, we hear that dreaming big means you...
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Recommended by Dave Ramsey, and 1 others.

Dave Ramsey[Dave Ramsey recommended this book on his website.] (Source)

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100

Human Resources Management

Ideal for management majors who plan to become HRM professionals, this highly accessible text presents a conceptual model of the field, placing HRM in the overall context of business management. Students gain a broad, practical understanding of how HRM policies affect the workplace--from productivity, quality, and customer service to employee morale. French addresses timely issues changing the current role of HRM, including international topics, technology and the Internet, social responsibility, and performance appraisal. Several pedagogical features reinforce the author's conceptual... more

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Don't have time to read the top Human Resources books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
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  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.