{"id":67257,"date":"2016-05-14T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2016-05-14T12:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/?p=67257"},"modified":"2020-09-21T13:34:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T17:34:05","slug":"15-books-top-ceos-want-everyone-to-read-05-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/15-books-top-ceos-want-everyone-to-read-05-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"15 books top CEOs want everyone to read"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Books\"<\/p>\n

Anybody who is serious about doing well in the business world knows that they need to always be learning from those who have come before them.<\/p>\n

We all have read countless business books that each offer their own unique way of selling us on how to prosper in the crazy world of\u00a0entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

But which of these books are the ones we should really be paying attention to?<\/p>\n

The best way to answer that question is by looking at the books that the world’s greatest CEOs are reading. The books that changed their lives after they read them.<\/p>\n

These are the 15 books the world’s CEOs want everyone to read.<\/h3>\n

Tribal Leadership: Levering Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization, <\/em>Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Tony<\/p>\n

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh says Tribal Leadership<\/em> \u201ccodifies a lot of what we\u2019ve been doing instinctually,\u201d which is another way of saying that it takes things that we do that we can\u2019t quite describe and describes them, or attempts to. Essentially, it urges executives in the C-suite to observe how a company\u2019s employees group themselves naturally, without any top-down directives from management, and to use that knowledge to increase satisfaction and productivity among its workers.<\/p>\n

Essentially, it urges executives in the C-suite to observe how a company\u2019s employees group themselves naturally, without any top-down directives from management, and to use that knowledge to increase satisfaction and productivity among its workers.<\/p>\n

The Catcher in the Rye, <\/em>J.D. Salinger<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Bill<\/p>\n

Microsoft co-founder and CEO emeritus Bill Gates holds Salinger\u2019s classic tale of teenage dissatisfaction and angst in high regard, saying that it\u2019s been his favorite book since he was thirteen. Sort of a unique and unexpected choice for one of the most powerful people in the world, it\u2019s safe to say, but Gates has a good point when he says \u201cit acknowledges that young people are a little confused, but can\u2026 see things that adults don\u2019t really see.\u201d Like how phony most people are, for starters.<\/p>\n

Sort of a unique and unexpected choice for one of the most powerful people in the world, it\u2019s safe to say, but Gates has a good point when he says \u201cit acknowledges that young people are a little confused, but can\u2026 see things that adults don\u2019t really see.\u201d Like how phony most people are, for starters.<\/p>\n

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World<\/em>, Niall Ferguson.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Niall<\/p>\n

Niall Ferguson is a British historian that\u2019s made himself, over the past two decades or so, into basically the go-to global economic historian; his The House of Rothschild<\/em> covers two huge volumes digging into the history of what is still the most staggeringly wealthy family the world has ever seen.<\/p>\n

The Ascent of Money<\/em> takes a broader, more global view, starting with the clay tokens of Mesopotamia through the development of currency and on to today\u2019s hedge funds (the book predates BitCoin, though). Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent thinks it\u2019s \u201cone of the best\u201d books on economic observations around, and that guy probably knows what he\u2019s talking about.<\/p>\n

Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent thinks it\u2019s \u201cone of the best\u201d books on economic observations around, and that guy probably knows what he\u2019s talking about.<\/p>\n

The Brothers Karamazov, <\/em>Fyodor Dostoevsky<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Fyodor<\/p>\n

Dostoevsky\u2019s last novel is a grand psychological epic considered, since publication, to be a landmark in world literature. Not a weekend read by any means, unless your weekends tend to last about a month, it\u2019s nevertheless one of those pillars of modern culture that anyone who intends cultural literacy should at least take a shot at reading once or twice in their lives. If you can\u2019t do it, hey, you\u2019re far from alone; the modern world is busy and there are a lot of things going on all the time that demand attention. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, however, would probably recommend that you give this, his favorite book, at least a decent attempt.<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t do it, hey, you\u2019re far from alone; the modern world is busy and there are a lot of things going on all the time that demand attention. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, however, would probably recommend that you give this, his favorite book, at least a decent attempt.<\/p>\n

