Top Business Books
All Leaders are Readers!
Top Business Books are listed on this page by Coach Tony Inman. It also includes books relating to leadership, management and marketing.
To make it easier for you to find the books, I have included links to where you can buy them directly and easily from Amazon.
NB. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”
If you really want to enhance your knowledge and give yourself the edge, shortcut the list and go straight to Tony’s list of ‘must read’ books.
Not what you’re looking for? – Back to the rest of Tony’s Reading List:
Page 2 – Self-Help / Motivational; Mindset, NLP & Programming Yourself for Success
Page 3 – Biographies & Auto-Biographies
Page 4 – Money and Financial Planning
Page 5 – Other Good Books & Classics
Now Read On…
Business and Management & Leadership (Listed by Title – see further down if searching by Author)
Top Business Books
All Marketers Are Liars Tell Stories – The Underground Classic that Explains How Marketing Really Works – and Why Authenticity is the Best Marketing of All by Seth Godin
Alpha Dogs – How Your Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack by Donna Fenn
Attitudes and Altitudes – The Principles, Practice and Profile of 21st Century Leadership by Pat Mesiti
Australia’s New Entrepreneurs – How They Succeeded by Anne Fox
Awakening the Entrepreneur Within – How Ordinary People Can Create Extraordinary Companies by Michael E. Gerber
Be Obsessed or Be Average – Why Work-Life Balance is For Losers by Grant Cardone (NB I don’t agree with that statement! – Tony Inman)
Becoming a Coaching Leader – The proven strategy for building your own team of champions by Daniel Harkavy
‘Blogging:’ How to Write Blog Blog Posts that Go Viral without Selling Out by David Lim
Blue Ocean Strategy – How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant, by W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne
Brand Meet Story – How to Create Engaging Content to Win Business and Influence Your Audience by Heather Pemberton Levy
Brand New Brand You – How to build and maintain reputation and relevance by Garry Browne
Brandwashed – Tricks companies use to manipulate our minds and persuade us to buy by Martin Lindstrom
Breadwinner – A Fresh Approach to Business Success by Tom O’Toole
‘Building a Brand Story’ : Clarify Your Message So Your Customers Will Listen- by Donald Miller
Built to Sell – Creating a Business that can Thrive without You by John Warrillow
Business Stripped Bare – Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur by Richard Branson
Buy-Ology – Truth and Lies about Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom
Combating Managerial Obsolescence by Andrew Jones & Cary Cooper
Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
Creating Customers for Life – Tips, Techniques and Strategies for Growing ANY Business Even in the Toughest Economies by Craig Whitely
Crisis Exposed – Recession Proof Your Business and Income by Mal Emery
Crucial Conversations – Tools for Talking when Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan & Al Swittzler
Crushing It – How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence, and How You Can, Too by Gary Vaynerchuk
‘Dare to Lead’ – Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts, by Brene Brown
E Myth Mastery – The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company by Michael E Gerber
Effective Leadership – A modern guide to developing effective leadership skills by John Adair
Entrepreneurs Under The Radar – Inside the outstanding business minds of quiet achievers by Angelique Milojevic
Exposed – Zero to Millionaire in Three Years or Less in Your Own Business and Still Enjoy the Journey Along the Way by Mal Emery
Fast, Flat and Free – How the Internet has Changed Your Business by Gihan Perera
Generation Y – Thriving and surviving with Generation Y at work by Peter Sheahan
Get Your Business Online Now – Be Part of Australia’s E-Commerce Revolution by Todd Alexander
Good to Great – Whys some companies make the leap…and others don’t by Jim Collins
How To Get Things Done – The Art of Stress-free Productivity by David Allen
How to Leverage Social Media and Content Marketing to Micro-domination – Build a Mini-Business Empire Around Your Personal Brand by Trevor Young
