100 Best Networking Books of All Time

Dave Ramsey

Author

Dave Ramsey recommended this book on his website. [source]

Daymond John

Founder/FUBU

I love all the Dale Carnegie books. [source]

Dustin Moskovitz

Co-founder/Facebook and Asana

Seek to be understood. [source]

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

“I love this book, which shows that givers get ahead and nice guys don’t finish last. [source]

Simon Sinek

Author

Gotta say, I'm pretty flattered every time asks me if I've read @AdamMGrant book Give and Take. Good guy. Good book [source]

Susan Cain

Author

As brilliant as it is wise, this is not just a book—it’s a new and shining worldview. [source]

Charles T. Munger

Vice Chairman/Berkshire Hathaway

Robert Cialdini has had a greater impact on my thinking on this topic than any other scientist. [source]

Dan Ariely

Author

It 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

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

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

Dave Ramsey

Author

Dave Ramsey recommended this book on his website. [source]

Dustin Moskovitz

Co-founder/Facebook and Asana

I was surprised at how familiar the topics felt. [source]

Joe Martin

@benmorris @audible_com @Gladwell I enjoy the quiet on the way home, but on the way to work I am listening to the 7 habits book by Stephen Coveru, a fave of mine [source]

Dave Ramsey

Author

Dave Ramsey recommended this book on his website. [source]

Nick Loper

The one I refer people to the most is probably The Go-Giver, which is about being genuinely helpful first without any expectation of reward. I started my first real business for the noble goal of making money, and by luck, it worked out. Afterward I started several others that flopped. Why? They just weren't that helpful. When I read this, it really solidified a shift in thinking to an attitude of creating truly helpful resources and worrying about the money second. And that strategy has been working much better! [source]

Tim Fargo

The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea. https://t.co/1N9nCvQ6lG via @BobBurg #book #leadership #business https://t.co/j23Hfka0yQ [source]

Max Levchin

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

A now-venerable guide to having tough conversations in a way that engages the debaters. [source]

Deke Bridges

Picked 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]

Drew Houston

CEO/Dropbox

It’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]

Magda Marcu

One of the most eye opening for me was “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ” as it offered a different perspective on leadership, and how empathy can make you a more successful leader. Every person has some degree of empathy and through this book you understand how to apply it more intently. [source]

Robert Kelsey

Yes, that’s the key revelation. But another key element, which was quite revelatory for me when I read it, is about the impact of fear on your brain. The impact of fear as a physiological response was well known when he wrote the book, but what was less well known was the idea of fear as a neurological response. He pointed to research showing what happens to the brain when fear is triggered, and it’s very damaging. There’s a part of the brain called the amygdala, which is part of the limbic system, and deals with emotions such as fear and distress. Its main purpose is to alert you to danger and it sends an emergency signal. All those physiological responses you have are basically the body’s response to that emergency signal. That’s what people experience when they experience fear, but it’s not just the fear of a dog barking at you or someone attacking you, it’s fear based on a fear conditioning. These are moments when something happens to you that induces fear or distress, and can include fear of failure or fear of being upset, and the same response occurs. [source]

Sheryl Sandberg

COO/Facebook

Everyone, 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 Dorsey

Co-Founder/Twitter

The 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]

Jeff Weiner

CEO/Linkedin

The same extraordinary vision and timing that enabled Reid to found LinkedIn is once again on display with his book "the start-up of YOU." His central thesis, that every individual can benefit from acting as the entrepreneur of their own life and career, has never been more important than it is in today's increasingly globalized, competitive, and networked world. [source]

Simon Sinek

Author

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. Simply being ourselves is more important — and more effective. [source]

Danielle Morrill

Co-founder/Mattermark

Anyway, maybe you’re like me and figuring this out for yourself. It’s a good book for introverts and for those who love them [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

Probably 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 that probably half the world needs to unlock. [source]

Marissa Mayer

Former CEO/Yahoo!

Proud of our friend and neighbor Olivia Fox Cabane - her book 'The Charisma Myth' launched today and is already #122 of all books on Amazon. It went into its second printing even before launch! [source]

Laura Lang

CEO/Time Inc.

