Effective leadership is always the crucial ingredient in making a startup idea into a profitable business. To be an effective leader you must stay enlightened and inspired by the strategies and experiences of those that have been shaping the markets of tomorrow. To get yourself up to speed, grab some old-school technology and bring a book to the beach this summer. It’s better than sand in your Kindle.
When the brightest young entrepreneurial minds in the country were asked which business books they would recommend for improving leadership management, they responded with some interesting and refreshing choices. Here are seven titles that members of the nonprofit Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) say no young entrepreneur should be without.
1. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Young entrepreneur Rishi Shah, founder of sweet online store builder Flying Cart, recommends The Lean Startup because of its focus on vital aspects of building a successful company and its use of real life examples to offer a play-by-play blueprint for dominance. Rishi calls it a must-read.
2. Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us by Seth Godin
Matt Wilson of Under30ceo.comlikes the ideas and strategies for motivating followers and creating fans found in Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. The book uses astounding examples of companies that found huge success from creating huge fan bases.
3. The Rare Find by George Anders
Online merchant of all things metal Vanessa Nornberg suggests The Rare Find, and found it to be a great help for staffing her online retail and wholesale startup, Metal Mafia. The methods of finding unique and outstanding talent is illustrated in the book by examples taken from the highest levels of headhunting across a variety of fields.
4. The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership by John Maxwell
A student of leadership and co-founder of Greenhorn Connect, Jason Evanish sites The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership as a great read for making concepts in leadership more accessible. By breaking the concept of leadership into smaller steps the book makes it easier to approach for a wider audience. He found it a great read for building clarity and confidence in becoming a true leader.
5. The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
Scott Dinsmore of online startup Live Your Legend and Cumbre Capital Partners calls The One Minute Manager a classic that shows the way self-managed employees can free you up to focus on actual leadership. Dinsmore also notes that it’s a great book for reading on the fly and can be finished in about an hour.
6. Switch: How To Change When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath
Social media wiz Laura Roeder offers Switch: How To Change When Change Is Hard as an excellent read for learning how to affect changes is employees by unlocking ways to have them change themselves. She emphasized the importance of being able to breed excitement in your team.
7. No B.S. Ruthless Management of People and Profits by Dan Kennedy
Best selling author and Product Pro guru Greg Rollett claims No B.S. Ruthless Management of People and Profits on his must-read list. He credits the book for helping him learn how to manage his staff and his business ,and values the case studies, strategies and ideas that can be readily applied to your business.
Photo Credits
TheYec.org / DTSSydney.com / CharlesHolmes.net / GTFXtra.com
StartupLessonsLearned.com / MillionDollarEarth.com / Scoop.it