How to Master the Art of Selling – The best book ever written on selling and salesmanship by Tom Hopkins
How to Start and Run Your Own Business by Mike Mogano
How To Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie and Associates
How to Wow – Client Attraction System by John Dwyer
‘Influencer’ – Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media, by Brittany Hennessy
In Search of Excellence by Thomas J Peters
Leadership and The One Minute Manager – increase effectiveness by being a good leader by Ken Blanchard, Patricia Zigarmi and Drea Zigarmi
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts
Leading by Sir Alex Ferguson and Michael Moritz
Like a Virgin – Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School by Richard Branson
Loops – The Seven Keys to Small Business Success by Mike Chaet and Stephen Lundin
‘Losing my Virginity’ by Richard Branson
Love is the Killer App – How To Win Business & Influence Friends by Tim Sanders
Making Fun Work – How to create a funnier you and how to turn humour into profit! by Kevin Ryan & Dennis Moore
Manage Your Day-to-Day – Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind by 99u, Behance
Management – Its Nature and Significance by EFL Brech
Man Drought and Other Social Issues of the New Century by Bernard Salt
Marketing For Profit by Leonard Hardy
Marketing Made Simple by H Elvy
Meant for More – The Proven Formula to Turn Your Knowledge into Profits by Lisa Sasevich
Million Dollar Coaching – Build a World Class Practice by Helping Others Succeed by Alan Weiss
Million Dollar Launch – How to Kick-Start a Successful Consulting Practice in 90 Days by Alan Weiss
Moments of Truth – New Strategies for Today’s Customer-Driven Economy by Jan Carlzon
Negotiate To Win – Talking Your Way to What You Want by Patrick Collins
Niche – Why the Market No Longer Favours the Mainstream by James Harkin
One Small Step can Change Your Life – The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer
Outliers – The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Permission Marketing – Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers by Seth Godin
Poke the Box by Seth Godin
Purple Cow – Transforming Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
Putting The One Minute Manager to Work – Improve Performance, Productivity and Profits by Kenneth Blanchard and Robert Lorber
Revitalize Your Business by G Moss
Screw Business As Usual by Richard Branson
Secrets of Great Success Coaches Exposed! by Dale Beaumont
Self-Publishing Made Simple by Euan Mitchell
‘Sell Your Thoughts’ – How to Earn a Million Dollars a Year as a Thought Leader by Matt Church, Peter Cook & Scott Stein
Simplify, Structure, Succeed – The practical toolkit for modern life by Shannah Kennedy
‘Social Media for Business’ – Foolproof Tips to Help You Promote Your Business or Your Brand, by Linda Coles
So You Have a Great Idea for a Business… Now What? by Justin Herald
Start with Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
Tell To Win – Connect, Persuade and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story by Peter Guber
The $100 Startup – Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau
The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership – Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C Maxwell
The 110% Solution by Mark H McCormack
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
The Brand Called You – Create a Personal Brand that Wins Attention and Grows Your Business by Peter Montoya & Tim Vandehey
The Business of Winning – How to Succeed in Business by Really Trying by Robert Heller
‘The Captain’s Club’ – The Men Who Led United, by Simon Wadsworth
The Consulting Bible – Everything You Need to Know to Create and Expand a Seven-figure Consulting Practice by Alan Weiss
The Eagle Boys Pizza Story – How Tom Potter Built Eagle Boys Across Australia and New Zealand from a Single Store by Tom Potter
The E Myth Revisited – Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do about it by Michael E Gerber
The Effective Executive by Peter F Drucker
The Google Story – Inside the Hottest Business, Media and Technology Success of Our Time by David A. Vise
The Heart of Success – Making It in Business without Losing in Life by Rob Parsons