Olivia Fox Cabane offers hands-on advice and a practical guide to humanizing leaders without comprising integrity or authority. She focused on the ‘it’ factors that can make a real difference. [source]

Dr. Monali Y. Desai

Currently, my favorite business book is The Charisma Myth (Olivia Fox Cabane) because I feel it has so many small but impactful takeaways about improving how you communicate with others, I try to reread it once a year. [source]

Derek Sivers

Wonderful considerate book about conversational people skills. [source]

Nicolas Jouvenceau

In my career I spend a great chunk of time dealing with clients and people in general. Our environment today is different from what it was before, we spend a lot of time communicating via electronics that we actually lost some great deal of knowledge in human communication, things that we don’t really learn at school (we actually should), but which I believe are essential to communicating with our peers. Leil did a great job in that book to explain simply those tricks of communication, some of which I am sure lots of people will think trivial and already do, but many that we probably don’t realize we can use. [source]

Sarissa Rodriguez-Schwartz

That book is a great tool for networking and connecting with others. One of the most important tools I remember is to always speak to others about their jobs in the job "lingo" otherwise you come off as disrespectful and ignorant, immediately turning them off. … How to Talk to Anyone helped me change the way I see other people's careers, motives, and how to connect with that. I always say your net worth is your network. It's important to be able to connect with the people you meet, make them like you (if you like them, of course), and create meaningful relationships. [source]

Tony Hsieh

CEO/Zappos.com

Gary Vaynerchuk is one of those entrepreneurs who has discovered the secret to combining passion with business. He is always an inspiration and always entertaining. You owe it to yourself to read this book! [source]

Ryan Hoover

I love how he cuts to the point - no BS. [source]

Adam Haritan

For anyone interested in my career path, I’d recommend books in various genres. On a real practical level, I’d certainly recommend reading any and all plant/mushroom/tree/ecology/nature books you can acquire. It’s even more helpful to read the books that pertain specifically to your ecosystem and bioregion. Additionally, I’d also recommend reading a plethora of business and marketing books — both old and new alike. Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, and anything by Seth Godin would be my top recommendations. And of course, every book I mentioned in the previous answers are strongly recommended as well. [source]

Andrew Youderian

The book "Tribes" by Seth Godin has been helpful as I've learned and studied how to best lead a Community. [source]

Bogdana Butnar

I thought I might put my money where my mouth is. I keep whining that young people are not in touch with some essential books on advertising that have helped me shape the way I practise my trade today, but I never did anything about it. So I am starting here the ultimate books to read list. I will add to it as I get suggestions and as more good books get written. [source]

Michael Herrmann

Another good book for today. The author argues that every product/service appeals to a "Tribe" of like-minded people. As businesspeople it's important we understand their dynamics. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

I'll put here what I emailed Malcolm when I finished the book: "Just finished your new book in one sitting yesterday. So good. You are at the height of your powers and remain an inspiration to all of us trying to master an un-masterable profession." It's a little less practical or self-improvement oriented than his previous books, but far more thought provoking. [source]

Nilofer Merchant

An interesting analysis/ essay re Gladwell’s latest book —> https://t.co/5Ey1maNRyI [source]

Chip Conley

Pragmatic and thoughtful, the author shows how networking can move from being transactional to being transformational in your life. [source]

Chris Anderson

So many of us dislike or even fear the transactional nature of traditional networking. The author has done a great service by showing how it’s possible to make genuine connections that last, that we can nurture across the world for all kinds of purposes. [source]

Chris Anderson

So many of us dislike or even fear the transactional nature of traditional networking. The author has done a great service by showing how it’s possible to make genuine connections that last, that we can nurture across the world for all kinds of purposes. [source]

Dustin Moskovitz

Co-founder/Facebook and Asana

Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book during a Stanford lecture. [source]

Angela Pham

The 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]

Craig Pearce

If 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 mistakes and struggle through the same things you struggle through when first starting out. I find this helps motivate me. [source]

Anoop Anthony

Krug was teaching usability two decades ago when UX wasn't a buzzword, and the WWW was still in its nascent stages. (The first edition of this book was published in 2000!) I cut my teeth on Don't make me think back when I first started out in the industry. It is now in its third edition and still relevant — it offers compelling insights into building great user experiences into websites and applications. [source]

Auston Bunsen

I’m actually a self-taught programmer, so these books have really helped me with practical skills that I could put to use & yield results. The return on investment for these kinds of books is off the charts for me! [source]

Chris Goward

Here are some of the books that have been very impactful for me, or taught me a new way of thinking: … Don't Make Me Think. [source]

Tyler Cowen

Founder/Marginal Revolution University

If you had to pick one individual who was the sharpest and most prescient commentator on the web and the internet it would be Clay. [source]

Alan Rusbridger

Read 2 We the Media by Dan Gillmor Read [source]