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, however, would probably recommend that you give this, his favorite book, at least a decent attempt.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The World is Flat, <\/em>Thomas Friedman<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Jamie<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t seem like that long ago that there was a lot of discussion and debate \u2013 and a lot of uncertainty \u2013 about what the coming of globalization would mean, what its effects would be, and whether or not it was good policy at all for the U.S. to relax trade restrictions and usher in the new business landscape. Whether or not it\u2019s been good policy is still a matter for debate, but the toothpaste isn\u2019t going back in the tube; globalization\u2019s here, and it\u2019s not going anywhere. Friedman\u2019s 2003 book, subtitled<\/p>\n

Whether or not it\u2019s been good policy is still a matter for debate, but the toothpaste isn\u2019t going back in the tube; globalization\u2019s here, and it\u2019s not going anywhere. Friedman\u2019s 2003 book, subtitled<\/p>\n

Friedman\u2019s 2003 book, subtitled A Brief History of the 21st<\/sup> Century<\/em>, is a good overview of where we might be going, and one of the titles on the reading list that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon sent to his firm\u2019s interns in 2011.<\/p>\n

Freedom,<\/em> The Corrections, <\/em>or any other title by Jonathan Franzen<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Ken<\/p>\n

Franzen, let\u2019s be honest here, has a reputation as kind of a crank. He\u2019s come out recently (in lengthy, often exquisitely written essays) against the ubiquity of social media and cell phones, among other things, and he has a tendency to stare firmly into his bellybutton most of the time. Line by line, though, he\u2019s often a terrific writer \u2013 although there\u2019s at least one scene in the<\/p>\n

Line by line, though, he\u2019s often a terrific writer \u2013 although there\u2019s at least one scene in the The Corrections<\/em>, the book that he refused to allow to be chosen by Oprah for her Book Club (another thing he\u2019s come out against), that might make you think otherwise \u2013 and he\u2019s General Mills CEO Ken Powell\u2019s favorite.<\/p>\n

Life<\/em>, Keith Richards<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Keith<\/p>\n

Keith Richards is older than most of the CEOs on this list, so it\u2019s sort of understandable, but let\u2019s face it: it\u2019s still strange to consider the head of a multibillion dollar corporation tucking in with the notoriously debauched Rolling Stones guitarist\u2019s memoir. (It\u2019s excellent, though, even if you\u2019re not a Stones fan.)<\/p>\n

A surprisingly lucid and well-structured book that reads almost like a novel and is a lot of fun, as well, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond has called it his favorite book, the story of \u201c\u2026 an incredibly eclectic and interesting life that no one else has ever lived.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Power of Positive Thinking<\/em>, Norman Vincent Peale<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Donald<\/p>\n

Donald Trump is, almost certainly, going to be the 2016 Republican Presidential nominee. We should all probably get used to it now, if we haven\u2019t already, and just strap in for the ride, because whatever winds up happening this summer, it\u2019s probably going to be unlike anything we\u2019ve ever seen before.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, feel free to settle down with Norman Vincent Peale\u2019s The Power of Positive Thinking<\/em>, which Trump claims helped him when he was billions of dollars in debt in the early \u201890s, \u201c\u2026 refuse to be sucked into negative thinking on any level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wild Swans<\/em>, Jung Chang<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Richard<\/p>\n

Virgin CEO Richard Branson might not seem like the sort of person to tuck into a 500-plus page book about three generations of women in twentieth-century China when he\u2019s done riding his personal jet plane into space or sailing around Cape Horn or whatever else he\u2019s up to this week, but he cited just that – Jung Chang\u2019s book Wild Swans<\/em>, a massive bestseller in the late \u201890s and early \u201800s – as one of his two favorite books in his own book Screw It, Let\u2019s Do It. <\/em>(The other one is Stalingrad<\/em>, by Anthony Beevor, if you\u2019re a completist.)<\/p>\n

Competing Against Time, <\/em>George Stalk and Thomas M. Hout<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Tim<\/p>\n