The Icarus Deception – how high will you fly? by Seth Godin
The Infinite Game – by Simon Sinek
The Leader Who Had No Title – A modern fable on real success in business and in life by Robin Sharma
The Manager’s Guide to the Behavioural Sciences by Margaret Brown
The New Leaders – Transforming the Art of Leadership into the Science of Results by Daniel Goleman
The One Minute Entrepreneur – The Secret to Creating and Sustaining a Successful Business – by Ken Blanchard, Don Hutson and Ethan Williss
The One Minute Manager – Increase Productivity, Profits and Your Own Prosperity by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey – Free Up Your Time and Deal with Priorities by Kenneth Blanchard, William Oncken Jnr and Hal Burrows
The One Minute Sales Person – The Quickest Way to More Sales with Less Stress by Spencer Johnson & Larry Wilson
The Power of Ethical Management – You don’t have to cheat to win – by Kenneth Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale
The Practice of Management by Peter F Drucker
‘The Pumpkin Plan’ – A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in any field, by Mike Michaelowicz
The Reality of Management by Rosemary Stewart
The Speed of Trust – The One Thing that Changes Everything by Stephen Covey
‘The Thought Leaders Practice’ – Do Work You Love with People You Like the Way You Want by Matt Church, Peter Cook & Scott Stein
The Tipping Point – How little things can make a big difference by Malcolm Gladwell
The Ultimate Blueprint – For an Insanely Successful Business by Keith J Cunningham
The Unlikely Entrepreneur – A Spiritual Guide to Business and Your Path of Greatest Evolution by Emily Gowor
Think Big – Make it Happen in Business and Life by Donald Trump & Bill Zanker
‘This is Marketing’ – You Can’t Be Seen until You Learn to See, by Seth Godin
Tribes – We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
Unleashing the Idea Virus – Stop marketing AT people! Turn your ideas into epidemics by helping your customers do the marketing for you. by Seth Godin
We Are All Weird – The Rise of Tribes and The End of Normal by Seth Godin
‘What it Takes’ – An Attitude of Hard Work, Commitment and Purpose, by Mark Bouris
‘What to Do When it’s Your Turn’ – [And it’s Always Your Turn] by Seth Godin
What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark H McCormack
Winning New Business – How to Plan & Deliver Successful Sales Presentations by Dr David Lewis
Work Smarter, Not Harder by Jack Collis and Michael LeBoeuf
Business and Management & Leadership (Listed by Author – see further up if searching by Title)
Top Business Books
Lead by example
99u by Behance – Manage Your Day-to-Day – Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind
Adair, John – Effective Leadership – A modern guide to developing effective leadership skills
Alexander, Todd – Get Your Business Online Now – Be Part of Australia’s E-Commerce Revolution
Allen, David – How To Get Things Done – The Art of Stress-free Productivity
Beaumont, Dale – Secrets of Great Success Coaches Exposed!
Berger, Jonah – Contagious: Why Things Catch On
Blanchard & Johnson, Kenneth & Spencer – The One Minute Manager – Increase Productivity, Profits and Your Own Prosperity
Blanchard & Lorber, Kenneth & Robert – Putting The One Minute Manager to Work – Improve Performance, Productivity and Profits
Blanchard, Oncken Jnr & Burrows, Kenneth, William & Hal The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey – Free Up Your Time and Deal with Priorities
Blanchard and Peale, Kenneth & Norman Vincent – The Power of Ethical Management – You don’t have to cheat to win
Blanchard, Hutson & Williss, Ken, Don & Ethan – The One Minute Entrepreneur – The Secret to Creating and Sustaining a Successful Business
Blanchard, Zigarmi and Zigarmi, Ken, Patricia and Drea – Leadership and The One Minute Manager – increase effectiveness by being a good leader
Bouris, Mark –‘What it Takes’– An Attitude of Hard Work, Commitment and Purpose
Branson, Richard – Like a Virgin – Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School
Branson, Richard – ‘Losing my Virginity’
Branson, Richard – Business Stripped Bare – Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur
Branson, Richard – Screw Business As Usual