Anne-Marie Slaughter

This is another must-read. It’s a really great book for anyone who wants to understand the social media revolution. Benkler talks about the cooperative system. Shirky talks about self-organisation, about how the digital revolution and the social media revolution completely changed the economics of organisation. It used to be much harder for people to organise. There was a lot of cost to it. But with social media you can organise a group of your friends instantly. So all sorts of phenomena that once would have been too costly to create suddenly emerged. It’s suddenly simple for human beings to come together simply because they share a common passion – it might be a political ideology, it might be the love of surfing. [source]

Noah Kagan

Founder/Sumo

A 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]

Foti Panagio

Honestly, it’s not really as simple as following a career path, at least not anymore. I’d recommend instead reading books on innovation and leadership because that can give you the confidence you need to blaze your own trail and to take your career as it comes. I’d suggest that a good background reading list would include … Permission Marketing by Seth Godin [source]

Timothy Ferriss

Author & Entrepreneur

I tend to isolate myself, often at the worst times possible. Amanda helped me to learn to ask friends and family for help. It was a game changer. [source]

Aysha Teja

A book I read relatively recently but wished I read when I was younger is The Art of Asking: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer. I am horrible at asking for help. I’m afraid of being a nuisance, of appearing weak and mostly afraid of being rejected. I realized just how afraid I was when my cousin’s husband and one of my dearest high school friend insisted they help me move instead of hiring movers and my instinct was to say "No". When I finally accepted their generous offers to help, I realized that, yes, asking for help makes me vulnerable, but also enables connection. Using her own life experiences as a human-statue, musician, wife and friend, Amanda Palmer explores the questions why we’re afraid to ask and receive help as well as makes the case for increasing our shared humanity when we finally are able to do so. Since completing this book, I have started to ask for help when I normally would have found a way to do it myself. [source]

Eric Alper

Rock star, crowdfunding pioneer, and TED speaker Amanda Palmer knows all about asking, giving, art, and love. Her book The Art Of Asking is so much a must-read, that I give it to all the artists I work with for the holidays. #InternationalWomensDay #WomenInMusic https://t.co/kf4b6F2YFV [source]

Ana Bell

Code Complete is for people working in industry, writing software for companies. It has little checklists at key points in the book; if you are in industry, you can make sure that your code is readable and debugged by going through these checklists and making sure you’re touching upon all aspects. [source]

Santiago Basulto

If my career path is hackers turned business people, I’d say: Start with the basics and fundamentals: SICP: Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Code Complete 2 [source]

Jessica Pryce-Jones

I 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, there’s always going to be jerks. And there’s always going to be bullies around at work. So how are you going to deal with them? You have to build happiness and dismantle unhappiness at the same time. The book is written by a Stanford professor, but what I like about it is that he really puts it out there, and hits you on the chin, by calling it The No Asshole rule. And he also lays himself open and gives lots of personal examples, which show how he can be one and the rest of us all have the capacity to be one. He refers to keeping your ‘inner asshole in check’. The book is a very quick read – you can read it in a couple of hours – and it really made me laugh. [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]

Ronn Torossian

PR 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 your losses. We’ve had to resign clients when they no longer fit our business. It’s an unfortunate reality that you must eliminate aspects of your business that are no longer serving your mission. One can be tough without being an asshole. A key lesson in business, and in life. [source]

Clive Lewis Mp

Cant make the brilliant event below? Havent had a chance to read @shoshanazuboff groundbreaking book, ‘Surveillance Capitalism’? Then listen to this brilliant interview with the author as she explains the terrifying scale&ambition of Facebook/Google et al https://t.co/DCtNlFbmE0 https://t.co/ZX0YpW5pOo [source]

Dilip Cherian

Brave New World? Thanks @shoshanazuboff for that amazing book. It's compulsory reading for those trying to make sense of our world now. https://t.co/5nBJWoLS9p [source]

John Tasioulas

2019... Best book: Shoshana Zuboff, “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power” Best political commentary: @HelenHet20 Best film @jokermovie Best restaurant: @farangLDN & @Trullo_LDN (London); Shinoki (Melbourne) [source]

Anne-Marie Slaughter

Linked is about how to understand the world in terms of networks. To understand network science the first thing to do is to visualise the world the way you visualise the Internet or even the universe – hubs of infinitely intersecting networks. As the author says, everything can be reduced to links and nodes. This book is a very accessible introduction to the science of networks and to how to think about everything from anthills to traffic jams to complex conflict from the perspective of network science. [source]

Bill Barhydt

Written before Facebook, this book predicts what the world will look like with amazing precision. [source]