It carries a seemingly somewhat dated message \u2013 the company that moves fastest is the company that succeeds, generally speaking \u2013 but Apple CEO Tim Cook likes George Stalk and Thomas Hout\u2019s 1990 book, about using time- and supply-chain management tactics to gain a strategic advantage over your competitors, enough that he has been known to carry copies around with him and give them out to colleagues.<\/p>\n

Wait: he gives them out<\/em> to colleagues? Colleagues that may, one day, be in direct competition with him and with Apple? Is Tim Cook playing the long game?<\/p>\n

In An Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington, <\/em>Robert Rubin and Jacob Weisberg.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Warren<\/p>\n

The \u201cOracle of Omaha,\u201d Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, has been known for some time as a fairly cautious investor and an equally low-key and cautious personality, so it\u2019s probably not that much of a surprise that he cites Robert Rubin and Jacob Weisberg\u2019s In an Uncertain World<\/em> as one of his favorite books.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard sometimes to know what the future holds, even for an oracle, so it makes sense that Buffett would be concerned with how to make the hard decisions, especially when the outcome of a bad decision could be so disastrous for his family, his shareholders, and his otherworldly reputation.<\/p>\n

The Reader, <\/em>Bernhard Schlink<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Carlos<\/p>\n

Much like Richard Branson\u2019s choice of Wild Swans<\/em>, it might be difficult to imagine Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn getting home from a long day doing whatever the CEO of Nissan might do all day \u2013 meetings, probably, lots of meetings \u2013 and tucking into this brief, elegiac novel about illiteracy and forbidden love in the shadow of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

Bernhard Schlink\u2019s The Reader<\/em>, however, has apparently been Ghosn\u2019s favorite book ever since his son gave him a copy. A selection of Oprah\u2019s Book Club in 1999, The Reader<\/em> was made into a film starring Kate Winslet in 2008.<\/p>\n

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy <\/em>and others, John Le Carre<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman\u2019s choice of reading material has less to do with inspiration or business decisions that with the sheer desire to kick back and unwind with an elegant spy novel or two, and no one does \u201celegant spy novel\u201d better than John Le Carre. Gorman isn\u2019t particularly picky about which Le Carre he picks up, stating only that he enjoys reading them, but Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy<\/em> is as good a place to start as any, although The Spy Who Came In From the Cold <\/em>is worth a long look, too. (As are any of his books, really.)<\/p>\n

The Aeneid, <\/em>Virgil<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Mark<\/p>\n

Facebook\u2019s done more than just usher society into the 21st<\/sup> century \u2013 in many ways, it\u2019s been one of the things that has defined the 21st<\/sup> century, if we\u2019re being honest; would social media<\/a> have the footprint\/stranglehold that it does on modern society without Facebook leading the way? And yet, CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s choice of reading material is an ancient classic, Virgil\u2019s Aeneid<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A Latin epic dating from the 1st<\/sup> century B.C, it\u2019s another pillar of Western culture that\u2019s well worth digging into if you can handle the thought of reading a 10,000 line poem.<\/p>\n

The Tender Bar, <\/em>J.R. Moehringer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Howard<\/p>\n

Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick was widely lauded, and rightfully so, for the leadership he displayed in the wake of 9\/11 (Cantor had several floors on the highest levels of Tower One, the first one to be hit, and lost over 650 employees in the attacks) and, years later, after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of New York City, so it\u2019s maybe not much of a surprise that one of his favorite books is Pulitzer-winner J.R. Moehringer\u2019s The Tender Bar<\/em>, the story of how Moehringer was basically raised by the patrons of a local bar after his father, a disc jockey in New York, left the family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anybody who is serious about doing well in the business world knows that they need to always be learning from those who have come before them. We all have read countless business books that each offer their own unique way of selling us on how to prosper in the crazy world of\u00a0entrepreneurship. But which of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":67273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,6],"tags":[11040,8398,11041],"class_list":{"0":"post-67257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"category-strategy","9":"tag-best-books","10":"tag-books","11":"tag-ceo-favorite-books"},"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67257"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71285,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67257\/revisions\/71285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businesspundit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}