Brech, EFL – Management – Its Nature and Significance
Brown, Brene – ‘Dare to Lead’ – Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
Brown, Margaret – The Manager’s Guide to the Behavioural Sciences
Browne, Garry -Brand New Brand You – How to build and maintain reputation and relevance
Cardone, Grant – Be Obsessed or Be Average – Why Work-Life Balance is For Losers by Grant Cardone (NB I don’t agree with that statement! – Tony Inman)
Carlzon, Jan – Moments of Truth – New Strategies for Today’s Customer-Driven Economy
Carnegie, Dale & Associates – How To Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age
Chaet & Lundin, Mike & Stephen – Loops – The Seven Keys to Small Business Success
Church, Cook & Stein, Matt, Peter & Scott – ‘Sell Your Thoughts’ – How to Earn a Million Dollars a Year as a Thought Leader
Church, Cook & Stein, Matt, Peter & Scott -‘The Thought Leaders Practice’ – Do Work You Love with People You Like the Way You Want
Coles, Linda – ‘Social Media for Business’ – Foolproof Tips to Help You Promote Your Business or Your Brand
Collins, Jim – Good to Great – Whys some companies make the leap…and others don’t
Collins, Patrick – Negotiate To Win – Talking Your Way to What You Want
Collis & LeBoeuf, Jack and Michael – Work Smarter, Not Harder
Covey, Stephen R – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Covey, Stephen – The Speed of Trust – The One Thing that Changes Everything
Cunningham, Keith J. – The Ultimate Blueprint – For an Insanely Successful Business
Drucker, Peter F – The Practice of Management
Drucker, Peter F – The Effective Executive
Dwyer, John – How to Wow – Client Attraction System
Emery, Mal – Exposed – Zero to Millionaire in Three Years or Less in Your Own Business and Still Enjoy the Journey Along the Way
Emery, Mal – Crisis Exposed – Recession Proof Your Business and Income
Elvy, H – Marketing Made Simple
Fenn, Donna – Alpha Dogs – How Your Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack
Ferguson, Sir Alex with Moritz, Michael – Leading
Ferriss, Tim – The 4 Hour Workweek
Fox, Anne – Australia’s New Entrepreneurs – How They Succeeded
Gerber, Michael E – Awakening the Entrepreneur Within – How Ordinary People Can Create Extraordinary Companies
Gerber, Michael E – The E Myth Revisited – Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do about it
Gerber, Michael E – E Myth Mastery – The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company
Gladwell, Malcolm – The Tipping Point – How little things can make a big difference
Gladwell, Malcolm – Outliers – The Story of Success
Godin, Seth – All Marketers Are Liars Tell Stories – The Underground Classic that Explains How Marketing Really Works – and Why Authenticity is the Best Marketing of All
Godin, Seth – Permission Marketing – Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers
Godin, Seth – Poke the Box
Godin, Seth – Purple Cow – Transforming Your Business by Being Remarkable
Godin, Seth – The Icarus Deception – how high will you fly?
Godin, Seth – ‘This is Marketing’ – You Can’t Be Seen until You Learn to See
Godin, Seth – Tribes – We Need You to Lead Us
Godin, Seth – Unleashing the Idea Virus – Stop marketing AT people! Turn your ideas into epidemics by helping your customers do the marketing for you.
Godin, Seth – We Are All Weird – The Rise of Tribes and The End of Normal
Godin, Seth – ‘What to Do When it’s Your Turn’ – [And it’s Always Your Turn]
Goleman, Daniel – The New Leaders – Transforming the Art of Leadership into the Science of Results
Gowor, Emily – The Unlikely Entrepreneur – A Spiritual Guide to Business and Your Path of Greatest Evolution
Guber, Peter – Tell To Win – Connect, Persuade and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story
Guillebeau, Chris – The $100 Startup – Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future
Hardy, Leonard – Marketing For Profit
Harkavy, Daniel – Becoming a Coaching Leader – The proven strategy for building your own team of champions
Harkin, James – Niche – Why the Market No Longer Favours the Mainstream
Heller, Robert – The Business of Winning – How to Succeed in Business by Really Trying
Hennessy, Brittany – ‘Influencer’ – Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media
Herald, Justin – So You Have a Great Idea for a Business… Now What?
