The best books to create successful business deals

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an international authority for my award-winning research on the Vested® business model for highly collaborative relationships. I began my research in 2003 researching what makes a difference in successful strategic business deals. My day job is being the lead faculty and researcher for the University of Tennessee’s Certified Deal Architect program; my passion is helping organizations and individuals learn the art, science, and practice of crafting highly collaborative win-win strategic business relationships. My work has led to seven books and three Harvard Business Review articles. I’ve also shared my advice on CNN International, Bloomberg, NPR, and on Fox Business News.


I wrote...

Vested: How P&G, McDonald's, and Microsoft are Redefining Winning in Business Relationships

By Kate Vitasek, Karl Manrodt, Jeanne Kling

Book cover of Vested: How P&G, McDonald's, and Microsoft are Redefining Winning in Business Relationships

What is my book about?

In today’s rapidly changing world, business relationships based on an outdated “win-lose” mentality won’t withstand a market that demands constant change and adaption. Companies like P&G, McDonald’s and Microsoft are redefining winning in business relationships—adopting what University of Tennessee researchers coin as a “Vested” business model. The results are transformational: new levels of opportunity and innovation, increasing market share, greater efficiency and fast-paced problem-solving—for both companies and suppliers. In Vested, we take the reader beyond the win-win theory to show how real companies are redefining winning by building strategic relationships grounded in mutual commitment to desired outcomes and shared value principles.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything

Kate Vitasek Why did I love this book?

Covey writes about the "taxes" of not having a trusting relationship, which is very poignant for me because trust is the foundation of any strategic collaborative relationship. He suggests distrust in relationships results in various "taxes,” including: redundancy, bureaucracy, politics, disengagement, turnover, churn, and fraud.

If you are structuring a strategic business deal, you should seek to understand these taxes and seek to avoid them by consciously creating trust with your future business partner.

By Stephen M. R. Covey, Rebecca R. Merrill,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Speed of Trust as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From Stephen R. Covey's eldest son come a revolutionary book, now in handy B-format, that will guide business leaders, public figures and their organizations towards unprecedented productivity and satisfaction. Trust, says Stephen M. R. Covey, is the very basis of the 21st century's global economy, but its power is generally overlooked and misunderstood. Covey shows you how to inspire immediate trust in everyone you encounter - colleagues, constituents, the marketplace - allowing you to forego the time-killing and energy-draining check and balance bureaucracies that are so often relied upon in lieu of actual trust.


Book cover of The Evolution of Cooperation

Kate Vitasek Why did I love this book?

I like this book because Robert Axelrod has put powerful empirical research around what I have been researching for years—the power of collaboration and positive reciprocity.

While it is easy for people to get the need to embed a collaborative spirit into their deals, unfortunately, many companies fall victim to saying cooperation on the one hand and then turning around and playing hard-ball negotiations on the other. Axelrod’s pioneering research on the "Prisoner's Dilemma" shows the consequences of what can happen if individuals don’t take a path of cooperation and make short-term I-win-you-lose-decisions. This book is a must-read for anyone structuring a strategic business deal because it helps people understand the impact of short-term non-collaborative decisions.

By Robert Axelrod,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Evolution of Cooperation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This widely praised and much-discussed book explores how cooperation can emerge in a world of self-seeking egoistswhether superpowers, businesses, or individualswhen there is no central authority to police their actions..


Book cover of Radical Collaboration: Five Essential Skills to Overcome Defensiveness and Build Successful Relationships

Kate Vitasek Why did I love this book?

I recommend this book because Tamm and Luyet provide useful, common-sense ideas that will help you put collaboration into practice. Their approach includes themes such as truthfulness, intent to collaborate, self-awareness and awareness of others, accountability, and negotiation. Collaboration begins with people and their attitudes individually and within the organization. I often say, “Change the people or change the people,” and this book reflects that approach to instilling true organizational collaboration.

By James Tamm, Ronald Luyet,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Radical Collaboration as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The second edition of the essential guide, updated with new research and observations to help twenty-first century organizations create models for effective collaboration.

Collaborative skills have never been more important to a company's success and these skills are essential for every worker today. Radical Collaboration is a how-to-manual for creating trusting, cooperative environments, and transforming groups into motivated and empowered teams. James W. Tamm and Ronald J. Luyet provide tools that will help you increase your ability to work successfully with others, learn to be more aware of colleagues, and better problem-solve and negotiate.

Radical Collaboration is an eye-opener for…


Book cover of Leading Change

Kate Vitasek Why did I love this book?

You might ask why I am recommending a book on change management for a book list on structuring business deals. It is because anytime two organizations come together in a business deal something will change within their organizations. All too often people rush to sign the deal and forget there that often hundreds of critical changes behind the scenes are needed for the deal to be a success long after the ink is dry. If you are structuring a big business deal this book will help you think two steps ahead to lay the foundation so the organization can implement the changes needed. 

By John P. Kotter,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Leading Change as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The international bestseller--now with a new preface by author John Kotter. Millions worldwide have read and embraced John Kotter's ideas on change management and leadership. From the ill-fated dot-com bubble to unprecedented M&A activity to scandal, greed, and ultimately, recession--we've learned that widespread and difficult change is no longer the exception. It's the rule. Now with a new preface, this refreshed edition of the global bestseller Leading Change is more relevant than ever. John Kotter's now-legendary eight-step process for managing change with positive results has become the foundation for leaders and organizations across the globe. By outlining the process every…


Book cover of The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation

Kate Vitasek Why did I love this book?

When AG Lafley became the CEO of P&G he had an idea that the best way to drive innovation was through collaboration. His book goes behind the scenes on how he encouraged P&Gers to look to suppliers and even competitors' help P&G take innovation to a new level. In fact—Lafley set the lofty goal that 50% of all innovations would not come from P&G—but through P&G by working with strategic partnerships. The book has several examples of how the CPG giant is using collaboration to drive innovation.

By A.G. Lafley, Ram Charan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Game-Changer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It is by making innovation an intimate, intentional part of the business that A. G. Lafley - the Jack Welch of the 21st century - has recently transformed Procter & Gamble from a $39 into a $76 billion dollar company that touches more than 3 billion people around the world. On the brink of collapse when he joined in 2000, it became a model for growth and innovation. In this inspiring and practical book Lafley explains how making innovation more than just a stand-alone activity enabled him to turn around growth, productivity and the bottom line.

As this book shows,…


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By Larry R. Frank Sr., Maxwell Limanowski (editor), Peter Sander (editor)

Book cover of Wealth Odyssey: The Essential Road Map for Your Financial Journey Where Is It You Are Really Trying to Go with Money?

Larry R. Frank Sr. Author Of Wealth Odyssey: The Essential Road Map for Your Financial Journey Where Is It You Are Really Trying to Go with Money?

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

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What is my book about?

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Few of us take the time to analyze our financial needs and goals to answer that pressing question. In Wealth Odyssey, author Larry R. Frank Sr. uses his extensive financial background to provide a universal road map that will help you determine the wealth you need to support your chosen lifestyle.

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Wealth Odyssey is authored to be timeless; it does not matter what the market has done, or will do. This…

Wealth Odyssey: The Essential Road Map for Your Financial Journey Where Is It You Are Really Trying to Go with Money?

By Larry R. Frank Sr., Maxwell Limanowski (editor), Peter Sander (editor)

What is this book about?

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