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- Entrepreneurs can learn business concepts, tactics, and advice from books.
- The best business reads include self-help, leadership, and psychology books.
- We turned to Goodreads to rank the best business books to read in 2023.
Whether you're a small business owner, entrepreneur, or just someone seeking useful career advice, there are many great books to turn to. Business books can provide psychological concepts for better negotiation skills, personal anecdotes to avoid repeating mistakes, or self-help tips to improve productivity.
To find the best ones, we turned to Goodreads, the world's largest platform to rate and review books. Among the highest ranking are classics like "How to Win Friends and Influence People" as well as newer memoirs like "Shoe Dog." From fascinating leadership reads to analytical management books, here are the best business books to read in 2023.
29. "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" by David Allen
Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $10.29
This productivity book is a necessary business read as it teaches readers how to transform the way we work by de-stressing and organizing. Believing that a relaxed mind is most effective, David Allen presents realistic productivity systems and the ways in which we can implement them.
28. "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham
Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $14.29
Originally published in 1949 by the "father of value investing," "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham delivers realistic financial advice for individuals and businesses looking to grow their wealth. Far from principles that guarantee you'll become a millionaire, this book encourages readers to create practical goals and find success in any size a victory.
27. "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead" by Sheryl Sandberg
Available on Amazon and Bookshop from $12.60
"Lean In" sparked global conversation after its publication in 2013 because of its honesty about the experiences of women in business. This book encourages women to be voracious, courageous, and strong-willed at work in order to not only help themselves but improve the future for upcoming businesswomen.
26. "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson
Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $14.94
With over one million ratings on Goodreads, this book is a biography of Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple. Walter Isaacson conducted more than forty interviews with Steve Jobs and 100 interviews with family, friends, and colleagues to create an all-encompassing portrait of a man who revolutionized technology with his inventiveness.
25. "The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business" by Josh Kaufman
Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.99
Written for those who cannot or don't intend to go to business school, "The Personal MBA" outlines the fundamental principles of business for people at any stage of their business career. With lessons on sales, marketing, negotiation, and strategy, this self-help read offers an overview of many business school topics to help readers master the MBA basics.
24. "Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration" by Ed Catmull
Available on Amazon and Bookshop from $13.69
Drawing on his experiences as a co-founder and president of Pixar Animation, Ed Catmull unveils some deeply ingrained processes and beliefs that have made Pixar so successful. His teams' philosophies can be applied to any business, creatively driven or otherwise.
23. "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable" by Patrick Lencioni
Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $15
In this leadership fable, a CEO attempts to unite a team under high stakes discovering along the way why even the greatest teams struggle. If this style of business book interests you, Patrick Lencioni also wrote "The Five Temptations of a CEO" and "Death by Meeting" in the same form.
22. "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $14.99
Brothers Chip and Dan Heath use different business theories in this book to analyze the "stickiness" of an idea, or what makes some ideas work so well. They draw from successful and unsuccessful business ventures to help readers discover the principles within great ideas and therefore how to make their own ideas stick.
21. "Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant" by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
Available at Bookshop, from $18.59
In this business book, authors Kim and Mauborgne assert that lasting success does not come from fighting direct competition in a small pool but rather from creating "blue oceans" or untapped market spaces where new growth can bloom. They outline strategic principles and tools that readers can translate to nearly any market and master their niche.
20. "Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies" by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras
Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $13.49
Over a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, authors Collins and Porras studied the habits of 18 successful and long-lasting companies in direct comparison to their competitors. "Built to Last" lays out the tactics, habits, and ideas from these successful businesses that managers and entrepreneurs can apply to their own and inspire new success.
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