Hopkins, Tom – How to Master the Art of Selling – The best book ever written on selling and salesmanship
Johnson & Wilson, Spencer & Larry – The One Minute Sales Person – The Quickest Way to More Sales with Less Stress
Jones & Cooper, Andrew & Cary – Combating Managerial Obsolescence
Kennedy, Shannah – Simplify, Structure, Succeed – The practical toolkit for modern life
Kim & Mauborgne, W,Chan & Renee – Blue Ocean Strategy – How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
Lewis, Dr David – Winning New Business – How to Plan & Deliver Successful Sales Presentations
Lim, David – ‘Blogging:’ How to Write Blog Blog Posts that Go Viral without Selling Out
Lindstrom, Martin – Buy-Ology – Truth and Lies about Why We Buy
Lindstrom, Martin – Brandwashed – Tricks companies use to manipulate our minds and persuade us to buy
Maurer, Robert – One Small Step can Change Your Life – The Kaizen Way
Maxwell, John C – The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership – Follow Them and People Will Follow You
McCormack, Mark H – What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School
McCormack, Mark H – The 110% Solution
Mesiti, Pat – Attitudes and Altitudes – The Principles, Practice and Profile of 21st Century Leadership
Michaelowicz, Michael ‘The Pumpkin Plan’ – A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in any field
Miller, Donald – ‘Building a Brand Story’ : Clarify Your Message So Your Customers Will Listen-
Milojevic, Angelique – Entrepreneurs Under The Radar – Inside the outstanding business minds of quiet achievers
Mitchell, Euan – Self-Publishing Made Simple
Mogano M – How to Start and Run Your Own Business
Moss, G – Revitalize Your Business
Montoya & Vandehey, Peter and Tim – The Brand Called You – Create a Personal Brand that Wins Attention and Grows Your Business
O’Toole, Tom – Breadwinner – A Fresh Approach to Business Success
Parsons, Rob – The Heart of Success – Making It in Business without Losing in Life
Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler, Kerry, Joseph, Ron and Al – Crucial Conversations – Tools for Talking when Stakes are High
Pemberton Levy, Heather – Brand Meet Story – How to Create Engaging Content to Win Business and Influence Your Audience
Perera, Gihan – Fast, Flat and Free – How the Internet has Changed Your Business
Peters, Thomas J – In Search of Excellence
Potter, Tom – The Eagle Boys Pizza Story – How Tom Potter Built Eagle Boys Across Australia and New Zealand from a Single Store
Roberts, Wess – Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun
Ryan & Moore, Kevin & Dennis – Making Fun Work – How to create a funnier you and how to turn humour into profit!
Salt, Bernard – Man Drought and Other Social Issues of the New Century
Sanders, Tim – Love is the Killer App – How To Win Business & Influence Friends
Sasevich, Lisa -Meant for More – The Proven Formula to Turn Your Knowledge into Profits
Sharma, Robin – The Leader Who Had No Title – A modern fable on real success in business and in life
Sheahan, Peter – Generation Y – Thriving and surviving with Generation Y at work
Sinek, Simon – Start with Why – How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
Sinek, Simon – The Infinite Game
Stewart, Rosemary – The Reality of Management
Trump and Zanker, Donald & Bill – Think Big – Make it Happen in Business and Life
Tzu, Sun – The Art of War
Vaynerchuk, Gary – Crushing It – How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence, and How You Can, Too
Vise, David A. – The Google Story – Inside the Hottest Business, Media and Technology Success of Our Time
Wadsworth, Simon – ‘The Captain’s Club’ – The Men Who Led United
Warrillow, John – Built to Sell – Creating a Business that can Thrive without You
Weiss, Alan – Million Dollar Coaching – Build a World Class Practice by Helping Others Succeed
Weiss, Alan – Million Dollar Launch – How to Kick-Start a Successful Consulting Practice in 90 Days
Weiss, Alan – The Consulting Bible – Everything You Need to Know to Create and Expand a Seven-figure Consulting Practice
Whiteley, Craig – Creating Customers for Life – Tips, Techniques and Strategies for Growing ANY Business Even in the Toughest Economies
Young, Trevor – How to Leverage Social Media and Content Marketing to Micro-domination – Build a Mini-Business Empire Around Your Personal Brand
Not what you’re looking for? – Back to the rest of Business Coach Tony Inman’s Reading List:
Page 2 – Self-Help / Motivational; Mindset, NLP & Programming Yourself for Success
Page 3 – Biographies & Auto-Biographies
Page 4 – Money and Financial Planning
Page 5 – Other Good Books & Classics