5 Professional Development Books to Read Right Now

Guest blog by StreetShares

Whether you are a team of one or one hundred, once you are in the role of leadership your learning should never stop. Some may argue that your learning has just begun. So how do some of the brightest minds in today’s business world stay at the cutting edge in both their personal and professional lives? The answer is so simple that it may surprise you; they read. On average, Americans will read two to three books in a year. The average CEO will read four to five books per month.

While most people will say that they do not have the time to read, it is time to crunch the numbers around this excuse. A new article by Charles Chu breaks down the math for us in an unapologetically honest fashion: to read 200 books, spend 417 hours a year reading. While this sounds like an impossible amount of time, the average American will spend 608 hours on social media and 1,642 hours watching TV in a year. Take control of your professional development right now by chiseling out the time to read. Your business, your partners, and your employees will thank you.

The Power Of Habit – Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business

By: Charles Duhigg

After years of struggling with work/life balance, I gave in and purchased this book. While each day presents new challenges, they are manageable because of the habits I created. In The Power of Habit, New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Along the way, we learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight.

Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior

By: Leonard Mlodinow

Every day we can encounter people who are difficult to deal with, both in our personal and professional lives. Getting to the heart of why we react the way we do and how to better read people and situations is a crucial component to success in business. In Subliminal, Mlodinow dives into how the unconscious mind shapes our experience of the world and how, for instance, we often misperceive our relationships with family, friends, and business associates, misunderstand the reasons for our investment decisions, and misremember important events.

The Tipping Point – How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

By: Malcolm Gladwell

If you’re familiar with this author, then you know picking just one of his books is no easy task. However, The Tipping Point, in my opinion, sets itself apart from the others. The book focuses itself around that moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. As you read, Gladwell dives into the tipping point phenomenon and how it is changing the world as well as ways for you to create your own tipping point

Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else

By: Geoff Colvin

It has been more than 10-years since the cover story was published in FORTUNE Magazine, but the impact has been far reaching. In Talent Is Overrated, Colvin discovers that top performers in any field–from Tiger Woods and Winston Churchill to Warren Buffett and Jack Welch–are not determined by their inborn talents. Greatness doesn’t come from DNA but from practice and perseverance honed over decades. And not just plain old hard work, like your grandmother might have advocated, but a very specific kind of work. The key is how you practice, how you analyze the results of your progress and learn from your mistakes that enables you to achieve greatness. This new mind-set, combined with Colvin’s practical advice, will change the way you think about your job and career and will inspire you to achieve more in all you do.

The Human Operating System: An Owner’s Manual

By: Senn Delaney

One of the remarkable things about this book is that you read it like any other book but you should use it as a reference guide. The Human Operating System spends a lot of time on the importance of the power of positive thought – how to obtain and maintain it regardless of your surroundings. The author goes on to show you how to bring out the positivity in others who are not pre-dispositioned for that as well as to bring out the best in your team or employees.

While reading and studying can put you way ahead of the game, there’s still a lot more that goes into running a small business. We want to see you succeed- so we’ve created an eBook to help veteran-owned small businesses every step of the way, from startup to growth stages. The “Ultimate Guide for Veteran-owned Small Businesses,” includes resources to help you get started with your business as well as an entire section on what to know about financing. Download it now, here!